#(i suspect a lot of this has to do with the agency or lack thereof of the female lead but that's a post for another time lol)

[thevoicefromthestars]

twisters (2024) is a rom com in disaster movie drag the way that the mummy (1999) is a rom com in horror movie drag and you can't change my mind

[indelicateink]

I'm not saying we won't get a fuller picture later but as far as s1 goes, it feels very much like he had no other options so he was resigned to loving Lestat. Even if he was human still, what options does a black gay man have in 1930s New Orleans? Its not a coincidence his only other romantic relation (Jonah) had to leave for Europe and its not until Louis also goes to Europe that he is able to find other romantic partners too.

Plus vampire romance and companionship is by nature predatory. If you want a companion you have to hunt for one and turn them, which is something Louis refuses on principle plus he's already carrying a lot of guilt about Claudia as it is. He is not going to go out and find himself an Antoinette to turn out of loneliness so what choice does he have but to love Lestat? I do believe this is something the show will eventually build to and address that by the end Louis if he chooses Lestat will do so because he actually wants to not because he's been cornered as it felt in s1.

i mean, i respect your point of view. no shade. but for me, personally, i would not be into this show if i felt louis didn't truly love lestat on some level. that storytelling would just depress me. (me personally. no judgment)

i wonder if we're not close in our beliefs, though? it sounds like you feel louis is a prisoner of circumstance (vampirism, racisim), i feel like that if he *is* a prisoner, I'd call it a prisoner of love (can't live with him, can't live without him). me, I don't feel like he has been totally robbed of agency, but I suspect that his depression probably has him looking down a real narrow tunnel.

when you say "resigned"--for me, I get that in the sense that he's resigned to their fucked-up relationship, he did eventually give in to lestat after lestat's years of exile. but to my mind it's the despair of the "can't live with him can't live without him" tragic love, not specific things like him feeling like he can't build a life for himself in new orleans beyond rue royale due to racism.

sharper brains than mine (half an hour past time to sleep lol, passion over this interesting idea kept me awake!) have written commentary i've really loved on why louis stays with lestat, on their love or lack thereof. maybe someone will comment their POV, it's an interesting discussion.

[hellyeahomeland]

[This is our last Director’s Chair post and the final post of “regular” coverage for the finale. Compiling this all now, almost a month later, has brought back a surge of conflicting emotions for me: pride, catharsis, relief, anxiety, sadness, emptiness. We love to put these posts together and we’re so grateful you all have enjoyed reading them. Thank you. --Sara]

“Prisoners of War” | Directed by Lesli Linka Glatter, Cinematography by David Klein

Sara: It was not scripted that Brody’s infamous tape would open the episode as Carrie drives back from the meeting where Yevgeny told her to kill Saul. And yet it works. All season they’ve charted Carrie on a similar path to Brody. Finally, the subtext becomes text. 

In more ways than one, we end at the beginning. Not only did Brody’s tape open the finale of the show’s first season, but this opening scene of the episode was the last shot of the series. 

Ashley: I wasn’t aware that it wasn’t scripted, but I wasn’t surprised to see it. We knew for a long time prior to season eight that Carrie was following a path echoing Brody’s; it was interesting for me that it was never explicitly referenced or referred to. Until right now.

Gail: Brody filmed this video before he put on the suicide vest but with all of the intentions of putting it on and going through with the ultimate betrayal of his country. The audience doesn’t know it at the time, but Carrie has already put a plan in place for the betrayal of her country and Saul with all of the intentions of going through with it. As we hear Brody speak, we get a sense (and foreshadowing) of Carrie’s mindset. She knows people will say she was broken, she was brainwashed, people will say that she was turned and taught to hate her country. But like Brody, she loves her country and swore an oath to defend the United States of America against enemies both foreign and domestic. For Carrie in this moment, she is looking straight ahead because there is no turning back for her now.

Sara: I love this slow push on Carrie as she arrives at Saul’s empty house. There is an air of defiance to her expression--the refusal both to do what Yevgeny’s asked of her and also to believe she’s in this position to begin with. It adds context to her admission later that she blames Yevgeny. Though he was pushing her along, every decision that Carrie made was hers and hers alone. 

Gail: I agree, and I also sense her relief. The weight of her plans is bearing down on her. Saul trusts her so implicitly that he has invited her to stay in his home and receive his full protection. Here she is, letting herself into his house with a key he surely gave her. I’m not sure betrayal is a strong enough word for what Carrie is about to do to him.

Ashley: I remember laughing over Max’s very Max statement that the black box was actually orange. I don’t think I ever considered how important that information was; he risked his life, over and over again for it, and it’s all entirely distinctive.

Gail: When I first watched this scene, I had hopes that somehow Anna could steal the flight recorder or download the information from it. Even on rewatch, I’m struck by how many different ways the outcome could’ve been different. This whole season has been shaped by a series of misconceptions. It’s a scary proposition that truth isn’t truth anymore.

Sara: Chekhov’s flight recorder returns! I have to eat my words on this one. About midway through the season I was rather dejected thinking about how the last half of the show’s final season would be about … what? This stupid flight recorder? But they did it. Who knew the quest for an inanimate object could be so compelling? I mean, I guess JRR Tolkien and plenty of other people but still.

Gail: It is no coincidence that Anna is wearing similar colors to Carrie, and my guess is that their likeness that Sara pointed out in the last Director’s Chair isn’t either. These are the two most important women in Saul’s career (life?) and both have sacrificed so much for what they believe in.

Sara: I love Tatyana Mukha as Anna. What a weighty, pivotal role in the last two episodes and she totally nailed the feigned devotion. Outside, she’s robotic and emotionless; inside, a warrior. 

Ashley: How interesting for her to be a translator — her job literally was to take information from one person and convey it to another. That’s what she did always. Her role as Saul’s asset was just an extension of it.

Sara: Gail, here’s your red/white/blue shot. I’ll note too that Charlotte, in addition to the royal blue suit, is wearing the white pearls and red lipstick and also that the colors of Russia’s flag are… red, white, and blue. 

Gail: Thanks Sara! I spoke about this on part one of our finale podcast, but the red, white and blue imagery here while Carrie’s plan is set in motion to betray Saul and her country are striking.

Ashley: God, what a smarmy little shit.

Gail: Hugh Dancy’s weirdo evil beard deserves an Emmy of its own.

Sara: This twisted little smile from Hugh Dancy emanates filth. What a despicable character John Zabel is. There must be twenty of him walking around the real-life West Wing today.

Sara: That said, his repeated trolling of Saul was wonderful to watch. This petulant shrug here is a mood. 

Ashley: This shot is great. Zabel and Saul are literally arms-length apart from one another in this cavernous office. 

Gail: It says so much about what kind of President that Hayes has become that his chair sits empty during this very important meeting (in the Oval Office FFS!) with his National Security Advisor and an escalating nuclear war looming.

Sara: I loved that Carrie and Saul’s sisters both showed up in this episode. While neither really understand their sibling, they both ultimately respect their wishes. Their appearance feels especially significant in an episode where Carrie and Saul--each other’s found family--are “cleaved apart” (Gansa’s words).

Gail: I think Maggie respects Saul, but I also think it must have taken a lot for Maggie to go to Saul’s house in search of Carrie. Maggie has made no secret of her feelings toward the situations that she feels Saul has put Carrie in. Maggie doesn’t call Saul, she goes to his house to see for herself. Carrie isn’t the only Mathison sister with agency. Maggie has quite a bit of it herself. As the two people who know Carrie best, it’s fitting that Maggie’s appearance at Saul’s house confirms what Saul must already suspect about Carrie’s involvement in the price for the flight recorder. It’s also a reminder of what Carrie stands to lose. Carrie isn’t just betraying Saul and her country, she is betraying Maggie and Franny, turning her back on all of them.

Ashley: It felt important to me that Maggie met Saul. These people are Carrie’s ONLY family, and she is never going to talk to them again.

Sara: Love the stock footage of Maggie’s home from earlier seasons! And the American flag flying in the breeze. 

Gail: The Brody family home had a flag flying too... the irony of a typical American home with a tyranny of secrets inside is quite the metaphor.

Ashley: I love that Carrie has a go bag stashed with thousands of dollars (at minimum) and she’s still probably got that wicked credit card debt. 

Gail: Pills, passports, and a plethora of unmarked bills in a variety of currencies put Saul’s go bag of diamonds to shame.

Sara: Oh my GOD I looked at this picture the wrong way for a second and thought the fuzzy pink pillow was Carrie’s WRINKLY HAND and I had a momentary freakout. Anyway, my point about this is that I love all the go bags we’ve seen from Carrie over the years.

Ashley: At what point do you think they’ll take that photo of Carrie off Franny’s dresser? She is never going to see her mother. Why remind her of that?

Gail: It’s heartbreaking that the only picture of Carrie in a frame in Franny’s room is of Carrie alone. Franny probably doesn’t have many memories of Carrie being with her on a daily basis, which is even more heartwrenching to think about. Is Homeland trying to tell us they are better off apart by showing us a happy Franny and a happy Carrie separately? The “Franny of it all” absolutely breaks my heart.

Sara: The way they incorporated Franny into this episode is very clever. We never see her but her presence--or, really, lack thereof--in Carrie’s life punctures every moment. 

Sara: Carrie slowly making her way up Saul’s house, lit from inside, is such an outstanding shot. It’s like she’s walking into the lion’s den. This show doesn’t use non-scored music all that often, so the Mozart that plays over this part is especially distinctive. It’s so very Saul, and I love how it contrasts to Carrie’s jazz at the end of the episode. Saul remains old school, traditional, classic. 

Gail: Saul’s house looks so warm and inviting. His street looks like every other suburban street after dinner--minus the Russian kill team waiting for Carrie’s signal.

Ashley: Saul left the porch light on for her. :(

Sara: I love how Saul stays seated while Carrie hovers over him. It gives the impression of Carrie having the power or “high ground” in the situation when it’s the complete opposite.

Ashley: This is such Carrie posture, her face is tense, she knows this will be the end. Look how wide her fingers are spread — she is desperately hoping he’ll throw her a rope and let her off the hook and mixed metaphors, mixed metaphors, poor Carrie. 

Gail: Saul’s ability to stay calm and play his cards close to the vest has always been impressive, but never more so than during this scene with Carrie. He may be sitting casually, shirt unbuttoned and having a drink, but there is nothing casual about his demeanor. In their typical relationship fashion, Saul knows more than he says and Carrie isn’t playing by the rules. The only difference is that for the first time in the series, they are no longer on the same team.

Sara: Saul finally rises to look Carrie square on. This scene is the culmination of eight seasons of their relationship. Lesli Linka Glatter has said many times that the quintessential Homeland scene is one where two characters are having an argument and expressing completely different viewpoints and they’re both right. This scene between Carrie and Saul, as they argue not just about the likelihood of war but the morality of it, is simply perfect. They’re both right and wrong at the same time. After so many years of it being Carrie and Saul versus the world, it was only fitting that the show concludes with it being Carrie versus Saul. 

Ashley: Is Saul standing in front of his shelf of red books? Physically and figuratively protecting his asset? I literally can’t tell. 

Gail: Saul isn’t standing in front of his red books, Carrie is. The only thing standing between him and protecting his asset is Carrie. Literally.

Ashley: The books Carrie is standing in front of don’t look red????

Gail: There is another shelf behind her at a different angle we can’t see here.

Sara: The shelf of red books is parallel to the bar setup. So actually neither of them are standing in front of them.

Sara: It’s really interesting that the focus in this frame stays on Carrie, eyes wide, nearly in disbelief at what she’s just done. 

Gail: Neither can believe what she’s just done.

Sara: Again, Carrie stays above Saul. But this shot and the way it uses point of view really reminds me of the bathtub scene in “Trylon and Perisphere.” Both scenes center Carrie in the frame in the midst of a potentially life-altering, life-ruining decision. I’ve quoted this analysis from Libby Hill countless times over the years, and it is strangely fitting even now:

“Actions that seem only selfish can often look selfless from the other side, no matter how warped that viewpoint is. Consider this: Homeland rarely utilizes point-of-view filmmaking, meant to place us literally inside a character’s head. But it does here. Carrie looks down at her baby. What would it be to be the mother of this child? And, then, as her daughter slips beneath the water, we switch to the infant’s point of view. What would it be to be the child of this mother? Homeland is all but daring us to identify with Carrie’s decision, to push our empathy so far it nearly snaps. And then it reminds us of the horrors present in her choice, lets us see how she might consider she is doing to be somehow merciful.”

Gail: I still can’t believe she called the hunky Russian kill team. Before this episode aired, if you would’ve seen this screenshot, you would’ve thought Saul had a stroke or something and Carrie had just found him. And you would have thought that because, like Saul, we trust Carrie implicitly, to a fault. (P.S. Where can I get that floor lamp?)

Sara: Carrie is literally on hands and knees pleading with Saul, begging him to tell her his asset’s name. We can feel all her urgency, her desperation, her exasperation. And Saul, in stunning contrast, is still as ever. 

Sara: Again, Carrie hovers over him. I love that Saul is forced to look at her. 

Gail: In season four when Carrie goes to get Saul in the prisoner exchange, she gives him back his glasses to put on, which in essence gives his power back to him. Without his glasses throughout the series, Saul has found himself powerless, just like he is here. A prisoner in his own home in his most private space.

Gail: Carrie’s last card to play with Saul isn’t an empty threat, it is a plea. With the only power he has left, she needs him to speak the name of his asset. But the bridge has already been burned and his last words to her solidify it.

Sara: The last thing Saul ever says to Carrie on Homeland is “go fuck yourself,” and that hits deep. Mandy Patinkin is exquisite here. He’s unable to move his face or body; all his emotion and feeling are funneled through his eyes. The look in his eyes here is haunting. It is pure betrayal.  

Ashley: The “go fuck yourself” hits doubly hard, because he hasn’t said a word to her since the serum kicked in. Carrie made it a point to ask whether he’d be able to speak after she dosed him — this is all he said.

Sara: While Saul stares her down, she can’t even look at him. I thought Claire played this so perfectly. She has to cycle through a half dozen emotions--disappointment, shame, denial, to name a few--in a matter of seconds. She makes it look easy. God, it’s been such a gift to see these two act on our screens weekly for the last eight years. 

Gail: Carrie isn’t just turning away from Saul here, she’s turning away from life as she knew it. And like Sara said, the range of emotions that we see Carrie cycle through in a matter of seconds is a master class in acting by Claire Danes.

Sara: And now Carrie goes to see Saul’s sister, a mirror of the scene with Maggie earlier in the episode. It was so unexpected to bring back Dorit for the final episode, and it totally works. Really inspired writing. 

Ashley: I’m kind of disappointed that Saul and Dorit were together in the flash-forward. I would have liked for Dorit’s only interaction to be with Carrie, as Maggie’s was with Saul.

Gail: I’m not disappointed that Saul was reunited with Dorit. I find it fitting. Life has moved on. Saul was given an opportunity to repair his fractured relationship with his sister and he took it. Carrie made choices that will forever keep her from repairing her relationship with Maggie. It’s another reminder of the price Carrie paid and will continue to pay for as long as she lives.

Ashley: Okay, good point.

Sara: I’m fucked up about this all over again. 

Sara: The brilliant irony of the entire second act of the episode is that while Carrie does have to literally pretend Saul is dead, in a very real and true way he has died for her. Again, the best lies are 95% true. Her relationship with Saul at that point, having crossed the line she did the previous night, is potentially destroyed forever. She grieves for him here in a very real way. 

Sara: I only included this because the woman young Saul Berenson is holding is Mandy Patinkin’s actual wife, Kathryn Grody. If you haven’t checked out their quarantine content, get on that. 

Sara: I love how an envelope with Carrie’s name on it has played such a pivotal role in three of this show’s eight season finales. 

Gail: We need a side-by-side of this envelope and Quinn’s letter. The similarities aren’t only between the way her name is written and the handwriting itself. They also contain intensely personal messages for Carrie, who Saul and Quinn both trusted with their lives and cared for dearly. There is probably also a parallel to the ways in which they both saw her and in the ways she betrayed them both (real or imagined).

Sara: Someone’s gonna request that gifset in 3, 2, 1... 

Gail: Dorit is the last person Carrie sees from her “old” life. I think Carrie is grieving that as much as she is grieving Saul here.

Sara: In this moment, Dorit is Carrie’s last link to Saul. There is hesitation here when she hugs her, and then she just gives in and lets the grief of losing Saul wash over her. 

Sara: IJLTP.

Ashley: I like the shot of her creeping in, face only half-visible… it feels like a 24 (drink!) type shot, not a Homeland shot, and the contrast of her coming in to this beautiful bright room from a drab hallway is great.

Gail: Carrie holds all of the power and this time, she doesn’t put the gun down or drop her guard. No needles to the neck this time, Yevgeny!

Sara: I love the complete contrast to the way Carrie approaches Yevgeny in this act versus what we saw from her in the middle third of the season.

Gail: Saul didn’t speak Anna’s name and neither did Carrie. Maybe she couldn’t bring herself to do it. But standing in front of Dorit’s door reiterates just how much choice and power Carrie had. She wasn’t backed into a corner. She didn’t have to give up the asset. She chose to. 

Sara: This is such an excellent shot. Yevgeny’s stance! The gun pointed straight at him. The piece of paper with Anna’s name crumpled on the floor between them. 

Ashley: The paper crumpled on the floor between them is interesting, because this is so important to him — Carrie blew up her entire world to get this name — and it’s just tossed on the floor like a piece of trash.

Sara: Similar to the video call with Yevgeny last week, the camera pushes closer on Saul as the video progresses. And it finally goes to a close-up when he reveals that Anna has been “risking everything for us, everyday.” His words, dripping with irony, are like daggers. 

Gail: The close-ups have been used as a way to see what the character is genuinely thinking or feeling at any moment. This close-up of Saul (with glasses!) shows us just how much he trusted Carrie, and based on the timeline, it was relatively early in their relationship.

Sara: And, again, Carrie can hardly look him in the eye. He’s not physically present, but she still can’t face him. There are a lot of profile shots of Carrie in the second act. I’m not sure if there is symbolic significance to that, maybe that she’s literally been split in two by this ground-shifting decision she’s made. She’s pulled between her patriotism and sense of duty for her country and her loyalty to Saul.

Gail: Carrie feels like there is a gun to her head and puts a metaphorical gun to Saul’s head, and yet Anna is the only one with an actual gun to her head. Everyone feels like they don’t have a choice. The two most important people in Saul’s career seem to have many things in common, including taking matters into their own hands.

Ashley: And look at that dated hardware! She’s surrounded by things that have outlived their usefulness.

Sara: The entire sequence where Anna and Scott Ryan temporarily escape the GRU team is excruciating to watch. Anna is shot here from behind the fence in the basement room. It’s overt and literal imagery illustrating how trapped she is. And yet, despite that, she finds a way to be free, to end the mission on her own terms. We can understand here why Saul wants to protect her so badly. 

Gail: Saul is still without his glasses and without the power to protect Anna.

Sara: Sometimes I forget that in these phone call scenes, someone off-camera is literally just reading the other character’s lines. Mandy and Claire are both tremendous phone call (and green screen) actors. Saul jumping and wincing in pain when he hears the gunshot is heartbreaking. 

Sara: And here, this silent cry. In the span of less than 24 hours he’s lost the two people most important in his life. It gets a little lost in the shuffle of the (admittedly exhilarating) last act of the episode, but there is so much loss peppered throughout this episode. 

Ashley: This moment reminds me of the instant Haqqani shoots Aayan and Carrie jumps. You’re never prepared for that moment, whether you know it’s coming or not.

Gail: The red books are blurry in the background and just out of reach.

Sara: Another profile shot of Carrie. Here, as she watches the fruits of her labor all season long. It’s bittersweet of course. She did “stop a war,” as she earlier claimed she was trying to do. But, in the process, she lost her last remaining “ballasts,” as Claire would say: Saul, and her country. She can never go home again.

Sara: Lots of people turning off TVs this week. Earlier in the episode Carrie turns off the TV in Saul’s kitchen. We don’t need to explain the ~symbolism~ of that. 

Gail: Full disclosure: I did a deep dive on the painting on the mantle. I narrowed it down to something from the medieval times and was feeling discouraged when I took another look at this still from the finale. The menorah, just off to the right of the painting, looks fully lit. The menorah symbolizes light over darkness, something that feels fitting to the end of Carrie’s journey and complements the stained glass religious symbolism of Saul’s house.

Sara: The show has been pulling a Carrie/Brody parallel thread with Carrie and Yevgeny all season long and this scene here really reminds me of Carrie and Brody’s fight in the safe house in “The Star.” Of course, Carrie is now in Brody’s shoes. Just as Carrie couldn’t understand that you can’t redeem one murder by committing another, Yevgeny doesn’t grasp the monumental loss that Carrie is facing now that her relationship with Saul is destroyed. Carrie’s words echo here: 

Carrie: You were asked to do a mission on behalf of your country and you did it? Brody: Is that what you tell yourself? Carrie: That’s what I believe!

Gail: Carrie has done the once-unthinkable: she gave up her daughter so children like this could grow up in a world that isn’t ravaged by nuclear war. Watching them play as if nothing has happened also illustrates that the world still goes round, whether Carrie stops a war or not.

Sara: Carrie watching the young boys play soccer in the street is reminiscent of Carrie watching the two young girls in Kabul in “Designated Driver.” The effect is the same: she’s done it for them, so that they may not grow up in a world decimated by war. But what loss she faces in the process. 

Ashley: Also a reference to Issa playing soccer with Brody; Carrie has given herself mostly over to the… I guess “enemy” is the right word, but I don’t like it. 

Sara: Another profile shot. The single tear dripping from Carrie’s lip reminds me of this quote from James Poniewozik on Claire in “Q&A” (y’all I’m just pulling out ALL the quotes this time):

“As for Danes, she has the less showy part here, but it’s impressively complicated. She demonstrates Carrie in control (her shutting off the cameras shows both sympathy and power), leading Brody through his cover story, taking it apart and then bringing down the hammer—Dana—before walking him to a place where it’s OK for him to confess, telling him that she knows he’s a good man. At the same time, she shows Carrie’s delicate state in the moment, drawing on the feelings for Brody that she has, or at least once had. If she’s fooling Brody with her sympathy now, she’s fooling me too. There’s an almost sexual intimacy to the way these one-time lovers work through the confession: one tear rolling down Brody’s face, a drip of moisture from Carrie’s nose—her nose!—as Brody lies down like he wants to sleep forever.”

Sara: Another TV being turned off!

Sara: Hugh Dancy was so deliciously evil as Zabel, who was a real weasel. His expression here is one of true disappointment that he wasn’t able to wage more war in the Middle East. We don’t see Zabel in the “two years later” coda, but I’m sure he’s a lead contributor at Fox News. 

Gail: Oh for sure, and currently writing his second tell-all book. Maybe he’ll finally bump into Carrie on their book tours.

Sara: I would like to see it.

Sara: I will never this slow pan across Carrie in “two years later” land to reveal her applying mascara. Just… *chef’s kiss*

Sara: First, Yevgeny is leaning, just as always. Second, this apartment! Holy shit! It’s what she deserves dot gif. 

Gail: Hell yes! It’s also what we deserve!

Sara: There is an obvious parallel here to Lynne Reed in season one. Lynne also received a necklace from her ~beau. The irony, of course, is that Lynne was a true victim, and Carrie refuses to be. 

Gail: The first indicator for me that there was something else going on here was this look from Carrie as Yevgeny put the necklace on her. My tin foil hat was DANCING with all of the Lynne Reed parallels!

Ashley: Let’s not consider that parallel, given that Lynne’s necklace was also given to her in good faith by her paramour, and somebody else killed her for it. FOR TERRORISM.

Sara: I really can’t get over how unexpected it is for Carrie to be happy in this moment. The ultimate fakeout. Claire wished for relief for Carrie for years and she finally fucking got it. We all did.

Ashley: I know, and the look on Carrie’s face is so genuine and she might as well have heart eyes.

Gail: I still can’t believe it and it’s almost been a month since the finale aired.

Gail: What a view. So many windows reiterating just how out in the open her life with Yevgeny really is. You know what they say about people in glass houses...

Sara: Look at all the edible food on the countertops! I spy some vinegars, apples, oranges, salt and pepper. Yevgeny probably cooks for Carrie every night. Also, of course, the apartment is stunning. Gotta love that GRU money. I wonder how much Carrie’s book advance was. 

Ashley: Sara, just write the fic already.

Sara: I love the Franny photo showing up again. We know Alex Gansa loves symmetry and this is one of the better moments of symmetry in the series. It is heartbreaking, though. This was Carrie’s daily reminder as she was writing in her office of why she was doing it. 

We also need to note the books on Carrie’s desk, which are all actually Alex Gansa’s and were used throughout the series’ run for research.

Gail: I love that Carrie’s curtains are open and you can see the outside from her office. The skyline looks busy and beautiful. Her work is no longer hidden in closets or illegally in her living room. She is letting the world in on her secrets, but not quite into her office. All of the seats but hers are filled with her work. If this office is a sneak peek at her mindset, she is thriving (she has PLANTS--PLURAL!), she is organized, and she is most certainly keeping herself busy. Front and center on her desk is Franny, who I’m sure is always at the forefront of her mind.

Sara: The production design in this office is incredible. First, it looks like an office Carrie would have. All the papers and books scattered about, and yet somehow organized (everything is in mostly neat piles). 

I love the Russian doll at the far right of Carrie’s desk. It is a perfect metaphor for Carrie. A person inside a person inside a person inside a person. 

Ashley: It would have been criminal not to see one more Carrie wall. I would have sued.

Gail: This is the CIA wall where Carrie was finally able to get Brody the recognition she felt he deserved. Quinn too. Carrie has spent the last four seasons trying to answer for all of the blood on her hands, and in writing her book, maybe she can finally atone for some of it.

Sara: This is a searing, unforgettable image. The black ghost on the poster that reads “LEGACY OF TORTURE” stands out among the ocean of white paper. And what a legacy Carrie confronts here. The wall itself is filled with ghosts of all kinds: Warner, Brody, Dante, Quinn, Keane. And then there’s her real-life counterpart Ed Snowden, rendered in the ironically patriotic colors of America’s flag (or, again, is it Russia’s?) staring right back at her. 

Sara: So many details. Thanks to Lesli Linka Glatter, we know that the post-its on the window are the chapter titles of Carrie’s book and actual episode titles throughout the series. All the attention to detail here is mesmerizing. 

Gail: Sara gets her pretty, happy Carrie and I get my Spy Carrie. The post-it notes and easter eggs are the cherry on top of an already amazing series finale. Carrie taking a moment to look around the room at her old life while her new one is literally right outside her door waiting is so poignant.

Sara: We had it on the bingo card and it finally happened! The closing score from “The Star” plays over this scene, and if there’s one piece of music in Homeland that can easily conjure the emotions of loss, it’s this. At the end of “The Star,” Carrie is forced to pay tribute to Brody in her own private way. Now, she’s about to tell her own story to the entire world. 

Gail: By the end of “The Star” Brody had lost everything, including his life, and by the end of “Prisoners of War,” so has Carrie, albeit only metaphorically. When she drew Brody’s star on the wall at the CIA it was an act of defiance, of doing what she felt was right in her heart. Here she is again, defying the CIA and doing what she feels is right. The symmetry of it is breathtaking, especially with that gorgeous score from Sean Callery playing throughout.

Sara: One final Saul over-the-shoulder shot of the season (I mean series... sob)!

Sara: I love the little moments in the last act that give meaning and color to their life together. Her raised-eyebrow look at him as he’s grooving to the jazz is perfect. Carrie finally found a man who loves jazz as much as she does and that’s beautiful. 

Gail: Sharing her love of jazz music with Yevgeny seems symbolic of how much she’s let him into her life and into who she really is.

Sara: Never in 400,000 years would I think Homeland would feature a live musical performance on its show. Kamasi Washington was incredible. It’s such a perfect callback and tribute to the bones and DNA of the show. 

Gail: Russian hearts are breaking all over Moscow tonight.

Sara: Legendaric. 

Sara: The way the light hits Carrie here is gorgeous. There is symbolism to the fact that Yevgeny is completely in the dark. She looks at him, searching. 

Ashley: This shot is just really really really really really really (really to the power of infinity) beautiful.

Gail: “Somewhere down there, there’s a tiny sliver of green just taking its time. This is how everything works. You wait. You lay low. And then you come to life.”

Sara: GAIL.

Sara: This was probably unintentional, but I was struck by the symmetry of Carrie ascending and descending the staircase in the theater just as she did in the first act of the episode, repeatedly, in Saul’s house. It feels very fitting to me. In the beginning, she’s destroying her relationship with Saul. Now, she’s attempting to rebuild it. 

Gail: Carrie beginning to rebuild her relationship with Saul in a place like this, surrounded by religious symbolism, feels right. She leaves the shadows of her place in the audience and steps into the light.

Gail: The last time we saw Carrie look into a mirror she didn’t have time to shower or put any effort into her appearance. Now Carrie seems to have all the time in the world because girlfriend looks AMAZING.

Sara: More Lynne Reed parallels, this time with the purse swap, which bears a striking resemblance to the compact swap in “Grace.” I love that both Carrie and Saul have consistent means of communication with their assets. Saul’s is so perfectly him and Carrie’s is so perfectly her. 

Sara: This image of Carrie is haunting and arresting. The camerawork is brilliant here; Saul angles the book slightly upward, and we’re looking over Saul’s shoulder. The effect is that Carrie is staring straight back at Saul and straight back at the audience, piercing us. This is me, this is my story, her face seems to say.

Gail: I’m sure they were going for a similar look to Snowden’s book, but I love the black and white image of Carrie that they used, stripped of all color and (seemingly) of all allegiance.

Sara: The title, of course, is perfection. That they came up with the idea of this book in a day is quite miraculous as it seems so fitting and right for it to have been this. The subtitle “Why I Had to Betray My Country” is biting and direct and exactly Carrie. You can totally picture this in a bookstore (in the bestseller section, natch).

Sara: This dedication to Franny is simple but gutting. Above all else, it tells us that Carrie’s book and the story told within are real. She extends a hand to Saul with the note in the spine. And she extends a hand to her daughter with this short sentiment. I’m struck by how much of this show has been about Carrie’s struggle to be understood, to be believed. It’s heartbreaking that at the end she has to fight for this from her own child. This is one of the real tragedies of her story, but it makes her “finishing” feel all the more cathartic. This is Carrie’s truth.

Sara: The book is both the mechanism by which Carrie delivers her first piece of intelligence to Saul and a vehicle for her to tell her story, which includes betraying him. The irony and contradiction in that is Homelandian as hell, and completely fitting. So many things in this episode just make sense. They feel exactly as they should. What a rare gift they gave us. 

Gail: When Carrie and Saul get gifts, so do we!

Gail: I love that while everything was packed and emptied, his secret spy gear was still hidden inside his desk drawer.

Sara: Saul’s hand shaking as he reads the message is a specific detail that I really love.

Sara: Carrie’s final words to Saul, and to the audience, are “Stay tuned.” It’s masterful. 

Gail: “Hopeful-ish.”

Sara: Magic.

Gail: Pure magic.

Gail: Finally, a smile on Homeland where everything doesn’t immediately go to shit after!

Sara: In this moment the notes of jazz are repeating over and over, in higher and higher pitches. There is a sense of being trapped or repeating old patterns. Then the saxophone stutters. It wails, finally free. Carrie can’t help but smile. A secret only she knows. 

Sara: Saul grins, exhilarated. Somehow, improbably, Carrie has found a way to surprise him one final time. Earlier in this episode, Carrie’s burned it all down. Now, the light comes in. The white light streaming in from the windows, illuminating Saul from behind, gives this moment a feeling of near-religious importance. How extraordinary to believe again. 

Sara: Carrie’s contented sigh here reminds me of other moments she’s had that, like Saul’s, seem almost religious in nature. Bathed in the soft blue light and ensconced in the warmth of her music, we feel her sense of true belonging. We feel her catharsis, her relief. This is exactly where she should be.

Gail: I spoke about this in the finale podcast, but there is something to be said about watching a television series every week over eight seasons. There is an intimacy to television that builds week-to-week as the show is watched in people’s homes. We’ve gotten to know these characters, and for better or worse, we have taken a piece of ownership over them. In order for a television show to really work, that transference needs to happen and it needs to be authentic. The trick is for that balance to stay intact. Very few shows have achieved that balance long-term and even fewer have maintained it through their conclusions. Homeland didn’t kill off characters for the sake of doing so but instead gave us an ending that stayed true to the show and the characters we have come to love--an ending that was filled with loss but somehow still gave us hope. It was pure magic. It’s something I’ll never forget and something I will forever use to compare all other shows to. 

This last image of Carrie, bathed in the light of a new beginning, is a new beginning for us as viewers too. In ending the show, they didn’t take Carrie away from us, they gave her to us. Beautiful and as whole as she’s ever been. And like Sara said... what a thing it is to believe again... Thank you, Homeland. Ashley: This was a good television show.

Sara: The most shocking thing this show ever did was not killing off a half dozen beloved characters but centering its protagonist and heroine in its final moments in a moment of, dare we say, happiness and hope. Despite the utter unexpectedness of that decision, it never feels anything but honest and true. Carrie fought, she struggled, she stumbled, she lost. She lost so, so much. 

She smiles here, on the other side of it, able to finally see it all. The saxophones and keys and drums and voices drown out everything, they whir into an unmistakable commotion. And we feel this, her final, confounding truth... 

In the chaos, her peace. 

[forlornmelody]

Three Robins Rose Has Kissed And The One Who Kissed Back

Rating: Explicit (there’s smut, and lots of swearing, and some implied drug use.)

Fandom(s): DC Comics

Ship: JayRose (Jason Todd/Rose Wilson)

AO3 Link: Here

Summary: Rose Wilson has a type and it is former protégés of Batman.

Note:  For the sake of this story, I'm assuming both the events of the Crisis continuity, and the New 52, happened. (But we're just gonna pretend DC didn't nerf Rose for daddy-fodder, kay? Kay.)

-*-*-

“Rose.” Nightwing stares down at her, narrowing his eyes, but his grin betrays him. “Something tells me you’re doing this on purpose.”

“What makes you say that?” The mat presses up against Rose’s back.

“That’s the third time today I’ve swept you off your feet.” Dick’s got her in a full nelson, one of his escrima sticks pointed at her throat. He’s not actually going to bust her, though. Nightwing, the former Boy Wonder, is too good for that sort of thing. It frustrates her to no end. 

“Maybe I need more practice.” Rose can’t help the playful lilt creeping into her voice. The blue and black look good on him--better because they hug his body in all the right places. All she has to do is tilt her hips--there. One flip and Rose leans over him, pressing both his wrists against the mat. 

“You? You’re better than this.” Somehow it sounds like Dick is commenting on more than her training room flirting tactics, and the smile slips from her face. Like he hasn’t hit on half his opponents already. Hypocrite. She’ll show him. 

Time slows as Rose closes in, so close she can hear Dick’s heart speeding up. Just as her lips are about to brush against his--Dick turns his head and her kiss lands on his cheek. “Oh come on.” Just like that--Dick’s on his feet, launching Rose off him.

“Focus, Rose.” 

Their sparring session continues, and Dick never once brings up the kiss. He drives her crazy, in more ways than one, but she seems to have him off-balance for now. Rose presses her advantage, and she pins Dick face-first against the Robin costume on display. Freezing, Dick sucks in a breath. Before Rose can ask what’s wrong, he shoves his elbow into her sternum, pushing her away. 

“Dick?” 

“Not now.” He doesn’t even look at her as he slams the door behind him. 

What’s his hang-up with his old costume, anyway? 

-----

Rose’s only on this team because of Dick, because even though he doesn’t lead the Titans anymore, what he says goes. Even when the Titans hate his decision. Even when they hate their newest member with a passion. Even though she tried to kill them before. 

But Rose knows more than just martial arts. And she knows just how to get under Tim’s skin. Or on top of it, rather. 

Click. Tim’s got her pressed face-first against the mattress and her hands cuffed behind her back. Somehow Rose suspects this isn’t a bondage thing. Too bad. She really liked the feel of Tim’s lips against hers. 

“Hot damn.” Eddie stares at them through the open door and Rose can literally see steam coming out of his ears. That might be normal for him. Rose hasn’t been paying attention, at least not before now. 

“It’s not what it looks like,” Tim says quickly.

“Yes it is,” Rose says even quicker. Sometimes Rose’s visions don’t help much. People’s choices determine the future and people can be oh so finicky. It drives her nuts. Fights are one thing--people either want to kill her or they don’t--the rest they have ingrained through practice or the lack thereof. Knowing whether someone wanted to get in her pants--well. Apparently, she hasn’t quite figured that one out. 

Tim pulls her cuffs off, extracting himself from the bed and putting some distance between them. “Put some clothes on.” Damn. She’s 0-2.

But with the way Eddie’s eyes linger on her as she slides her armor on? Maybe it’s not a total loss. 

----

First Stephanie giggles, and Rose can hear it echo across Gotham’s rooftops. “What are you doing?” Then her smile slips, and the silence is deafening. 

Rose leans in closer, both their asses teetering on the edge. “You and Tim are on a break, right?” Her lips part, and she can smell the lavender in Spoiler’s shampoo. Their breaths intermingle and she’s so close to--

“Rose, I’m straight.”

“Seriously??”

----

Honestly, Rose had given up trying at this point. Jason Todd--Gotham’s best, or perhaps worst bad boy--should have been an easy target. Except he wasn’t Rose’s target, not this time. Her employer wanted Roy Harper out of the picture--Jason was just in her way. And he rarely left his best friend out of his sight. And Rose thought Koriand’r would’ve been more of a problem. And with her out of town--possibly out of planet--this should have been a piece of cake. Just get off The Red Hood’s radar by getting into his pants. How hard could it be?

Way harder than Rose ever imagined. 

But the price on Roy’s head? Too high to pass up. With that kind of money, Rose would be set for life. No more relying on her dear dad to help with bills every so often. Or his car. Or his safehouses. She could even get her brother the care and protection money to keep him away from all those bent government agencies and mad scientists who wanted to dissect his brain, or worse, use him for their own ends. 

So, Rose stayed. Even after Jason turned her down, more than once. 

The first time, it’s on a mission in Hong Kong, where Rose just so happens to be going after the same target. The Jade Dragon--Kingpin and Slum Lord who owned half the Indian Ocean. Roy waits for them on the roof with their getaway ride, and Rose joins Jason in the elevator. Halfway up it just so happens to stall. She really outdoes herself. 

Jason’s blue eyes stare not at her, but at the emergency hatch. The back-up lights cast a soft glow on his skin as Rose closes in. “It’s probably a power failure. No way they don’t have backup generators in this place.”

“Yeah. But they don’t run the elevator when the power goes out--in case of a fire.”

Jason swears under his breath, eyeballing the distance from his feet to the ceiling. “So what. We’ve got about ten, maybe twenty minutes before they fix it?”

“Something like that.” Rose touches his shoulder. “Relax. Where’s your slumlord going to go? The roof?” The stairs don’t go to his penthouse. She checked. Something about a security risk. Rich wackos like him like to be airlifted out in case of emergency. 

Pressing his lips together, Jason lets out the breath he’s being holding for two minutes. “You’re right.” He slumps against the back of the elevator, staring at buttons like they’ve personally wronged him. “I just hate waiting.”

Rose slouches next to him, not quite touching him, but close enough to where they can feel each other’s heat. “I know how we can pass the time.”

Jason blinks, finally giving Rose more than a passing glance. “...You’re kidding, right?” He laughs softly, and it’s the softest she’s ever seen his expression. “We just met.”

The batkid who got hired for jacking the Batmobile’s hubcaps, who had a reputation of going just a little too far when beating up bad guys, who actually killed more than one villain who got under his skin. Jason Todd--the guy on ten international watch lists--a prude. Who knew? 

----

Except Jason isn’t really a prude, now is he? Nah. Rose’s caught him stealing glances at Kori more than once--always looking the other way when Kori’s boytoy Roy stands nearby. Hell, the way Jason and Roy fool around sometimes—Rose’s not completely convinced of the joke. She’s even found some saucy text messages in his phone, and more than one picture of a gorgeous flight attendant. An old flame--Rose guesses. 

But he doesn’t spare her a second glance. 

And it’s not like Rose doesn’t know what she’s doing. Infiltration isn’t her favorite--she’d much rather blow up The Starfire with a heavy payload. Simple. Quick. A big, beautiful explosion to light some fire in her eyes. But the fucking employer wants Roy’s head as proof. Says he and his friends tend to walk away from this sort of thing. Her employer seemingly has all the time and money in the world--so long as Rose completes the job. She’s starting to wonder what Roy did to piss him off. But she knows how to get under a guy’s skin--the right clothes, the right words, simple gestures to lure him in. 

The second time it’s after the mission, when they’re celebrating with drinks--with sparkling cider instead of alcohol (what is it with these guys?) Rose dons a bikini with his favorite colors--red and black and lounges on the deck chair next to Jason. Roy and Kori have the right idea--already having forgotten their bubbly beverages--drinking instead from each other’s lips. And Jason’s staring up at the stars. 

 Rose kind of envies him in that moment, floating on the water with nothing but wonder on his face. She swan dives at the opposite end, swimming her way toward him. The splash does stir his floaty, and Jason turns over to glance her way. Maybe, just maybe she has a chance. 

“Nice moves out there today. You dad teach you that?”

Rose shrugs. “My mom taught me a few things, too.” Mostly how to draw in close without her mark noticing. But nothing seems to slip Jason’s attention. 

Jason eyes her as her arms brace themselves on his thigh. “You really want me, don’t you.”

“Can’t fault a girl for trying.” And damn her, he’s gorgeous, and cut like a rock. Was it all his years in the batcave or his time with the All-Caste? 

But that’s not want hooks Rose the most. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not like that.” It’s the softness in his eyes. She’s only seen it a couple of times in the past few days, but each time he looks at his friends like that Rose swears she’s being let in on a big secret. 

“Do not tell me you’re gay.”

Jason laughs, laughs, and Rose immediately knows she’s in too deep. “Gay? Straight? Labels. Who needs ‘em?” He stretches out on the pool mattress, and he lets the leg Rose’s leaning on slip into the water. “They’re just more rules.” 

“Then why…?” Rose doesn’t say it. Doesn’t voice the rejection sinking into her brain. Admitting it out loud would mean admitting failure, and Rose Wilson does not fail. 

Shrugging, Jason murmurs. “Don’t know you well enough, yet.”

----

Rose should’ve given up at this point. Gone for the easier kill, damn the consequences. Just snapped Roy’s neck while Kori was in the shower. And why hasn’t she? She hasn’t the foggiest idea. But if she’s honest with herself--Rose knows exactly why. 

Roy is Jason’s best friend. 

Jason would never forgive her if he found out. 

And why does it matter if Jason hates her? 

Damnit, Rose. 

This was exactly the kind of fucked up shit her dad warned her about. Don’t stick around too long. Don’t make friends. Don’t let your mark get under your skin. And what did Rose do? Exactly that.

Her employer doesn’t care if she seduces Jason Todd or not, so why does Rose? 

Damn it all to fucking hell. 

Rose beats the hell out of the punching bag, shaking the chain it hangs from with every strike. Each punch she lands inspires a new idea. Slip some arsenic in his drink. Stab him from behind. Throw him off the roof of the ship. Press a pillow into his face. Snap his neck. Snap his fucking--

“Rose?”

Her fist freezes midair, and she pants, not bothering to turn around. “Yeah?”

“It’s Roy. Something’s happened.”

Fuck. “Is he dead?”

Jason’s eyes tighten as he shakes his head. “We need to find him. Fast.”

Shit. Shit. Shit. 

----

Rose should be happy. Roy did all her hard work for her. Someone found him while he was on a bender, tied him up, and has been carving up his skin as if the answers themselves will bleed right out. 

Amateurs. A professional knows only to interrogate a sober target. Establish a baseline of what the hostage knows and then break them down with intoxication if need be. Break them slowly, only as much as needed. Dead hostages can’t answer questions. 

“Arsenal?” Jason whispers, tilting up Roy’s chin. He doesn’t respond, and his head flops down, heavy against his chest. 

Kory shoots the nearest window, a low growl escaping from her throat as glass shards rain down the side of the building. Rose jumps a little, despite herself. She doesn’t want to imagine being on the receiving end of one of those star bolts. 

“C’mon, Roy. Answer me.” Rose never thought she’d hear Jason beg, not like that. She can’t stand it. 

Walking over, Rose check’s Roy’s pulse and sighs in relief. It’s sluggish, almost too faint to feel. Rose could put him out of his misery right here and now and his friends would have no idea who killed him. Just slip her knife in to hit his artery and bam. Problem solved. Her fingers slip toward the knife on her belt, but Jason’s pleading gaze stops her cold. 

“Is he…?” Oh fuck. Jason has tears welling in his eyes. 

“Alive.” Rose can just see the barrel of the gun her employer will use to tie up loose ends. “Not for long, though.”

Between the three of them, Jason, Rose, and Kory carry Roy back to the ship where they can apply first aid, and the ship’s alien technology can perform a synthetic blood transfusion. Roy’s pulse slowly returns to something recognizable, and Rose sinks in her seat. She’s deciding between her safe houses when Jason’s fingers graze her jaw. 

Rose jumps out of her seat, using everything in her power not to deck him in the face. “The fuck…?”

“Hey.” Oh. Jason’s nose is so close to hers that she can feel his breath on her face. She can smell the mint he just put in his mouth. Never once did Rose imagine Jason could be such a sap. The heat of his fingers sears her skin, but she doesn’t pull away. Rose dares a glance down his lips and when she looks back up Jason’s already tilting his head to meet hers. 

His kiss is softer than she expects, lightly brushing his lips over hers, holding her jaw just enough so she can slip away if she wants to. Rose freezes, never expecting this after all this time, all those refusals. Jason starts to pull back before her brain finally stops dividing by zero, and she grabs the back of his neck, crushing her lips against his. Swearing softly, Jason meets her tit for tat, and they stumble out of the med bay and into the hall. 

Rose presses him against the wall, slipping her hands inside the opening of his favorite jacket, feeling the heat rising off his chest and the rush of his heartbeat. Part of her still expect to wake up from this dream in her bed alone, heart hammering, skin flushed, thighs damp with need. She mouths a silent prayer into his lips, to the god she never bothers to answer to, pleading to make the dream real, just this once. 

Jason’s hands wander across her shoulders, down her arms, and around her hips to her back. Rose steps between his legs, pushing his jacket off his shoulders. Breaking for air, Jason’s words come out ragged. “We...we should pick a room. Yours or mine?”

Instead of answering him with words, Rose guides him to his door and shoves him inside, tossing his jacket to the floor. Jason stares at her breathlessly, and she hesitates. “Too much?”

“Never.” His fingers wind in her hair, pulling her back into another kiss.

Rose drinks him in like she’s parched for thirst, scratching the edge of his hairline from the tips of his ears to the base of his skull. Jason sucks in a breath and Rose grins into his mouth. She tastes him, gasping softly as his fingers twist in her curls, pulling at her hair just enough. HIs other hand wanders just south of her waist and he freezes. Stepping back, Rose loosens her hold, looking him over from head to toe. 

Jason pants, taking her in too. “...Are we…?”

Leaning against the closed door, Rose folds her arms. “Are we what, Jason?”

“Is this a onetime thing or…” Jason’s eyes trail back in the direction of the hospital room and suddenly the tension between him and the other Outlaws make a lot more sense. 

Damnit. “I’m a merc, Jason.” Really, she should be happy with the kiss, more than the kiss, but this--former Robin proves hard to let go of. “I’ve stayed here too long as it is.”

Jason’s eyes narrow ever so slightly and Rose plasters on her poker face, hoping he hasn’t found her out tonight of all nights. “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Push me away.” His voice wavers as he speaks, and Rose’s heart plummets to her stomach. Damn him. 

“What do you want from me?” And damn her too, that waver is apparently contagious. 

Jason steps closer, sliding his hand in to cup her jaw, the edge of his thumb grazing the bottom of her cheek. “I don’t want to just fuck, Rose.” His eyes close, and he brushes his nose against hers. “I want to--” He clamps his mouth shut, trembling slightly in his touch. 

The word teeters on the edge of his tongue, but it doesn’t come out, so Rose pulls it out with a snarl. “Loving me will get you killed, Jason.”

A sloppy grin forms on his face, and Jason nods at her. “Death isn’t as final as you think.”

“So what. You’re immortal now?” She’s grinning too, and she knows she’s fallen too far to get back up.

Jason brushes his lips against hers. “I sure feel like I am when I’m around you.” His next kiss probes deeper, and one hand tugs on her elbow. “Stay. After this is over.”

Her answer is right there, just inside her mouth, but Rose says something else instead. “Oh? You’re that sure I’m a good fuck?”

His lips smack against hers. “I’m not here to fuck you.”

“Jason--”

He silences her with a finger, and then he traces the edge of her lips with his fingertip. Rose resists the urge to pull it into her mouth and suck on it. She’s doomed. “I’m here to make love to you.”

Rose swallows, freezing on the spot. “I can’t promise you anything.”

His smile slips, and she desperately wants to put it back on his face. Rose doesn’t want to break his heart, not anymore. “Rose--”

“No one can.” Tracing the space where his heart hammers in his chest, Rose whispers softly. “Someone could break in ten minutes from now and shoot me in the head.” Standing up on her tiptoes, she kisses his forehead. “Nothing’s guaranteed.” Then she kisses the back of his hand. “Doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it while it lasts.”

Jason watches her, his face inscrutable as ever. 

Shit. Did I make things worse? Rose opens her mouth to murmur another apology but Jason kisses her before she can say a word. He pulls her close, his hands seemingly everywhere at once, and yet she craves more of him. Daring to slide her hand up Jason’s shirt, she grins into his lips as he leans heavily into her touch, a groan escaping from his lips despite himself. She grazes the lines of his abdomen with her nails. “Oh,” Rose says softly. 

Jason Todd. Blushing. As he watches her. “Like what you see?” he says just as soft. 

“I haven’t seen anything yet.” She ducks down, pushing up his shirt and following its path with her mouth. 

“Fuck.” One of his wandering hands finds its way back to her hair, holding her head as she breathes against his stomach. “Rose.”

Rose stands up, grinning against his collarbone. “Getting there.” She finds the hollow where his neck meets his shoulder and lavishes her attention there, charged by the tightening of his grip. 

Jason pushes her to arm’s length, taking a ragged breath. He drags down the zipper of her jacket, taking in the sight of her skin inch by inch. Rose presses into his touch, admittedly reddening a bit herself. His lips part with hunger, but it's the wonder in his eyes that stops her in place—like he sees the stars flickering across her skin.  With his fingers he traces the scar on her shoulder and the ones that line her arms. Sucking in a breath, he circles the mark of a bullet on her chest. “That must’ve hurt.”

“Like hell.” Rose mutters, only to gasp when Jason presses his lips against it. “Jason.”

“Shh,” he says softly, breathing in her scent as he edges his fingers beneath her bra and the plastron it holds. He traces a path up her neck and across her throat until he makes it to her ear. “Let me take care of you.”

Why does the thought of him being gentle make her heart beat faster?  Part of her wants him to have his way, and take his time exploring her body. Another, much louder part wants to rile him until he takes her fast and hard. Rose grabs the edge of his shirt, looking up at Jason. He nods, and she bites her lips as she pulls it over his head. 

Holy shit. 

Rose thought she had a lot of scars. Jason has so many she doesn’t even know where to start. There are the bullet marks, the punctures, the rhythmic signs of torture, the line going up the side of his neck and into his hairline where a crowbar must’ve bashed his head in. It’s not until Jason tilts her chin up that Rose realizes she’s been holding her breath. “I’m still here,” he whispers, pulling her into another kiss. She wonders how many times he’s kissed Death on the lips, only to pull back when it wanted him most. 

“Soon, you’ll in bed.” She grins against his lips, finding the latch on his belt. “Booby traps? Really?”

He laughs once, running a hand down her breast, feeling the softness of her skin there. “Safety first.” When he gets to the lines of her abdomen, he swallows, drawing a grin from Rose’s mouth. 

Stepping back, Rose eyes the latch, her brain already processing the potential catastrophes, and the configurations that would enable them. “Gotcha.” The belt clicks open, without a single explosion or poison released. 

Jason blinks at her as she sets the belt aside. “I can’t decide if that’s hot or terrifying.”

Rose stands up on her tiptoes, whispering in his ear. “Why not both?” She punctuates her question with a bite on his ear lobe. The rumble of his groan stirs her chest, sending shockwaves between her legs. Hooking her thumbs in his belt loops, Rose pulls him closer, grinding up against him. 

“Rose--” He says, in pleading or in warning, Rose isn’t quite sure.

“What do you want, Jay?” She runs the tip of her tongue up the ridge, shivering at the way his ragged breaths stir her hair. 

“Bed,” he says hoarsely, “now.” He pulls her with him, and they tumble into the sheets, boots still on. 

It’s a race, then, to see who can get the other’s off the fastest. Four thunks, laughs, and tangled sheets later, Rose climbs up his body, guiding his hands to her belt. Jason’s removed plenty of belts, that Rose is sure, but it’s like he deliberately fumbles his hands against her skin, just so he has an excuse to graze his knuckles there. And damn him, her skin jumps every time. Fine. She’ll make him lose track for real. Rose plants a wet kiss against his lips, running her hands down his shoulders and his arms, guiding his fingers until her belt clangs against his bookshelf before sliding to the floor. “Better,” she murmurs. 

Jason runs his fingertips along the edge of her jeans, drawing his touch up and down her spine. “I could stare at you for hours, you know that?”

Rose snorts. “I can think of better ways to spend your time.”

Tilting his chin in challenge, Jason sits back. “Oh? Like what?”

Biting her bottom lip, Rose catches his wandering hand, and takes it to the button of her jeans. “Lemme show you.”

Jason holds his breath, unbuttoning her jeans and drawing the zipper down. He’s so quiet Rose starts to doubt what her late-night visions have been telling her for months. Maybe they weren’t her precognition talking. Maybe they’re just the wet dreams so many guys and girls have had ever since Jason donned a mask. Searching his eyes, Rose says, “We can stop--”

Holding her gaze, Jason replies, “I don’t want to.” HIs fingers follow hers inside her jeans and inside her underwear, and he sucks in a breath. “Shit, you’re wet.”

Rose blushes, despite herself. “You really all that surprised?” She presses his fingers in slow, small circles, holding onto the headboard behind him for balance. Then she moves his touch faster, harder, gasping against his shoulder. “Nn, fuck.” 

“Breathe.” Jason chuckles softly, pressing a kiss into her shoulder. He moves his fingers more independently now while she’s distracted. And Rose breathes him in, awash in gunpowder and amber, and that salty scent he bears after a fight. Always so uniquely Jason Todd that the smell of it sends Rose right over the edge. He shakes them both with his laughter. “And our pants aren’t even off yet.”

“Shut up.” Rose pulls back to look at him.

He smirks. “Make me.”

Jason doesn’t need to say it twice. Rose assaults his lips with hers, pushing him down into the mattress. Making quick work of his jeans, she pulls them down as he shimmies out of them. Boxers briefs, huh? They’re just a simple grey with a black waist band--for some reason she’d expected some sort of smart-alecy words printed on them.  Sliding down, she runs the tip of her nose up the line of his bulge, grinning as he writhes beneath her. While she sits up, Rose edges her fingers inside, feeling along his length, breathing in Jason’s unsteady gasps. Always so coy and cocky, and now he can’t form a single word. “Cat got your tongue?” she murmurs against his ear. 

Jason turns his head, kissing her long and deep, rolling them over. Rose lifts her hips so he can get her jeans off, and he kisses just south of her belly button. “Mm.” Glancing up at her, Jason grins, kissing harder against that spot, lavishing his tongue until she squirms beneath him. But she doesn’t beg, not yet. The lines in his back are coiled tight, so tight his body might burst at the seams, but Jason takes his time, kissing down her hips, her thighs, her calves. Swallowing her whine, Rose reaches for his shoulder, but Jason takes her hands, placing them back at her sides. 

“Patience, Rose.” He silences her protests with a kiss, diving back between her legs, edging them apart so that he has room. His lips find her ankle, the back of her knee, and Rose heart pounds as he gets closer and closer to her underwear. There’s no hiding her need for him now, with the way it soaks the front of her boyshorts. Jason samples the taste of her through the fabric, giving her one long lick. 

“Oh fuck.” Rose gasps and twists, and Jason has to hold her down with one arm slung across her abs. He peels her underwear off, testing her with different pressures and strokes. Every so often, she catches him looking up at her, assuring himself he’d doing it just the way she likes. Her insides clench, and she twists in bliss, but Jason doesn’t stop, only pausing briefly to come up for air. Even then, his fingers fill in while he wipes his mouth.

“Shh.” He whispers against her mouth, reaching over into his bedside drawer for a condom. Did she say something? 

“Yeah?” Rose asks, and her voice comes out hoarse. Fuck, she must’ve been screaming. While he slides on the condom, she’s reaching over for a bottle of water, downing half of it without giving a fuck to whom drank from it last.

Jason returns to her, surprisingly shy when they’re so close to merging their bodies. He gives her one chaste kiss, then another, letting her lead the pace. She winds one hand around the back of his neck, scratching the skin at the base of his skull. The other she uses to thumb the scar next to his eyebrow, the sharp line of his jaw, the sheen of sweat running down his neck to his collarbone, and that delicious line that runs down to the thatch between his legs. Guiding him inside her, Rose closes her eyes, letting his groan wash over her shoulder. 

Rose traces circles across his back as he thrusts in and out, only to grip his shoulder when he picks up the pace. Jason grins against her mouth, sliding his hand between them, and Rose jolts, clinging to him as she whimpers into his neck. “It’s okay,” he murmurs against her mouth. “You can let go.” His tone meanders between loving and teasing, and maybe for Jason there is no line between them. 

She doesn’t want to, not again before he does. But then Jason has to fucking whisper sweet nothings in her ear. 

“You’re so beautiful when you let go,” he says softly, and her world flashes white, much like it does on the cusp of a vision. Her body coils like a spring, and Rose hooks her ankles around his hips, drawing him deeper inside as she clenches around him. 

Jason’s eyes pinch shut as he loses his tightly held control, and Rose rolls her hips until he falls to her side. “Holy hell,” he gasps softly, muffled by his pillow. 

“Yeah.” Rose shouldn’t, but she can’t help but kiss his left temple, tucking them in and tossing the spent condom aside. 

She spends the night committing every line of his body to memory. And it helps soothe her in the weeks, months, and years ahead. 

---

The next morning, Rose rolls to get closer to him, only to find his side of the bed empty. In his place, Jason left a small, folded piece of paper, and Rose takes her time undoing all the creases. 

Rose,

You’ve no idea how amazing you are. I hope last night isn’t the end of it, but I understand if it is.

--Jason.

Beneath his name, Jason’s inscribed his number, and though Rose memorizes it within seconds, she always keeps the note close, in her utility belt or between her bra and her plastron, next to her beating heart. 

[perlanemesis]

Pairing: Dazai Osamu/Kunikida Doppo Word count: 962 Summary: Kunikida catches cold and stays home for a day. Dazai decides to surprise Kunikida and make him homemade food! Links: ff || ao3 For @kunikidazaiweek, day 2 (Surprise)

Kunikida getting sick was unusual in and itself but him being so sick that he would skip work was unheard of. And yet he had phoned Fukuzawa in the morning apologizing that he cannot come to work due to cold. And this is precisely why Dazai was standing in front of Kunikida's door right now.

Dazai carefully unlocked the door and slipped inside Kunikida's apartment. Though picking the lock wouldn't be a problem, Kunikida had actually given him the key long before they even began dating.  (Mainly to stop Dazai from breaking in.)

The apartment was quiet even though it was still in the middle of the day. Dazai quietly tiptoed to the bedroom (his mafia skills really came in handy at times like this) and as he suspected, Kunikida was actually asleep. The brunet smiled a small genuine smile at his boyfriend, gently closed the bedroom door after leaving and went straight to the kitchen. It was time to do what he came here for!

Dazai has never been known for his cooking skills. Quite the opposite, actually. Once he had made a "peppy hot pot" for Ango and Odasaku. He had meant it to be a prank, not put his friends out of commission for several days. But this time was different! Dazai sincerely wanted to make something nice for Kunikida. Dazai considered his cooking skills (or lack of thereof) and in the end decided to go with a simple rice porridge. It should be easy to make, right?

Dazai unlocked his phone and once again checked the recipe. First, he needed the main ingredient - rice. However since he never cooked (for obvious reasons), he had no idea where Kunikida kept which foods. Luckily Kunikida's cupboards were as organized as the rest of the apartment, so finding the rice ended up being a relatively easy task. Dazai put some rice in a bowl and looked at his phone again. Apparently now he needed to rinse the rice in water. Should be simple enough, he mused.

"Rinse the rice in water. Drain. Repeat until the water is clear," Dazai repeated the instructions under his breath and squinted at the water. Was this clear enough? In his opinion it looked clear, but was it? Should he do it a few more times? Or would that somehow negatively impact the rice? Eventually he decided to rinse the rice two more times and move on to the next step.

The next step turned out to be easiest but also the most boring one. All he had do now was soak the rice for at least 30 minutes. This left Dazai bored and with nothing to do, so he simply began wandering around the kitchen. Then a small piece of paper on the fridge door caught his attention. Dazai took the paper in his hands and a small smiled formed on his face. Written in Kunikida's simple handwriting was a note.

To buy: - 5 cans of crab meat for Dazai

Dazai still wasn't used to being loved so much, having someone to care that much about him. Though they didn't officially live together (yet), Dazai spent a lot of his time at Kunikida's apartment. At some point Kunikida just accepted that and started buying food for two people. Likewise, when Dazai stayed at his own apartment, Kunikida made it a part of his schedule to drop by Dazai's place and drag him to work (both literally and figuratively). This is why he wanted to somehow help Kunikida, too. Especially at a time like this.

Dazai was pulled from his thoughts when he heard his phone vibrating and signaling the end of step "soak the rice". Apparently now he had to drain the water, pour new water and finally get to the main step - boiling. Then Dazai realized he had no idea how tell if the rice was actually boiling or not, so once again he turned to the internet for help. Dazai actually felt rather proud of himself as he watched the pot.

"What are you doing in my kitchen?" suddenly came a voice from behind and Dazai yelped. Normally he would have sensed someone approaching, would have heard kitchen doors open. Besides, Kunikida was sick and didn't even bother to hide his presence or to be quiet.

Dazai pouted. "You should be sleeping."

"I was. I took some medicine, too. Now I feel better, so I came here."

Kunikida glanced over the kitchen. To his surprise the kitchen still looked pretty much the same as he had left it. But then he noticed a pot on a stove.

"What is this?" Kunikida asked and without waiting for an answer, checked the pot.

Dazai continued pouting. "It was supposed to be a surprise."

Well, it certainly was a surprise. But a pleasant one. Kunikida would have never expected his boyfriend to actually cook something for him. Sure, it was just a rice porridge. It did not require any grand cooking skills. Nevertheless, it was a fact that Dazai never cooked and lived off Kunikida's wallet pretty much since joining the Agency. Dazai actually putting in effort made Kunikida happy.

"Thank you, Dazai. Really," Kunkida smiled.

And yet Dazai continued pouting. "No kiss?" he asked.

"You will get sick too," Kunikida sighed and Dazai just grinned.

"Well, then you can take care of me~."

Kunkida sighed again. Dazai was being ridiculous but Kunikida loved him anyway.

"But I don't want you to get sick, so this is all you are getting," Kunkida said as he gave Dazai a forehead kiss.

Dazai pouted again, however this time there was a faint blush on his cheeks. But while a forehead kiss was nice, Dazai couldn't wait for Kunikida to get well and get proper kisses from him again.

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

There's more to tech stock photography than hokey gold bitcoins

A few weeks ago, I was snarky about stock imagery on the internet.

I was looking for photos of "people coding," and the options were decidedly bad — think word clouds and whiteboards. But how would I go about translating such an ephemeral idea into visual form? Honestly, I had no idea.

SEE ALSO: Meet the podcast proving that the future of sex tech is female

Stock imagery has played a significant role in developing the visual language of technology. If you imagine all hackers wear black and hunch over green screens in dark rooms, that's thanks to film and television to be sure, but also because of the creative images that accompany stories on websites like this one.

Yes, a lot of technology stock imagery is seriously bizarre — see the infamous bitcoin gold coin — but as people in the business told me, translating the digital into useful, 2D form is no easy feat.

Looking for symbols

How do you make bitcoin, a concept that exists entirely online, easily identifiable to anyone?

Struggling to find a representation of the cryptocurrency, Colorado-based artist Arina Habich tracked down bitcoin "miners" — small machines that run software to unlock more bitcoin — and used them to create a collection on Shutterstock.

"I had to talk to lots of people to do this, and had to do lots of research to find a really good place to really capture "bitcoins" as an idea," she said via email. "I've found that these are useful representatives of cryptocurrency as a whole."

"Row of bitcoin miners set up on the wired shelfs."

Image: Shutterstock / Arina P Habich

It's a similar challenge for something like "data." When developing a stock concept, Bruce Rolff, who lives just outside New York City, said he often thinks in symbols. 

"Binary code is a good general element for data. For security, it might be a keyhole or a padlock," he explained. "To represent the internet I might use the Earth, a computer mouse, a spider like web of binary code. For the cloud I might use an illustrated cloud with points of light."

He also takes colour into account. Popular colours for data are often cool greens or blues. Do you associate bright yellow with coding? Probably not, and those implicit connections (or lack thereof) are thanks in no small part to choices made by people like Rolff.

The abstract and reality

Creating a stock image for a technology concept can be an intensely creative process. That's reflected in Rolff's portfolio, which is distinctly hallucinatory with clear science fiction influences.

Some images he likes better than others. For example, he's fan of a picture he created of a female android. "Shiny bronze or copper metallic skin covered with electronic circuit patterns. Vivid red hair, a slight knowing smile, her eyes looking with intent into the viewer," he explained over email. "Just think it's a cool character."

"Android Female."

Image: Shutterstock / Bruce Rolff

Using products like Photoshop, Adobe Bridge, Poser and Blender, he said he likes pushing the boundaries of technique and content. "I like the idea of mixing text into the work. Also the meshing of abstract and reality," he added.

Rolff said people he understands why people make fun of "crazy, goofy" stock images, but emphasised they perform a valuable service. 

"Many people can find the right image for their projects, be it a book cover, album cover, web site, whatever, thanks to stock images produced by many hard working people," he added. 

"It's somewhat hard to really get things 100% 'right,'" Habich added. "However hard I work, I find that there is no better image than the one you'll be shooting tomorrow."

Stock photographers are artists, but also journalists

According to Habich and Rolff, the industry is all about anticipating need.

Habich has been in the business for six years. Photographers are rarely commissioned, she explained. Instead, they create images they suspect will be topical and required for books, websites and magazines, and that means keeping an eye on the news like any reporter. She said demand for bitcoin stock, for example, developed about three years ago.

For the most part, photographers get paid only if their pictures are licensed from photo agencies like Shutterstock or iStock. 

"Vast binary code Sea."

Image: Shutterstock / Bruce Rolff

"There is no real 'requests' when it comes to stock photography — there is supply and demand," she said. "You can see what types of things are popular — what's in magazines and TV, what people are talking about, and really topical things."

It's not necessarily a way to get rich quick, either. 

Shutterstock contributors, for example, are paid depending on the license — the percentage is also raised as earnings increase. For each image downloaded as a monthly subscriber image, for example, a contributor might be paid $0.25 in the first tier.

Rolff lives off his stock photographer work, but as a producer of images, he said it would be nice to be better rewarded. "But it is what it is," he added. "The market is quite competitive."

So, what did I learn? Pay your stock photographers some respect. It's not that easy to make an image of the internet.

WATCH: Old-school arcade games have made a comeback at this underground gaming tournament

[frettboard2016-blog]

Why NoSQL Is The Wrong Choice For An IT Manager - Sometimes

New Post has been published on https://frettboard.com/why-nosql-is-the-wrong-choice-for-an-it-manager-sometimes/

Why NoSQL Is The Wrong Choice For An IT Manager - Sometimes

what is nosql

If you were to create a listing of the thrill phrases that are filtering thru the sector of IT right now, “NoSQL” would be at the top of your list. IT Managers anywhere have determined that they have got had enough of conventional databases and the high vendor charges that come with them. Open source NoSQL databases seem to look like the solution to all in their data processing needs. The problem is that identifying the use of SQL and NoSQL databases is something that has no longer been a part of our IT manager capabilities training…

IT Manager’s ACID Problem

When we get offered with a brand new technology, it can be all too easy to start to suppose that it’s miles an answer that we can practice to every problem that we are currently dealing with. NoSQL is one such era – although the usage of it has no longer been a part of our IT manager training. However, the key’s to realize that no longer all records that the IT branch has been asked to a procedure is created the equal.

The facts that your IT team has traditionally been asked to system normally all seems the equal. This is the statistics that we feed to the agency’s mission essential systems. The acronym ACID has been created to describe this records:

Atomic: every transaction is performed absolutely and may be rolled returned if something goes incorrect. Consistent: no transaction can be accredited to go away the database if for some cause it creates an inconsistency with the saved data. Isolated: each transaction does now not affect some other transaction Durable: before a transaction can be taken into consideration to be whole, it must first be recorded permanently within the database. What IT Managers Need To Know About BASE

how does nosql work

In the new world of “massive statistics” wherein we find ourselves, without a doubt now not all statistics goes to meet the ACID standards. This is wherein the door of possibility opens for NoSQL databases.

When we start to take into account net and social media packages, we start to should deal with statistics that is orders of importance large than most fashionable company databases. This means that the builders on our IT teams need to turn out to be greater flexible while managing this lots fact.

The information comes from this type of new statistics workload were captured within the acronym BASE. This stands for authorisedle: just what it appears like – the database is now not required to be continuously actual-time atomic. Soft-State: Database states at the authorized change and expire in place of constantly having to must be durable. Eventual Consistency: This flexibility is in evaluation to a conventional ACID database’s requirement to provide stringent transactional consistency. Which Database Is The Right One To Use?

I’m sorry about this; but, although it’s important to understand what kind of facts set you are handling (ACID or BASE), that is now not going to be sufficient to inform you which type of SQL / noSQL database you want to apply on your subsequent IT task.

NoSQl might be the right database to use if you have BASE workloads that are clearly now not ACID, when you have a exquisite deal of records, and whilst you want so as to run your database the use of commodity hardware and software program.

There is a different point so that you can recollect when you are attempting to determine between an SQL or noSQL solution. If you attempt to use an SQL database for an software that should cope with excessive-volume workloads which are introduced via the internet, then you definately’re going to peer your database collapse because of the overhead. Instead, in these conditions go together with a noSQL answer.

What All Of This Means For You

It’s in no way been easy to be an IT Manager (you know the way difficult that IT team constructing stuff is) and these days it appears as though even the ones things that we notion that we had beneath manipulate, like databases, are undergoing huge adjustments. One of those adjustments is the arrival of no SQL databases – whilst must we use them?

It seems that not all facts units are created similarly. Data that can be categorized as being ACID are well ideal to being processed by using a widespread database. However, data that may be classified as being BASE would be higher treated with the aid of a noSQL database. Additional issues inclusive of the amount of facts desires to be considered also.

What this means for you as an IT supervisor is that what would possibly have once been a fairly widespread selection (“throw it into the database”), has now come to be but any other problem that you want to take a careful take a look at earlier than making up your thoughts. Take the time to discover ways to try this efficaciously and you’ll locate that you are making the right decisions for your organisation.

Why is the NoSQL preference so tough?

The remaining time I become comparing NoSQL databases I ended up sticking with a relational database. I’m comparing them once more today and this time I’m pretty certain I’ll need to certainly select one. The choice is in reality wrong and  tough for some of motives.

Conventional information says that NoSQL databases are a tremendous in shape for certain types of facts, namely non-relational records. At the identical time NoSQL is touted as a advanced platform for current net programs. The reality even though is that most records, especially in terms of web packages, is relational. Is that enough cause to stick with a RDMS then? Not necessarily, however it’s going to make the choice even tougher.

A huge a part of the problem whilst comparing NoSQL is the massive amount of conflicting principle on the subject. Some people say (re: record shops) you want to shop all document information inside a single record and doing joins in code is blasphemy. Other say storing record references and doing in-code joins is smart. At the identical time, exceptional databases advise proscribing the amount of nested facts in a file. Others will encourage report references. This is a fundamental part if records modeling in NoSQL and there isn’t always a clear consensus.

Then there are the pinnacle ranking posts titled “Why you should in no way use XYZ”, of which at the least one will exist for the engine you’re considering. The legitimacy of those articles varies of course and the blanket advice within the title doesn’t help. What’s certain however is that someone will google your preference and as a way to be the primary component they study, then ahead to you. Further skewing your belief, there are manner extra terrible articles than there are achievement stories. It’s tough to understand who is supplying a valid technical concern and who has in reality misunderstood a capability (or lack thereof).

Then there are the sheer number of picks. In RDBMS world, the selection is quite smooth. You have your 4 or 5 ordinary suspects which commonly paintings in a similar manner and you commonly choose the platform that your environment (and budget) supports and your dev/ops are acquainted with. There is little danger with these mature products. In the NoSQL global there are dozens of database engines to select from. Each has their precise strengths and every has their crippling weaknesses. Making things even tougher, NoSQL projects tend to come back and go as a substitute quick making it volatile to strive some thing new or some thing less popular. Last time I appeared I had approximately settled on CouchDB. Today that appears to be a assignment circling the drain (although it’s tough to recognize).

The principal motive I’ve been agonizing over this decision is that it’s probable a case where you gained’t recognise you’ve made a bad preference until you’ve performed a bunch of work. You can mock up your facts fashions and get a sense of ways you’ll paintings with the system, but it’s only whilst you hit a solid wall that you locate the real flaw. In my case, the utility we’re building has statistics this is relational. The important thing in shifting to a record keep is that we need a schemaless design to gain our dreams. Using a NoSQL database to residence relational records isn’t something that’s honestly pointed out, however it’s actually happening loads.

Currently I’m down to Couchbase and MongoDB. I’m not really into Mongo to this point however its big recognition is a huge superb for the engine. Of path that might be famous in the identical way PHP is popular, because it’s reachable, not as it’s right. I’m operating via some check tasks in both and I’m leaning in the direction of Couchbase. If all of us has experience with a NoSQL platform and wants to provide up a few guidelines, I’m all ears. Likewise, in case you’ve performed work with relational facts in NoSQL, communicate up! I know you’re out there.

[cover32-yahoopartner-blog]

Colin Kaepernick; the bad guy with a philanthropic side

Colin Kaepernick can’t seem to find a job these days. In just four short years Kaepernick has gone from an exploding supernova across the NFL galaxy and winning an ESPY for breakout athlete of the year, to finding himself unemployed and described as a traitor.

The year is 2017 and persona non-grata numero uno is none other than Kaepernick. Why is this? How did a man who graced the covers of Sports Illustrated, highlighted the body issue and lit up the ESPYS fall from such great heights?

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The topic of the current status of Kaepernick came up for discussion on NFL Network’s Up to the Minute, with the panel weighing in:

“The coaches and general managers that I’ve spoken with they believe he’s asking for 10 million, not saying that’s what he’s actually asking for but that’s what they think and that’s a hefty price. . .Certainly does not seem he will have the opportunity to start anywhere. . .Kaepernick’s plan going into free agency, just relax a little bit and kinda let the market come to him. He didn’t expect to be one of those guys signed at 4pm Thursday March 9 when the league year opened.” — Ian Rapoport

“I think it’s a mixture of Kaepernick not being able to play the style of certain teams, some teams just not wanting to give him an opportunity to go with some other guys. . .Again let’s not kid ourselves his political stance and the attention that he could bring will factor into some teams decision on whether they will or won’t bring him to their team.” — Steve Wyche

Mike Garafolo would reference a comment made by Raven’s coach John Harbaugh, “Stupid and intellectually lazy to think he’s being blackballed only because political stuff. Garafolo would also add some intrigue, “Guys across the league, coaches and general managers, still believe he has talent. . . behind the scenes has enough talent to be a threat on offense.”

Kaepernick does indeed have plenty of talent left. In 2016 Kaepernick put up the second best QB Rating of his career (90.7) despite playing 11 games on a bad 2-14 football team, while finishing the season with 2,241 yards, 16 touchdowns, four interceptions, a 59.2 completion percentage and 69 rushing attempts for 468 yards and two touchdowns.

Below is a table of how Kaepernick stacked up against the other non-16 game starting quarterbacks in free agency.

Current Status or Team

Free Agency

Chicago Bears

New York Jets

New York Giants

Quarterback

Colin Kaepernick

Mike Glennon

Josh McCown

Geno Smith

Win-Loss Record as a Starter

28-30

5-13

18-42

12-18

Touchdowns- Interceptions

72-30

30-15

79-69

28-36

Passer Rating

88.9

84.6

78.2

72.4

While the last two years have been abysmal for Kaepernick, having only won three-of-16 games, it would be unfair if the the absolute dumpster fire that the San Francisco 49ers’ organization as a whole has been, wasn’t factored in. Between unqualified rookie head coach, Jim Tomsula, Chip Kelly refusing to play him, injury and a bad roster, Kaepernick hasn’t had many opportunities to shine. For all the knocks on his ability to read defenses and the entire football field, his best production came in 2013 and 2014, when being asked to throw the ball more than 400 times.

In 2016, Kaepernick was tied for being sacked the fifth most times in the league behind an absolutely atrocious offensive line. Of the quarterbacks sacked equally or more often, only Andy Dalton, Andrew Luck, Sam Bradford, Matt Ryan, Matthew Stafford and Russell Wilson bested his 90.7 quarterback rating in 2016; while Cam Newton, Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer and Tyrod Taylor all would finish the season with an inferior rating.

Free Agency is five weeks old and Kaepernick still remains unsigned. He is arguably the most talented and accomplished quarterback allowed to enter free agency this year. In 2013, after a lengthy power outage, he engineered a huge comeback and was five yards away from tossing a Super Bowl clinching touchdown pass. Geno Smith being signed before Kaepernick can be seen as a major slight, as it is difficult to not imagine Smith having his jaw broken over $600.

So for all those who would like to believe it’s not collusion from the NFL owners, below are a few more P.G. examples as to why Kaepernick is not yet employed.

The point here, I think, is once teams decide they don't want someone, they come up with plenty of reasons to try to justify the decision. https://t.co/w1jewivDmV

— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) March 31, 2017

You have got to be kidding me. Next reason teams will use: he prefers Star Wars over Star Trek.

https://t.co/0LXzzhrzhD

— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) March 31, 2017

Perhaps it’s something darker. Maybe it is collusion; maybe it’s an unspoken rule between front office and ownership circles. Bleacher report’s Mike Freeman touched on this in an article back in August of 2016.

Mixing sports and politics is always a bad idea and should be avoided at all costs, but in this instance it cannot be helped. Kaepernick is cognizant of growing tensions in America, along with the alarming frequency of African-Americans continuing to end up dead without receiving justice. In choosing not to stand for the pledge of allegiance, Kaepernick chose this moment to become active.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” — First Amendment.

Our forefathers dreamed a place where they could make America great for the first time. The First Amendment guarantees many protections, but it doesn’t grant us the freedom from public opinion and outcry. Social media’s influence on our daily lives continues to grow stronger and stronger. Ten days ago the President of the United States of America spoke on Kaepernick at a rally in Kentucky.

A stark contrast from the viewpoint of the forty-fourth POTUS.

Kaepernick has been criticized for publicly ending his national anthem protest and called disingenuous, a fraud and a phony. He’s been accused of selling out the validity of his protests because he needed a job and his revolutionary image continues to take an unjust beating.

Offering my opinion, continuing to take a knee is no longer necessary to do. The protest wasn’t meant to be a never-ending event and I would say after a year of Kaepernick’s protest, his message has gotten across. It does look suspect as hell when he decided to end his protest at roughly the same time he opted out of his deal with the 49ers, but just because he stopped taking a knee doesn’t mean he’s stopped his philanthropic efforts.

Know Your Rights Camp, is a free campaign for youth fully funded by Kaepernick to raise awareness on higher education, self empowerment, and instruction to properly interact with law enforcement in various scenarios. It’s goal is to help build a stronger generation of people that will create the change that is needed in this world.

March 21, 2017, shortly after the President’s proposed budget gave the impression it was cutting funding to Meals on Wheels, Kaepernick sprang to action with a $50,000 donation.

March 17, 2017, Citing impending famine, drought, politics, inaction of non-government organizations and lack of media attention, Kaepernick convinced Turkish Airlines (the only airline traveling from the United States to Somalia) to donate an airplane for him to fill with food, water and supplies to take to Somalia. Working in tandem with Ben Stiller’s Stiller Foundation, Kaepernick set up a Gofundme account Love Army for Somalia and raised a million dollars in aid.

Kaepernick was awarded the 49ers’ prestigious Len Eshmont Award by his teammates. The award is given to an individual who “best exemplifies the inspirational and courageous play of Len Eshmont,” an original member of the 1946 49ers’ team.

Speaking on being named the award recipient, Kaepernick had this to say:

“It’s very impactful, and I think they are people who have very strong character. . . And to have the ability to really recognize what’s going on, how it not only affects them, but it affects their families and affects other people that look like them, is something that’s very powerful and I’m very happy to have teammates like that, that have that type of character, that have those type of ethics and humanity.”

November 22, 2016, Kaepernick announces he will donate $1 million of his jersey sales towards helping organizations that can assist troubled communities. On his website Kaepernick7.com, Kaepernick has a section dedicated to tracking all of his charitable donations.

My final thoughts; there is no easy way to inspire change. There will never be a way that massive societal change will commence without people being shocked outside of their comfort zone. Being ostracized for his protests is one thing, but with all the work Kaepernick is doing in communities what negative attention could he bring? Can he still play another down is another question altogether, but until his offensive weaponry is no longer NFL-caliber worthy, it would be unwise to write him off. Maybe it’s because he’s going to be 30 this year, but wait, Tom Brady just won the Super Bowl at 39 and says he’s got 6-7 years left in him; so age can’t be the factor.

Whatever the reason may be, what Kaepernick is doing off the field is being lost on and discredited by an awful lot of people. What and who the NFL chooses to vouch for has become increasingly more vague in this day and age. For an entity as influential as the NFL, they are missing an opportunity to act in their own best interests. The majority of NFL players and superstars alike, primarily come from low-income areas that experience many of the same issues that Kaepernick is speaking out against. The pledge of allegiance is sacred in this country and the First Amendment is clearly subjected to censorship.

— Philip Robinson writes for cover32 and covers the NFL and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He can be followed on Twitter @chocP3thunder.

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