#I Should be focusing on alan and davie but what if I made a little tem...

[chiropteracupola]

an unfortunate side effect of reading temeraire while sculpting is that DRAGON DRAGON DRAGON MAKE DRAGON NOW

[liliaeth]

Fix it’s for Teen Wolf

I can think of a few things that would have made Teen Wolf better.

1.  I wanted more focus on Scott’s emotional response to what happened to him.  I don’t mind that Scott isn’t the type who complains about getting hurt. The problem for me was that the show rarely dealt with the consequences of Scott’s pain, and thus to the casual viewer often made it look like he simply didn’t mind, that being hurt didn’t bother him at all. Or worse, that nothing all that bad had happened in the first place.

 Doing this undermined many of the hallucination scenes.  For example, in Season 2’s Party Guessed, we get hallucinations for Stiles, Jackson, and Allison which give us a view into psychology, letting us know their issues without spelling them out.  For Scott, we got Allison making out with kanima Jackson.   Compared to the others, it felt shallow and confusing.  The writers couldn’t even bother to give us dialog.  He received the same treatment in Season 5, when they read the book designed to trigger their memories about the Dread Doctors. Stiles gets yet another scene about his dead mother who has been crucial to his story since Season 1.  Lydia sees her grandmother and her connection to both Lydia’s powers and Eichen House, as well as foreshadowing her treatment at the hands of Valack.   Malia about her Mom and sister’s death at the hands of the Desert Wolf, which is her entire arc.  And Scott?  He gets a nightmare about a dog that was never mentioned before and would not be mentioned after.

 2. I wanted more focus on Scott’s trauma in general. In Season 1, Scott was repeatedly mentally and physically violated by Peter, terrorized and abused by Derek, and hunted by the Argents, and it was taken as a given.   Even the recaps at the beginning episodes in other seasons barely show any of that.  For example, Gerard attacking Scott in clear view at the hospital, stabbing him, and threatening his mother, never appeared in any of the recaps, even in episodes where it would have been important to remind the viewers about it.

While the show had no issue showing us over and over again how Stiles or Derek or Isaac or Allison or any white character really was hurt, they did not focus on the pain Scott was put through, and thus let the viewers conclude that those events didn’t matter.

The show literally had Scott try and kill himself, twice in less than two days, first in Frayed, by refusing to let himself heal, and then again in Motel California, yet neither of those suicide attempts are mentioned even once afterwards. And this while it would have been a good call back in s5b, when Scott is once again not letting himself heal after Theo killed him. and yet again, no mention whatsoever.

 3. I wanted more consequences for certain characters.   I liked that Scott and to a lesser extent Derek were confronted with the consequences of their actions. When they screwed up, they got called out on it. When they did something wrong, it wasn’t excused.  Then they made up for it.

In contrast, certain characters, especially Stiles, got to do whatever they wanted and it was either dismissed as funny or used to make them look sympathetic.  Stiles got to be mean and cruel, and the narrative still treated him as if he were the best friend ever.  He got to assault people, hurt them, and it was treated as if somehow he was the victim. 

For example, I would have liked Stiles a lot better, if when he tortured Scott with lacrosse balls, punishing him for who-knows-what, if someone else had called him out on it or if Scott had got to defend himself, instead of just taking it because Stiles was angry.  Scott allowing Stiles to hurt him to maintain their friendship was a pattern between them, just as much as Scott taking responsibility for things that aren’t his fault.  He keeps on doing it over the course of the show, but it would have been nice if the show at the very least had made it clear that that didn’t make Stiles behavior acceptable.

Just like I wish that Peter had actually faced consequences for his actions – and/or shown some kind of true remorse for his misdeeds--instead of the others just letting him hang around after all the horrible things he’d done or reduce it pettiness.

 4. I would have liked more time spent on Melissa and the McCall family in general, especially on Melissa’s initial reaction to Scott being a werewolf. In the show, they barely spent two minutes total on Melissa’s reaction to finding out her son has been turned into a werewolf.  By the end of s6b, she was barely even behaving like a mother anymore. Even to the point where we don’t even get a conversation between her and Chris about his attacks on her son before the two of them start dating.  Now don’t get me wrong, I liked Chris and Melissa in a relationship, but it was missed opportunity to humanize both her and Scott that they didn’t bother to show her finding out about that and her reaction to it.

Instead we got the whole horror reaction, of her being horrified at seeing her son’s other face, the reaction that any LGBT kid fears when they come out to their parent. Which could have been a great metaphor, especially if they had then made it clear that Scott was bisexual.

 5. I would have liked more focus on Boyd.   The production time spent on Isaac and Erica, while Boyd’s arc was treated as almost an afterthought. We barely even got any hint on his past, in the episode before they killed him off.    They started out with Boyd as the one who wanted to be like Scott, and then never explained it.  Why not focus more on that, and their relationship?

(similar complaints go about Mason, and how little we knew about Mason, outside of him being Liam’s friend. Like... what was his relationship like with his parents? What is Mason interested in, what does he want to do with his life... how did he deal with the after effects of the Beast...

 6. I would have liked more focus on Alan Deaton. The show had such huge potential with this character’s backstory, not just with the Hales but as an emissary in general.  There was this whole mythology about druids that they barely even delved into.

To not even start on how little we knew about his personal life? Why did he and his sister have different last names? What was their relationship like?

Does he have any romantic relationships? Friendships, relationships in general?

Or how about more time spent on his role as a father figure to Scott, we got so few crumbs of their relationship when we should have gotten so much more

 7. I would have liked more focus on Scott and Theo’s interaction in Season 6.   I get that in 6a, they had Scott primarily focused on getting Stiles back, but I’ll never understand why they then didn’t use 6b, to deal with the fact that Theo had tried to murder Scott and was trying to make it up to him and the pack for what he’d done to Scott and the others.

I don’t mind Theo interacting with Liam.  Those scenes were great, but they should have at least one scene with Scott and Theo dealing with the issues between them.  For Theo’s sake, as much as Scott’s.

 8. I would have liked a complete rework of Season 6A in its entirety.  If you’re going to focus a season on an actor who isn’t available, then you have to make it about his impact on the others. Show us what difference this character made, by showing us the effects of his absence, rather than just try and make it about a romantic ship. (I’ve written a post about this already in greater detail, so limiting it to that, but seriously, that season was such a huge wasted opportunity.)

 9.  Actual character growth for Stiles. For a character who had as much screentime as Stiles did, it’s shocking just how little character growth Stiles had over the course of the entire show. This contrasts in a really bad way, when you look at how much every single other character grew and changed over the course of the show.

Just look at the last four episodes of 5b, to give an example. After almost an entire season of watching Stiles at his worst, focusing on emotional scene after emotional scene with him, he suddenly got relegated to comic relief. Why? Because they didn’t want Stiles to grow, because unless he grew, there was no way for him to go but down. If Stiles had taken responsibility for his actions, then they’d have had to admit that he did wrong in the first place. And they couldn’t have that happen.

 10. And last but not least. More moments of the kids being kids. Even if it’s just proms and beach parties. Moments where we see the characters spend time together, when they aren’t trying to stop some bad guy. Where we can see them be friends, hang out with kids their own age. Even just to remind the audience just how young these children are. And where the viewers along with the characters can rest in between the horror, because doing so makes the horror hit far more strongly in contrast to the light.

 11. Also, a better lighting budget, pretty please Davies, were a few more light bulbs that much to ask for?

[strongerwiththepack]

Private Waters: Part 1

I hear it's Virgil Tracy Week 👀 Virgil's birthday seems to have inspired a wee fic from me today. Been dealing with a bit of writers block so this was a nice change. This is just part one but I'm hoping (really hoping) that I'll finish it by the end of the week. Hope you enjoy x

Summary: Virgil's birthday celebrations are interrupted by an unidentified boat sailing into their waters.

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] 

[Read on FanFiction.net]

---

"Happy Birthday!"

Virgil was ambushed by his family jumping out from behind various pieces of furniture as he entered the lounge. He knew they'd been planning this but he put on a face of surprise anyway. No point being a spoil sport.

Alan bounded up to give him a hug with an ear splitting grin on his face. The kids' energy was contagious as he accepted the tackle-like hug and chucked.

"Thanks guys."

There was a round of hugs to follow and Virgil felt a deep appreciation that he had this time to spend with his family. Even John was down. He gave his space-bound brother an extra tight hug. It had been a while.

Birthdays were a tricky affair in their family. They always planned a celebration but rescues commonly got in the way. He was lucky things had been quiet today.

He looked around finally noticing an absence and gave Scott a questioning look.

"Kayo?"

"Got called away by Pen this morning. She'll be back later though." Scott assured.

Virgil felt a hint of disappointment that she wasn't here but that's the job. He'd make sure to see her later.

His Grandma came up and kissed his cheek. "Happy Birthday Virgil."

She slid out a thin parcel from behind her back and whispered by his ear. "For my favourite grandson."

Although her version of whispering wasn't exactly quiet.

Gordon exclaimed loudly. "Hey! We heard that!" While Scott laughed and John rolled his eyes.

They knew their grandma loved them all equally but it wasn't exactly a secret she had a soft spot for Virgil.

Gordon plonked a party hat on his head as they sat down. Not exactly gently, he might add, as he felt the sting of the string pinging up under his chin. He glared at his brother but Gordon merely put on an innocent look, commenting "oops".

They actually got a full morning of present opening and silly party games that Alan had planned. Majority of them may be grown men but they weren't above indulging in some childhood traditions.

Virgil noticed John quietly excuse himself during a game of charades, and mentally sighed as he figured their festivities were about to come to an end. He could see Scott kept glancing the way John had gone too and knew his eldest brother was thinking the same thing. A rescue.

"Are we launching John?" Scott asked immediately when their brother returned.

John rolled his eyes at the assumption and explained. "No, it's not a rescue. EOS was just informing me that there's a boat that's crossed into our waters."

It wasn't much of a concern. The island is pretty much in the middle of nowhere but some boats occasionally stray into their waters. Usually, it's party boats that don't bother to research the areas they're sailing into.

Scott nodded, making to turn back to their game. Standard protocol was to radio the boat and inform them that they were in private waters and needed to turn around. John usually deals with it.

"Except there is a problem." John continued. "The boat doesn't seem to have a radio. It could be broken but EOS couldn't get through."

"Is there a chance of it being a threat?" Scott asked slightly tense now.

"Not likely. EOS identified it as a rental luxury yacht that's registered under an Australian family. Probably just lost but they are on a colliding path with the island so we'll need to turn them around."

Gordon sighed dramatically and stood up.

"I got it." He said and headed towards the door that led to the docks. "Don't have too much fun without me."

Virgil felt a pang of unease. "Uh wait up! I'll come too."

"It's fine Virgil, enjoy the festivities." Gordon tried to brush him off.

"I need some air anyway. A quick boat trip sounds fun."

"Awesome!" Gordon exclaimed. He loved it when any of them agreed to go out on the water with him.

Scott gave him a look as they left that clearly said be careful. He wanted to roll his eyes but he'd just had the same thought when Gordon was going to go so he couldn't say much.

They went out in their normal clothes since the whole point of keeping people away was to ensure the secrecy of international rescue. Bit of a give away to rock up in full uniform.

They took one of the speed boats and Gordon expertly manoeuvred then towards the boat in question.

It was a beautiful day. The light from the sun danced across the water as the boat skipped over the waves. He took a deep breath of fresh sea air as the wind breezed around them.

He should really come out here more often. Maybe he could convince Gordon to take him out scuba diving later this week. It had been a while since he'd done that.

It didn't take long before Virgil caught a visual of the offending boat in the distance. He looked back at the island, he could see the outline from here but there wasn't any detail. Good.

Gordon brought them to a controlled stop as the came up beside the vessel. Their boat was quite a bit smaller than the decently sized yacht but they could still see onto the deck. There were two men decked out in classic touristy clothes.

Gordon cut their engine and took the lead calling out.

"Hey there, how're you doing today?"

Up close it was hard to miss the beer bottles scattered around the deck. Virgil groaned internally. Did people not realise how dangerous sailing out in open water was? Adding alcohol into the mix was just asking for trouble.

He wasn't opposed to a couple of beers in the sun but by the way the men grinning and the fact they were practically wobbling to keep their feet under them on the mildly choppy waters he was pretty sure it was more than just a couple.

"Heyyy!" One of the men drawled in what Virgil placed as an English accent. "Just enjoying some fun in the sun."

Gordon, clearly as annoyed at the state these men were in as himself smiled loosely.

"Well I'm afraid you've strayed into private waters. You're going to need to turn around. Do you need any help with your route?"

"Duuude, I didn't know you could own water. That's awesome." The guy turned to his friend. "We should buy some water."

The other guy laughed. "You're wasted man."

These guys clearly weren't taking them very seriously. Gordon tried again.

"Listen guys, I'm glad you're having a good trip but it's illegal for you to be sailing here. Can I see your operating permit?"

Gordon's words seemed to finally snap them out of their stupor.

"Wow there man, we don't want any trouble. I'll get Davie, he's el captaino on this little boat of ours."

The guy chuckled at his words before heading below deck.

Virgil was relieved that neither of these men were in charge here. He only hoped the other guy wasn't as drunk as these two.

A new man appeared on the deck and Virgil took keen notice that he seemed stable on his feet.

"Gentleman, what can I help you with?" He greeted sincerely enough.

"Afternoon Sir, are you the permit holder of this boat?" Gordon inquired politely.

At the mans affirmative he continued. "Are you aware you're sailing in private waters right now?"

"My apologies, I wasn't aware. We'll change course right away."

The man said it like a dismissal but Gordon didn't take the hint. Most likely on purpose, there was definitely a lot of red flags here.

"Do you need any help plotting a route? I can show you the common tourist lanes if you'd like."

"Nah we're good thanks, the rental company plotted a route for us - must've just headed off course slightly. Good'day gentleman."

Virgil jumped in this time before they could make their exit.

"One more thing. We noticed you don't seem to have a radio. You really shouldn't be travelling in open waters without one."

The man gave a forced smile. "Oh yeah, it's busted. We'll be sure to get it fixes at the next port."

"Want me to take a look at it for you? I'm an engineer." He offered.

"No. I said we're fine."

Gordon narrowed his eyes beside him. "Look I'm not trying to be rude but could I see your permit? Just at a glance you're breaking a lot of regulations here."

A flash of rage passed over the mans face at Gordon's accusation and Virgil reckoned his brother was probably on the right track. He sighed. So much for a quick trip.

Before anything further could be said though there was a loud splash from the back of the boat.

"Roy!"

They both startled at the noise. Turning to see only one of the drunk men from before standing on the deck and a foamy patch of water next to the edge of the boat. It didn't take a genius to work out what had happened.

Gordon kicked off his shoes, diving into the water in seconds. Virgil leaned over the edge of their boat, ready to help once Gordon surfaced.

He had no doubt his brother would get the man. It's what they did after all.

"Oi!" He heard the captain shout.

He just barely spared him a glance, too focused on the water. But then he had to do a double take as he found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.

He slowly stood up with his arms raised above him. This was not good.

The other man on the deck placed a wide plank between their boats.

"Cross over." He was instructed.

His eyes had been fixed to the man with the gun unwilling to look away but he hesitated then. Sparing a glance towards the water he desperately looked for his brother.

Gordon had surfaced and was staring back at him with a grim look. He bobbed next to the other man from the boat and Virgil caught a glimpse of something reflective in the guys hand. A knife.

He could now see the way Gordon was gripping his upper arm with a grimace. There must've been a struggle. He clenched his fists at their helplessness here.

The unexpected bang of the gun going off made him flinch as splinters of wood hit off his legs. The man had just shot into the deck at his feet.

"Across. Now." He screamed and Virgil didn't need to be told again.

He wobbled his way across on the unstable plank. Once he was within reach the man, who had clearly shed his clueless drunk persona, roughly yanked him the rest of the way. He lost his footing on the deck and fell forward.

The guy behind him took that opportunity to push him onto his stomach, pressing a knee into the centre of his back and pulling his hands behind him. He felt zip ties being tightly fastened over his wrists as he twisted his head to the side, noticing the guy with the gun throwing a rope ladder over the side of the boat.

"And you." He shouted over the side of the boat. To Gordon presumably. "No funny business or your brother here's gonna get a hole in em."

He pointed the gun towards Virgil to emphasise his point. The fact that this man knew they were brothers was not a good sign. He was starting to think something bigger than they'd thought was going on here.

Virgil gritted his teeth as the man holding him down shoved his head into the deck before getting off him and moving to the ladder.

He slowly moved to a sitting position, grimacing as the ties cut into his wrists. He was up just in time to see Gordon heave himself over the edge of the deck with a grim look on his face.

His brother had barely gotten his feet under him before he was roughly tackled to the ground in the same way Virgil had been.

"Hey!" Virgil grunted out of reflex at seeing his brother crash onto the deck but he was promptly ignored.

Gordon turned his head to him as his wrists were tied the same as Virgil's and gave him a grimace that said I'm okay but this is not a good situation.

Virgil gave a barely noticeable nod back to confirm he was okay too. Gordon lay dripping water onto the deck and Virgil noticed the cut on his arm he'd suspected earlier.

The red mixed in with the water and seeped onto the deck below him. Virgil hoped it wasn't deep, the water probably made it look like it was bleeding more than it was.

Once the ties were secure, Gordon was yanked up by his shirt collar and pushed down again next to Virgil, leaning against the side of the boat.

The three men regrouped across the deck and began whispering loudly to each other.

"Scott is going to kill us." Gordon mumbled as he shifted into a more comfortable position.

Virgil couldn't help but chuckle at his brothers attempt to lighten the mood.

"I think that's the least of our worries right now. You okay?" He asked, eyeing the cut on his arm.

"Yeah s'just a scratch."

That did not appease his worry in any way. Gordon wasn't one to admit to being in pain. But he let it slide for now.

They needed to work out why these men were here and what they were after. He internally sighed at the trouble they'd managed to get themselves in.

What a way to spend his birthday.

[Next]

[poptod]

Brought To Your Knees (Kenny x Reader)

Description: 7-Elevens are a lot more versatile than one might originally think. AKA, sometimes you can get locked in them with your long-time crush and, following that, things can happen.

Notes: Freshman means you’re around 14-15 years old, Sophomore is 15-16 I think, Junior is 16-17, Senior is 17-18. Idk the American schooling system too well. Completely male reader.

Warning: Smut :) not sure why its there but hey everyone needs a gratuitous blow job every now and then

Word Count: 6.1k

You were expecting rain. You even brought an umbrella along, tucked away in the side pocket of your backpack, but an umbrella clearly wouldn’t work very well. Snow fell harsh upon the earth, cold and freezing near instantly, making a very thick layer of snow trap you inside the 7-Eleven, the doors frozen shut despite the fact that the heating was still on.

How exactly one gets trapped inside a 7-Eleven with the only person they’ve ever really loved probably needs some explaining, so let’s go back to the beginning; seven years ago. Seven years ago you transferred schools due to an unfortunate accident with a classmate, at least that’s what’s on your record. Half of you is grateful no one knows what really happened, but the other half wishes people knew you punched someone in the face hard enough to dislocate their nose. Though, looking at you, most people probably wouldn’t believe you, considering you haven’t got the strongest body structure. Your (at the time) new school was better than the last one in several ways, but the most important to you was the fact that it was a public school. There were horror stories about public schools, of unruly students and horrible teachers, and by god did you want to experience that - private school was far too clean, far too organized for your mind, and you were going slowly insane.

If there’s a term to describe you, it’d probably be ‘thrill seeker,’ if asshole can’t be said out loud. For the first couple of years you were a nuisance to classrooms, the well known class clown and always up for distracting the teacher (the history teachers were the easiest to distract, math teachers the hardest), and always ready to fight back for what you believed was right. Then came your first year of high school and you found the greatest thrill of all - boys.

Previously you hadn’t taken much of a romantic interest in either gender, and most people said it’d kickstart sometime in high school, which was about right - freshman year you had a crush on a boy named Everett. It wasn’t a particularly strong crush, not compared to your more recent crushes, but it was your first, and you knew exactly what you wanted to do. You wanted him to fall in love with you, hopelessly and endlessly, you wanted him to hang on your every word and dream of your affections... but you didn’t want to be in a relationship with him. No, you just wanted his adoration, and nothing more - only to lead him on and drop his heart to break it. When this didn’t happen and he didn’t fall in love with you, you realized that most boys are not attracted to other boys, and you became deathly silent when it came to crushes.

Several other boys (and maybe a girl) caught your fancy in the remainder of freshman year, but there was one boy you hadn’t yet met that would become the greatest thrill of all. Junior year you had a class with him, and on the first day of school when you walked into English class your bag fell from your hands, clattering to the floor with a loud thump.

He is perfect, in every conceivable way he’s everything you’ve ever imagined, shy and kind, sincere and genuinely interesting - just the sight of him from that day on and your heart speeds up tenfold. You’re a horror story that teachers talk about, so Mr. Davis is clearly flabbergasted at your silence, and for the most part he leaves you alone even though you’re barely paying attention to the blackboard at the front of the classroom. Instead your attention is focused on the boy sitting two seats in front of you and a row to the right. It’s almost surprising he hasn’t noticed your staring, but clearly Mr. Davis notices because about two months into the school year he pulls you aside to talk about it.

“I wanted to talk to you about your attention,” he says quietly, sitting behind his desk as you stand at the other side. You’re playing absentmindedly with your fingers, barely listening to him, only staying where you are to avoid another hour of detention today. “I know you’re usually very loud in class, word gets around easily here, but you’re staring at your classmate a lot.”

“And?” You ask, not really seeing the point. In your mind, he should be thankful you’re not a disruption.

“Is… is there anything you want to tell me? About Kenny?”

“Who’s Kenny?”

“… that’s the boy you keep staring at,” he says slowly, his brow furrowed in confusion.

Ah, you think to yourself. That’s his name.

“Listen, (Y/N), I want you to know you’re always welcome in my classroom. This is a safe space for you, okay?” His voice goes to a whisper as he says, “I have a boyfriend, so we aren’t so different after all.”

“I’m not gay,” you spit out quickly, the venomous tone of your voice not deterring him.

“I know it can be hard to admit at first, and at your age I understand the confusion within yourself. Just know you can talk to me, okay? And try to pay more attention in class? I know you’ve got it in you.”

Without word you pick your backpack up from the floor, slinging it onto your shoulders and leaving. Just as you exit the main doors, noting the dark clouds low in the sky, you’re called back by one of the vice principals, ordering you to your detention.

“C’mon, it’s Friday,” you groan, walking backwards to stare at the teacher as you walk away.

“I’ll call your parents!” She threatens, whipping her flip phone out of her pocket.

“Oh yeah? What are they gonna do? Fuck off,” you laugh, throwing double middle-fingers at her, which lands you in three hours of detention.

At five thirty you’re released, an absolutely sour look on your face as you walk down the pavement. There’s a seedy part of the city that has a 7-Eleven you’ve been to so often you know the workers’ shifts. All of them are pretty nice, though all very tired of life and if you had to hazard a guess, mildly suicidal. At least that’s the look in their eyes, and you don’t blame them - customer service is one of the most horrid jobs in history. Friday evenings Alan has shift, and he’s rather nice, but upon opening the freezing door to the inside, you don’t see him. The door shuts behind you and you wander the aisles for a little while - you don’t have much change, you note as your fingers fiddle with the coins and bills in your coat pocket.

Several minutes later your attention is brought to the weather - it’s snowing, bad, and you groan internally at the wind force practically blowing down the stop sign out front. The few trees that survive in the city are barely hanging on now, flimsy limbs and branches ripping away from the main trunk. Again you groan, a grimace on your face when you think about having to go home in that. With a calming sigh you turn back to the hotdogs, spinning slow and peaceful in the warm light.

Heaven is one big 7-Eleven, you think to yourself. One of the very few things that calms you down is rotating hot dogs that probably aren’t real meat.

From the corner of your eye you can see someone else enter, but the wind blasting through the doors is enough for you to turn your head.

It’s Kenny.  

Of course it’s him.

Gulping you turn back to the hot dogs, hoping beyond belief that Alan will get back soon. Kenny is the only person that’s ever rendered you speechless, the only one that’s ever made your cheeks blush without a word. Even in fluorescent light he seems to glow, peaceful and careful as his fingers drag a feather touch across a row of snacks. He hasn’t noticed you, not yet, so you have time to plan out how to hide from him. Instantly you turn to the cash register, wondering if you’d get kicked out of Alan found you hiding behind the counter.

Too late - you can feel his eyes turn to you, burning into the back of your neck as you hold a viselike grip on the edge of the plastic red counter.

“Um, do you, uh, work here?” He asks, now standing directly behind you. Trying to smile, you turn to face him, feeling your heart burn with the speed it beats at.

“No, I - I just know the guys who work here, I don’t know where they are now, though,” you say, oversharing a little bit and praying he doesn’t notice. He’s right in front of you, half confused as his lips part just barely, brows furrowing above grey eyes. You can practically feel your legs giving out beneath you, but he turns to the door before you fall in front of him. Practically gasping for air as he leaves your personal space, you watch as he goes to open the door.

“Is... is this supposed to be locked?” He asks.

“No, it shouldn’t be,” you breathe out, making your way over to the door to try and open it. It’s stuck, hard - you even back up to kick it and it doesn’t budge.

“Wait, you’re… you’re (Y/N), aren’t you?”

“You know me?” You ask incredulously, even though it’s not that farfetched that he would know your name.

“Of course I do, you’re like a legend at school,” he says, getting quieter as his sentence ends. As he fiddles with his fingers, awkwardly trying to look somewhere else, you can’t help but stare as you nearly always do.

“I’m flattered,” is what you manage to say, just as choked and embarrassed as him.

“I’ll stay out of your way, just - just don’t beat me up?” He requests, holding his hands up defensively as he backs away towards the corner of the small store.

“I’m not going to hurt you, I don’t do that,” you say, taken aback by his words. You know your reputation isn’t great, but you didn’t think it was that awful - you’d never beat up an innocent person and you didn’t plan on starting. “What are you doing here anyway? I haven’t seen you here before.”

“Um, my friend… he told me to meet him at the library, but the weather got bad and I needed to get inside,” he explains, still not meeting your eye.

God you’re perfect, you think to yourself in reaction to nothing in particular - he’s just so beautiful, so supple you can’t help but wonder what he’d feel like with his bare skin against yours. More than anything you want to belong to him, which you realize is strange for you; generally you enjoy others belonging to you, but… Kenny is different for no reason, but he’s so incredibly special you can’t understand your infatuation beyond the fact that it’s insurmountable and achingly enduring.

“I might be able to make a flamethrower,” you say, trying to think of ways to not be suffocated by nearness to the object of your unending affections.

“Wait, a flamethrower? What -“ he follows you frantically as you begin to search for flammable sprays - “what for!?”

“The door is frozen shut, we might be able to get out if I melt the ice away,” you say quickly, but he’s pulling at your arms to stop you from digging through the shelves. At the force you whirl around, face to face with him as your chest practically touches his, and in an instant you can’t breathe for fear of losing the moment. You both pause, frozen into shock before he steps back like you’re poison.

“I don’t think that’s, uh, necessary,” he says slowly, and just as slow you agree, nodding as you put the lighter away.

“Sure. You have a phone?”

“No, you?”

“I keep mine at home,” you mumble, untensing as the adrenaline of the moment fades away.

“Well this sucks,” he huffs, crossing his arms and turning awkwardly to the shelves as though he didn’t want you to see his face. “At least it could be worse.”

“No, don’t say that, the power’s gonna go -“

Darkness falls over the store and the heating system goes quiet, the dull background hum going out. A loud sigh comes out of you, letting your eyes accustom to the dark before thinking of what to do next.

“I think we might be stuck here till morning,” you grumble, the dim light of streetlamps casting a gold glow over the various rows and, of course, putting Kenny in a perfectly beautiful light. You can practically feel the blood rushing into your cheeks, and you quickly look away with crossed arms.

“I’m… sorry,” he says rather suddenly, just barely making his way closer to you.

“It’s not your fault,” you sigh. “A beautiful coincidence.”

“… beautiful?” He asks, confused by your wording - it can’t possibly be a good thing to him.

“Yeah, I -“ you look over at him, fiddling anxiously with his fingers as he looks up at you - “Never mind. You tired?”

“No, don’t think i will be for a while,” he says, sitting with his back against the refrigerated drinks, the back of his head clunking against the cold glass.

“I’ll get a flashlight and a boardgame,” you tell him, the only idea in your head that didn’t sound stupid; the entire time you’re looking through the back for games, you’re kicking the thought of cuddling him out of your mind. The situation is perfect, far too perfect for it to work out well. Besides, these types of things generally don’t work out for you - as previously said, you’re a bit of an asshole, and that trait has a tendency to screw you over.

He just sits and waits, and when you come back a good five or ten minutes later, he’s still sitting in the same position. It strikes you as odd how he hasn’t even fidgeted considering how much he was doing it earlier, but you just shine the light in his face and cackle when he winces away from the brightness.

“All they had is chess. I guess Marie took back her game, which is fair,” you add as you sit yourself down across from him, putting the box in the middle of you two. “She got fired a while back and didn’t get her game when she left. I helped get her a key for the backroom,” you recall, chuckling, but Kenny looks partially terrified, so you stop.

“You know how to play?” He asks, rubbing his hands together as he starts setting it up.

“A bit. My brother tried to teach me when we were little, I never caught on much though,” you say, thinking distantly of how your brother was doing in university. “He’s a big math guy, loves strategy games like this.”

“So you don’t like strategy…?” He asks slowly, as though worried he’d offend you - you just shrug.

“It’s not that. I’m… just more of a romantic guy.”

For a good three seconds he doesn’t breathe, but when you raise your eyebrows questioningly, he picks up again with an absent nod. Once the last pieces are set into place, he does a quick run-through of the rules, and by the end of it you’re fully aware you’re going to lose at least the first few rounds. Neither of you have a grasp on time as you go through the first round, then the second, and onto the third - you lose very fast, that’s all you’re aware of. He’s sweet about it, for which you’re confused if not thankful. If you were to play chess with some of the people you hang with, they’d be mean about winning and they’d cheat on you, which is fair; you’d do the same to them. Now you’re being nice, trying to actually understand the game, and he’s being a complete sweetheart about teaching you the rules.

It isn’t something you’re used to, but it’s something you could be used to, and something you want to be used to - this sort of kindness. Despite all the thoughts running rampant in your head you manage to stay concentrated on the game - well, him more so than the game - and it almost feels like he might like you. That’s an improvement, you think to yourself, recalling his initial fear of you.

“Could I ask you something? If you don’t mind,” he requests after you both come down from a laughing high, and you agree easily. It’s only far too easy to be open with him. “There’s lots of stories that go around about you - there’s this one, this one’s my favorite, mostly because I don’t think it really happened, but it is really funny.”

“Really? Well, rumors are half right sometimes. What horrid thing did I do this time?” You ask, using the bottle opener on your swiss knife to pop open a beer bottle.

“It’s mostly just… inappropriate, not that it was a particularly ‘bad’ thing. I heard you… slept with Isla and Gianna like, at the same time, like every high school boys’ dream. The guy I heard tell it said you snuck into a sleepover or something?” He says slept like it’s disgusting, so that paired with absolutely everything else about him you assume he’s very unexperienced.

“That’s an interesting story, which I - I don’t usually tell the truth about,” you confess, waiting for him to make his next move in the game, but the moment never comes. He’s far too engrossed in your conversation, and as wonderful as it feels to be having a real conversation with your crush, you can’t help but hate the subject.

“Will you tell the truth this time?” He asks, quiet and sincere in a way that you don’t fully expect. It pushes you to trust him just a little bit more, and it’s all you need for the truth to come out for the first time about that story.

“I went to sell them some weed because they called me up n’ said they’d pay the price for bothering me so late at night, so y’know, I said ‘fuck it,’ you only live once right? I climbed into Gianna’s window for this too, and then they offered for me to share it with them. To be fair to myself I wasn’t feeling… too great about myself,” you grow quiet, “so I said yes. And then they started bringing up sex, and they kept trying to get me to make a move on them, but I wasn’t really feeling it. I didn’t want to do it, but it.. sort of happened anyway?”

He’s quiet, sort of nodding his head but he’s too far in thought to commit to the motion fully.

“Why haven’t you told anyone the truth before?” Is what he asks at first, and you breathe out a sigh of relief when you realize it’s one of the easier questions.

“Didn’t want to seem like a pussy, that’s why,” you scoff, taking a smooth swig from your bottle. “It’s not a big deal anyway.”

“Kind of sounds like it,” he murmurs.

“Yeah, that’s because you’re a virgin,” you say, that asshole part of yourself that you were so worried about earlier rearing it’s ugly head. Right on time too, right when you could’ve opened your heart.

“There’s nothing wrong with being a virgin. You know what they say,” he says defensively, leaning back against he glass.

“Oh? What’s that?”

“The safest sex is no sex at all.”

“Yeah, and abstinence won’t get you pregnant 99.99% of the time,” you laugh. When he just looks confused, you explain, “Virgin Mary, dude.”

He opens his mouth to let out a tiny ‘oh,’ and at last the game is resumed. Throughout the next several rounds he asks more questions, but those times he doesn’t ever lose track of the game turns. By the end of the night, when you’re both finally yawning with dewey eyes, you’ve only won one round, which you’re very proud of.

“At least I beat you once,” you remark as you help him look for blankets to stay warm with. “I won a round against Mr. Chess Master.”

“And I won fourteen rounds against Mr. Sex,” he says, his eyes bulging out of his head as his hand slaps over his mouth once he realizes exactly what he’s said. You turn to him, shocked yet pleasantly surprised to find him so flustered. Dreadful is how you’d describe him, dreading your full reaction.

“Those aren’t the rounds that matter if I’m Mr. Sex,” you respond, trying to remain as smooth and deep as possible when you wink to punctuate your sentence. His mouth falls open when his hand drops back to his side, and you walk out of the storage room with a small smile.

You heave a massive sigh, gathering yourself back together once the door shuts behind you. It only takes a few seconds before he’s following you, but it’s all that’s necessary for you to gain your chill again.

“It’ll probably be easier to sleep back here,” you say, gesturing vaguely to the entirety of the backroom - it’s a tad warmer and carpeted, which is a plus for comfort. The one office chair is cheap and heavily scratched by god knows what, so you roll it into the corner and lay out a blanket on the floor. It’s not an especially nice blanket, which is what you expected. The only real source of warmth you have access to is the leftover coats from employees who didn’t care to take theirs home.

As you lay down on the blanket, covering yourself in a too-large trench coat, you wonder of the different ways the evening could progress. In fact it’s all you can think about, all your brain can stress about when Kenny lies down right beside you. He has his coat as a pillow, and without word you offer your coat to help cover him - he declines, mumbling something about how he’s already warm.

I could kiss him right now, you think, the thought sending shivers of anxious excitement and fear through your veins. He’s staring at the ceiling, and though your body is facing the same direction you’re looking at him, watching the slow movement of his chest and the tired blinking of his eyes. Or we could leave and never talk again.

You don’t know what you’re doing, hardly aware of your own movements as the back of your fingers caress the side of his face, pushing unruly hair away from his eyes. His breath catches in his chest for a moment before he turns to you, eyes wide but curious despite the obvious fear.

“You’re really handsome,” he barely gets out, a whisper that he stumbles over. Judging by his uncertainty in himself you’re confident in saying he’s being sincere - that and the fact that nothing about him insinuates he’d lead you on like that. There’s so many silent words shared between you, a bond that one hold tights while the other wonders how it’s possible.

One wrong move, you think, one wrong move and I fuck this up, just like everything else. The urge to hold him close, to grab his hands and keep them intertwined in your own runs strong through your cold fingertips, but you wait. You wait for him to make the first move, but he doesn’t even blink; he’s far too enraptured in the way your lips part just slightly, the way your eyelashes flutter when you glance nervously up and down.

“I really like you,” you say, though the words don’t fully come from your conscious self. Something grabs you, ties away your thoughts and says what you mean - exactly what you mean, something you hardly ever do. He reaches up towards your hand lying dormant beside his cheek, trailing over your skin till he tangles his fingers in yours, holding your hand tight in his as he presses a kiss to your knuckles. The entire time you stare, watching his eyes flit downwards as a blush you can barely see in the dark crawls up into his face.

In a swift movement the old coat is off of you, crumpled in some corner as you rest your forearms on either side of his head, supporting your body held above him. His breathing picks up and at last he finally looks into your eyes again, careful to watch for any sign of what comes next, but even you aren’t sure as to what you’re doing. Still you move down, inching closer till your lips press against his.

He’s clearly startled, even though he immediately moves against you, kissing up into you even if his hands don’t know where to go. In your position you can do very little, but you manage to thread your hand into his hair, tugging on it lightly as you move deeper, pulling a tiny, broken hum from him. When his hands wrap around your wrists it’s painfully obvious he’s never done this before, so you break away, letting the both of you breathe and smile when it’s finally, fully, consciously realized what just happened. It’s so starkly different than any other romantic encounter you’ve had, so openly loving and yielding you wonder if you’ll ever be able to kiss anyone but him again.

“I’ve waited so long to do that,” you murmur, letting your head fall into the crook of his neck. He almost laughs, breathy and unsure as he runs his fingers down your spine.

“You could’ve done it sooner,” he tells you, whispering the words into your ear, his lips tickling the edge of it as he speaks. “I’ve had a crush on you for months.”

“Really?” You ask, pulling away to look at him fully. He stammers when you rest your weight on his hips, the heat of your thrill burning through the layers of clothes to intoxicate him. “I haven’t ever seen you look at me once in class.”

“We have class together?”

“I sit behind you, Kenny. English class,” you chuckle, watching his lips purse together in embarrassment.

“I mostly watch you during lunch. I - I never said anything because… well, you know why,” he mumbles, once more unsure of where his hands are supposed to go, so he crosses them on his chest.

“I know,” you say, quiet as you think over your words. “You still could’ve come up to me, but… this works too.”

He breaks into a grin, giggling when you join him till you’re both coming down from a high - as the wide grins dissolve into contented smiles, you kiss again, moving slow and soft, softer than the girls you’d been with, sweeter and more innocent than any love you’ve known.

“It’s strange you know,” you mumble against his lips, interrupting yourself by kissing him again. “I usually go for degenerates, you know, people like me?” You kiss him again, deep and needy - “but God, I’ve never adored someone as much as I adore you.”

“Really?” He manages to get out amidst your attack, trying to get ahold of a rhythm you could kiss him to but you’re chaotic, switching from his lips to his jawline and pressing kisses up his neck.

“Yeah,” you rasp out, the beginnings of a hickey blooming red on his neck.

“Oh, I - oh, don’t leave a mark,” he says, but by the way he tugs at your hair and pulls you closer, you’re sure he really wants you to.

“Let me guess, strict parents?” You ask, pulling away to look at your work. He nods as though it’s something to be ashamed of, but you just sigh and smile, tracing his jawline with your fingers. “This is probably the only time we’ll be able to make lots of noise, though.”

“You mean this’ll happen more times?”

“If you want it to. I want it to,” you say, watching as he nods furiously.

“Yes, please,” he practically whimpers, pulling you in for another searing kiss, his new ferocity biting at your lips and making you moan. You’re grinding on him, hardly realizing your actions before you’re both far too worked up from the friction.

“Fuck, I need you,” you say, your hands going up his shirt to scratch at the soft skin there.

“I haven’t ever done this before,” he tells you, almost glaring at you when you mumble, ‘I knew it,’ but the glare is quickly cut short when you palm at him through his jeans.

“Do you want this? We don’t have to, you deserve better,” you stop for a moment, letting your hand grip at his hip while the other strokes soothingly through his hair.

“Better than a quick fuck in the back room of a 7-Eleven? Probably,” he says, a smile breaking across your face at his humorous tone. There’s a delight that runs through you when you hear him swear, but you try not to think about it. “But I don’t think either of us are gonna be able to sleep well with… this.”

“Fair enough,” you say with a shrug, pulling him back into a kiss.

With fumbling hands he works at your pants, managing to unbutton the ragged material and push them partially down your hips. You do the same for him before pulling his shirt off, kissing down what you find to be a surprisingly toned chest. For as much as he’s bullied he’s incredibly attractive and rather fit, and for a second you wonder why he’s bullied so much, before remembering a lot of people are pretty racist, and the whole ‘being gay’ thing was pretty obvious to everyone.

A long, saccharine moan is pulled from his lips, forcing you to think only of him. At the sound you practically gape, a sudden virility going straight to your cock, which is now straining painfully against your boxers. You can’t remember what it was you did that made him moan like that, so you do everything you think could work - it proves a lot for him to handle. Tiny gasps leave him as you trace your fingernails over his chest, biting tiny love marks into his ribs as your own chest occasionally rubs against his crotch.

“(Y/N), please, just friggin’ touch me,” he whines, his head thrown back and staring blankly at the ceiling, too focused on the sensations to care. You almost laugh at his desperation, but when he grabs your hair and practically grinds his dick into your face, you don’t. As demanding as it is you can’t help but acquiesce. You mouth at him through the fabric, and by the time he’s begging you again there’s a prominent wet spot on his underwear from where you sucked. When at last you begin to pull them down he looks at you, watching intently with flushed cheeks as he’s fully exposed to you.

Standing, you undress yourself, making a little show of it when you notice him staring. The moment you finish you’re back on him, just as needy as he is when your bare cock brushes up against his; his shoulders shake at the contact, and he falls back onto the floor, his eyes shut tight. To soothe the ache you kiss him, as tender as it was when you first kissed, and he finally lets out an anxious breath when you part.

“Tell me what you want,” you murmur, running your hand slowly down his chest till you reach his waist, your fingers just barely curling around him and pumping slower than what he deems should be possible.

“I just need you, anything, please,” he replies, breathy and still as wanting as ever.

“God, you really like begging for me, don’t you?” You tease, smirking when he just whines as you speed up your pace. With a kiss to his neck you whisper in his ear, “I love hearing you moan, though.”

“Then make me moan,” he says thoughtlessly, regretting his words when you smirk and move down his body. Regret is the last thing on his mind however, once you wrap your lips around the tip of his dick, sucking and practically drooling as you pump him.

“You taste wonderful,” you hum, attempting to take him deeper.

As experienced as you are it’s chiefly with girls (even if you aren’t as attracted to them, it’s just easier to pretend like you are), and this would technically be the first time you’ve sucked dick. It’s a lot harder than girls make it seem, you note to yourself, but try to take him deeper anyway. A long whine tumbles from his lips when you both realize you don’t have a very strong gag reflex and take him to the hilt, sucking and still roaming the expanse of his thin waist with your hands. He’s close, you can feel him twitch in your mouth, paired with the precum dripping off him and into you, but he yanks you away by your hair and pulls you up for another passionate kiss.

“What about you?” He asks, panting, and you almost laugh again - it’s so odd for someone to ask about you first.

“The sight of you like this is enough for me,” you assure him, laying wet kisses that have his eyes fluttering into the back of his head down his neck and onto his shoulder.

As you continue pumping him, focusing the majority of your energy on sucking a hickey into his skin, you hardly notice yourself grinding against him. In fact you only realize you’re doing it when his legs wrap around your hips, pulling you in till your cocks are slotted next to each other, both achingly hard. The intensity of it has both of you coming soon after, the imprint of your nails a semi-permanent fixture on Kenny’s hips, paired well with the blossoming hickey on his clavicle. He’s not the only one marked up by the end, though - angry red streaks line your back from his scratching, and you only notice when you collapse on your back beside him.

“Would you happen to have a rag?” He asks, both of you breaking into giggles soon after.

“I’ll go get paper towels,” you offer, reaching for your underwear before realizing you need to clean up before putting on clothes. Instead you peck his forehead, leaving him smiling as you leave the room.

Eventually you’re both cleaned up, clothes on, and the trench coat is covering the both of you, cuddled tight in the back room of 7-Eleven. When the story gets out, as all stories do at some point, there’s a lot of varying accounts on what happened in the night. The most popular, and probably your least favorite, was that you terrorized him the entire night, and though most people don’t believe it considering how close you and Kenny act, it’s still the most popular. Another theory was that you introduced him to drinking and you stayed up with him all night, drunk out of your minds; you don’t mind that story as much, but he does, so you try to tell people that isn’t what happened.

He does ask at one point if he’s allowed to talk about your relationship, and your answer is an ardent yes, which surprises him. You adore every part of him, and you find no shame in that, even if he thinks you should. Sure, you do get bullied a lot more, but it’s nothing brass knuckles don’t sort out quickly.

It’s an odd pairing, you acknowledge that. Punk doesn’t usually go well with sweetheart nerd, but it works surprisingly well, and for that you’re endlessly grateful. In-between classes you run by his locker even though you’re on separate sides of the school, always kissing him before each class. Your little expeditions leave you late to every class but English, and by the end of the year all your teachers hate you as usual with the exception of Mr. Davis.

“You concentrate a lot better these days. Did my talk help you out any?” He asks after class one summer day. Kenny is waiting outside the class, so you try to find a quick answer.

“Well… a little. I talked to Kenny at least,” you answer with a smile, bidding him a kinder good-bye than you usually give your teachers, saluting him as you close the door.

“Everything alright?” Kenny asks, walking shoulder to shoulder with you down the empty halls of the school.

“Everything’s perfect, sugar,” you answer, your arm hanging around his shoulders.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael in the Mainstream: The Chris Columbus Harry Potter Films

Here’s a bold stance to take these days: I actually still really love the Harry Potter franchise.

Yes, this series hasn’t had a huge impact on my own writing; my stories I’m working on draw far more from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and the Percy Jackson series than they do Harry Potter. And yes, the author of the franchise has outed herself as a transphobic scumbag whose every post-script addition to her franchise has been an unprecedented bad move (save, perhaps, for allowing Johnny Depp the opportunity to work during a very trying time in his life). But while the author is a horrendous person and the story hasn’t exactly given me as much to work with as other stories have, there are so many great themes, ideas, and characters that even now I’d still say this is one of my favorite series of all time. The world of Harry Potter is just so fascinating, the usage of folklore is interesting, and it has one of the most menacing and disturbing villains in young adult literature and manages to play the whole “love prevails over evil” cliché in such a way that it actually works.

And, of course, then we get into what I’m really here to talk about: the adaptations. The movies are not entirely better than the books; while I do think most of the films are on par with their novel counterparts, and they certainly do a good job of scrubbing out some of the iffier elements in Rowling’s writing, I still think there’s a certain, ahem, magic that the books have that gives them a slight edge. But, look, I’m a movie reviewer, and these films are some of my favorites of all time, and as much as I love the books I’m not going to sit around and say the books surpass them in every single way. There’s a lot to love in these films, and hopefully I’ll be able to convey that as I review the series.

Of course, the only place to truly start is the Chris Columbus duology. Columbus is not the most impressive director out there – this is the man who gave us Rent, Pixels, and that abominable adaptation of Percy Jackson after all – but early on in his career he made a name for himself directing whimsical classics such as the first two Home Alone movies and Mrs. Doubtfire. Those films are wonderfully cast and have a lot of charm, and thankfully this is the Columbus we got to bring us the first two entries in Harry’s story. 

One of the greatest strengths of the first two Harry Potter movies is just the sheer, unrelenting magic and wonder they invoke. They’re so whimsical, so enchanting, so fun; they fully suck you into the world Rowling created and utilize every tool they can to keep you believing. Everything in these films serves to heighten the magic; practical effects and CGI come together with fantastic costuming and set design to make the world of wizards and Hogwarts school feel oh so real. And of course, none of this would be even remotely as effective if not for the legendary score by John Williams, who crafted some of the most iconic and memorable compositions of the 21st century for these films. In short: the tone of these films is pretty perfect for what they are, and every element in them works to make sure you are buying into this tone at every moment.

The other massively important element is the casting, and by god, the casting in these films is simply perfect. Of course, the title characters and his peers have to be unknowns, and thankfully they managed to pluck out some brilliant talent. I don’t need to tell you how good Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson are, even back in these films, but I do feel the need to say that Rupert Grint is vastly underappreciated; I really don’t think the films would work quite as well without his presence, because he does bring that goofy charm Harry’s friend group needs to balance it out. Matthew Lewis is the adorable coward Neville Longbottom and Tom Felton is the snotty brat Draco Malfoy, and though both of their roles are fairly minor in the first two films they manage to make their mark. The second movie pulls in Bonnie Wright as Ginny, and again, I’m gonna say she’s rather underrated; I think she did quite a fine job in her role.

But of course, the real draw of these films is the sheer amount of star power they have in terms of U.K.  actors. You’ve got Maggie Smith (McGonagall), Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Warwick Davis (Flitwick and, bafflingly, only the voice of Griphook, who was played by the American Verne Troyer in the first film for… some reason), John Hurt (Ollivander), Toby Jones (Dobby), John Cleese (Nearly Headless Nick)… and this is only the first two films. The movies would continue pulling in stars like it was Smash Ultimate, determined to tell you that “EVERYONE IS HERE” and be the ultimate culmination of U.K. culture.

Of course, even in the first few movies there are those who truly stand out as perfect. Smith and Coltrane are most certainly the perfect embodiment of their characters, but I think a great deal of praise should be given to Richard Griffiths as Uncle Vernon; the man is a volatile, raging bastard the likes of which you rarely see, and he is at once repulsive and comical. He’s pretty much the British answer to J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. Then we have Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy in the second film, and he is just delightfully, deliciously devilish and dastardly. Isaacs actually came up with a lot of Mr. Malfoy’s quirks himself, such as the long blonde hair, the cane wand, and the part where he tries to murder a small child in cold blood for releasing his house elf (which came about because he forgot literally every other spell and had just read Goblet of Fire, so...). Then of course there is Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart, and… well, it’s Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart. I don’t think you could find a more perfect casting choice (except perhaps Hugh Grant, who was originally cast but had to drop out). He just really hams it up as the obnoxious blowhard and helps make him much more tolerable than his book counterpart, though he does unfortunately have the lack of plot relevance Lockhart did in the book, which is a problem unique to Lockhart. Fun fact, he is the ONLY Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in the series to not ultimately matter in regards to the main story.

Of course, the greatest casting choice of them all is most certainly The late, great Alan Rickman as everyone’s favorite greasy potions professor, Severus Snape. I think Rickman goes a long way towards helping make Snape one of the greatest characters of all time, with everything about his performance just being perfect, and what makes it even better is how it would ultimately subvert his typical roles (though that’s a story for a different review). I don’t think either of the first films is really his best outing, butt he first one definitely sets him up splendidly. Snape barely has a role in the second film – something that greatly irritated Rickman during the movie’s production apparently – but he still does a good job with what limited screentime he has. Then we have Richard Harris as Dumbledore. Due to his untimely death, he only played Dumbledore in the first two films, but he really did give a wonderful performance that had all the charm, whimsy, and wonder the Dumbledore of the first few books was full of. The thing is, I don’t know if he would have been able to make the transition into the more serious and darker aspects of Dumbledore that popped up in the later books. I guess we’ll never know, which is truly a shame, but at the very least he gave us a good showing with what little time he had.

My only problems with the first two films are extremely minor, though there is at least one somewhat big issue I have. You see, while I do like everything about these films, I feel like they’re a bit too loyal to the books, not doing enough to distinguish themselves as their own thing like films such as Prisoner of Azkaban would do. But if I’m being honest, this is seriously nitpicky; it’s not like this really makes me think less of the films, because they have way more going for than against them. Stuff like this and the cornier early performances from the kid actors are to be expected when a franchise is still finding its legs. It really is more of a personal thing for me; I prefer when creators allow their own vision to affect an adaptation so that I can see how they perceive and interpret the work, but at the same time the first two Harry Potter books are all about setting up and the main plot doesn’t really kick off until the third and fourth books, so… I guess everything balances out?

It is a bit odd looking back at these first two films and noting how relatively self-contained they are compared to the denser films that were to come; you could much more easily jump into either one of these films and really get what’s going on compared to later movies, where you would almost definitely be lost if you tried to leap in without an inkling of the plot. But that is something I do like, since the first two films have really strong plots that focus more on the magical worldbuilding and developing the characters, setting up an incredibly strong foundation for the series to come. There are a few trims of the plot here and there, but it’s not nearly as major as some things that would end up cut later.

But, really, what’s there to cut? Like I said, these movies are more about the worldbuilding and setting up for later plotlines. They’re relatively simple stories here, and I think that’s kind of their big strengths, because it lets the characters and world shine through. The first film honestly is just Harry experiencing the wizarding world for the first time, with him going from scene to scene and just taking in all of the magical sights. Most of the big plot stuff really happens towards the end, when they make the journey down to the Philosopher’s Stone. The second movie is where things get a lot more plot-heavy, with the film focusing on the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets and all of the troubles that the basilisk within causes. Despite how grim the stories can get, especially the second one, these films never really lose that whimsical, adventurous tone, which is incredibly impressive all things considered.

It’s not really criticisms, but there are a few things that make me a bit sad didn’t happen in the first couple of films, or at the very least offer up some interesting “what could have been” scenarios. I think the most notable missed opportunity is the decision to axe Peeves, despite him being planned and having Rik Mayall film scenes with him only to have said scenes left on the cutting room floor, never to see the light of day; Mayall had some rather colorful words to say about the film after it came out. Sean Connery passing up on playing Dumbledore is another missed opportunity, but Connery has always been awful at picking roles and hates fantasy, so this isn’t shocking to me in the slightest. Terry Gilliam being straight-up told by Rowling she didn’t want him directing is another sad but necessary decision, as was Spielberg dropping out; neither guy would have been a very good fit for the franchise, honestly. Alan Cumming turning down the role of Lockhart because Grint and Watson were going to be paid more than him is a bit… lame, but also I don’t think he’d have been as good as Branagh in the role; as much as I love Cumming, Branagh has this grandiose stage actor hamminess that Lockhart desperately needs. There’s a lot of fascinating trivia facts I learned writing this review, and a lot of it paints some pretty weird pictures of how this franchise could have turned out in another world.

Chamber of Secrets and Sorcerer's Stone are both absolutely fantastic, whimsical fantasy movies, and I’d definitely recommend both of them to anyone who likes the fantasy genre. It’s a great jumping off point for younger people who may not be able to handle something as intense or heavy as, say, The Lord of the Rings making it a very useful gateway drug into fantasy, though it still manages to work perfectly as fun, engaging fantasy on its own. I’m personally more of a fan of the third and eighth movies but I can definitely hear arguments for either of these two being someone’s favorites or even the best in the franchise, because they invoke a lot of nostalgia and charm just thinking about them, good memories of seeing them with my family when I was a kid.

Some have come to view Chamber of Secrets less positively over the years, seeing it as an awkward transitional phase between the lighter, more whimsical adventures and the darker plot-driven ones, but honestly, Between the Columbus films, Chamber is definitely the superior one. It takes everything that was great about the first film and builds on it, and also gives us Lucius Malfoy, Dobby, Gilderoy Lockhart, and way better special effects and a more consistent narrative. The first film is still a classic, of course, but it’s almost episodic in nature and a lot more focused on showing Hogwarts to us than delivering a story. Still, it definitely has the plus of having way more Snape than the second film did, and there’s no arguments against that from me! Both films are very good at what they do, and both definitely deserve a watch.

[briangroth27]

The Exorcist Season 1 Review

FOX’s Exorcist was a bit of a mixed bag for me. On one hand, I really liked the Rance family possession plot and felt the drama mined from watching them struggle to hang together was often excellent. On the other, outside of a truly effective and creepy scene of a mass organ harvest early on, I found myself tuning out whenever the papal conspiracy plot kicked in. That part of the show fell totally flat for me and never felt like something I should be worried about. I wish The Exorcist had been a miniseries focused on the Rances instead of reaching for a bigger canvas it didn’t need; the stakes were high enough with the peril surrounding the Rances over the course of the season’s ten episodes. I’m not really a fan of demonic possession stories, but this show pulled me in and kept me interested!

Full Spoilers...

The pilot’s reveal that it was seemingly happy Casey (Hannah Kasulka), not depressed Katherine (Brianne Howey) who was in the process of being possessed was a good twist I didn’t see coming, and the later reveal that this was a sequel to the original Exorcist film—Geena Davis’ Angela Rance was actually Regan MacNeil!—provided a great deal of drama and context to the proceedings. From that reveal on, this was no longer just a reimagining of the film’s events, but a continuation of Regan’s struggle to be free of a serial abuser. I loved that possessing Casey was really about repossessing Regan, and the battles between Angela and the demon Pazuzu (both for the soul of her daughter and later, for her own) were excellent. It was great to get Chris MacNeil (Sharon Gless) in the story as well for the full Exorcist film connection, even if her character was altered—seemingly drastically—from the caring, self-sacrificing mother she was portrayed as in the film. I’m by no means an Exorcist purist, so I don’t mind this change to Chris’ characterization and view her trying to publicize Regan’s possession in the 70s as a tragic, last-ditch effort to keep their heads above water financially...and maybe as a severely misguided attempt to prove her daughter had never had any sort of mental illness. I’m not sure how else she could’ve explained the deaths surrounding Regan in the film, so offering up the possession excuse and publicizing it makes some sense to me. Plus, Chris exposing Regan’s issues worked for me to bolster Pazuzu’s argument to accept him. After all, why stay with the family that exploited her? I enjoyed Chris’ reconciliation with Regan and the sense of understanding the two women seemed to reach before her untimely death. I liked that this new possession helped to bring them back together after the events of the film apparently drove them apart. I loved that this mother/daughter connection was echoed both after Casey’s exorcism, wherein Regan traded herself for her daughter, and in the finale, with Regan preventing Pazuzu from killing her family outright and their love helping her to overcome him.

Father Tomas Ortega’s (Alfonso Herrera) struggle with staying true to his papal vows and succumbing to romance seemed to fit in better with Pazuzu’s temptation goals than the cult trying to seize power. Father Marcus (Ben Daniels) provided a strong, experienced, and brutal alternative method of dealing with demons to Tomas’ more compassionate one and I enjoyed the interplay between the two of them as they struggled to save the Rance family. It was smart to use Casey’s exorcism to reveal more information about the priests and to test their resolve. As for Pazuzu himself, I loved that his intentions were largely kept small, trying to reacquire the “one who got away,” making this whole series a story about how Regan finally fought off her childhood abuser after hiding for so long and watching him come after her family as well.

All the actors were very strong, particularly Geena Davis, who oscillated between what first appeared to be overprotectiveness (and apparent religious zealotry) for her family, pure, creepy evil once she was possessed to save her daughter, and finally incredible strength to defeat Pazuzu once and for all. Kasulka did great with material that asked her to be vulnerable, terrifying, afraid, resilient, and just a little enticed by what Pazuzu was offering. Robert Emmet Lunney’s physical manifestation of Pazuzu (at least in Casey and Regan’s minds) was effectively creepy. I loved how he tormented Casey and Regan with the enticement of offering them release if they’d just let him overtake their souls. The way he’d entice Casey to treat herself by stealing a dress, for example, felt like a smart connection to real-life abusers who dote on their victims before turning violent. His constant decomposition throughout the season worked well to display his growing desperation to own Regan and her daughter. Alan Ruck, playing Rance patriarch Henry, was very good in a role that could’ve easily been forgettable and his character’s mental problems provided a nice contrast to the supernatural ailments the rest of his family was experiencing. Even though I’m not into seeing more of the papal conspiracy, Daniels and Herrera’s performances and chemistry were strong enough that I’d be down to see their continuing battles against other demons.

I wish Howey and Gless had more time to explore their characters, but they both did well with what they were given. Howey easily slid Katherine into more of the sane center of calm in the family as things went crazy, despite her own issues. I do think the show could’ve delved into Katherine’s car accident and resulting depression at the loss of her friend more: Pazuzu’s involvement seemed a little haphazard and her drama was quickly (if understandably) overshadowed by the possessions of her sister and mother. It also seemed like they were building to more fallout regarding Pazuzu revealing that she was attracted to girls to her family and friends, but the matter was dropped almost immediately. I guess the Rances were more understanding and accepting than the demon expected. Meanwhile, Gless brought credibility and a strong sense of regret to what Chris had done to her daughter before the show started. Perhaps it would’ve been a stronger choice for Chris to now be something of a rogue exorcist (as her entrance attire suggested), both as a tribute to the daughter she’d driven away and to provide a different sort of demon-fighting tactic than employed by Marcus, Tomas, and Sister Bernadette (Deanna Dunagan) & her convent.

The outbursts of violence, like an exceptionally brutal attack on a train by Casey, were well-utilized and didn’t feel gratuitous. The show also did well with creepy imagery, particularly as Pazuzu tormented Casey while trying to get her to accept him. The tunnel sequence in episode 6 as Marcus tracked down Casey is a great, scary one. The Rance “family meeting” in episode 9 was another stand-out moment. Getting to see Casey and Regan’s perspectives on the battle for their souls during exorcisms was something the movie didn’t offer and made total sense, serving to enhance the story (a great example of a concept being extended for the extended TV format).

I don’t know if the series will be back next season, but with the Rance family’s issues resolved, I don’t feel like I need to see more of it. If it does come back and the papal conspiracy plot becomes more interesting, I’d certainly check it out. Regardless, I’m very satisfied with what they gave us and would definitely recommend the show on the strength of the Rance plotline!

[hermanwatts]

Sensor Sweep: 10/14/2019

Comic Books (13th Dimension): “Nearly 50 years after he first brought the Cimmerian to the pages of Marvel Comics, the incredible ROY THOMAS returns to script the SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN! Teamed with the legendary ALAN DAVIS, get ready for an unforgettable chapter in the saga of Conan, as the barbarian leads a mysterious band of adventurers into the Himelian Mountains in search of a lost comrade. But Conan may get more than he bargained for as the startling truth behind the quest is uncovered!”

Art (DMR Books): ERB’s Amtor and Barsoom. Moorcock’s “Old Mars.” Norman’s Gor. Ken Bulmer’s Kregen/Antares. Artist Richard Hescox—who turns 70 today—has painted them all over the course of five decades, making him one of the preeminent living artists in the Sword and Planet field. Richard made his first professional sales to Marvel Comics after Neal Adams gave him a recommendation, doing several covers for Marvel’s black-and-white magazine line.

Art (The Silver Key): But up on the sunlit third floor gallery Tom’s paintings were vibrant and powerful. Tom walked me through pictures of knights in renaissance armor, burning spacecraft, beautiful enchantresses, and scenes from Arizona where he lived for a short stretch in the 1980s. An image of King Lear brooding over his life as he looks into a rapidly fading sunset. Tom also showed me several conceptual pieces which I found particularly arresting, including this one (above, left) of a soul embracing and thus breaking free of the fear of death which looms over all our collective shoulders.

Tolkien (Notion Club Papers): One of the loveliest, most skilful and poignant passages of Lord of the Rings is easily skimmed-over; coming on the journey of Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli; as they ride between Fangorn Forest and the Golden Hall of King Theoden in Rohan. Here Tolkien shows what Fantasy Fiction can do, because the Rohirrim are ‘us’, the readers – especially if we are English; since Rohan does not just represent a version of our Anglo Saxon past; but is also the race of beings from-which modern Men have mostly descended.

RPG (Matthew J. Constantine): If you’re a Keeper for Call of Cthulhu, and you’re thinking about setting your game in Arkham, you should almost certainly get a copy of this.  Keith Herber (without any Sasquatch) gives a nice, info-packed guide to the storied city where so many of Lovecraft’s tales of horror were centered.

It starts with a brief history of the city, exploring some of its founding fathers, and the religions and political reasons for them setting up shop on the ‘ol Miskatonic River.

D&D (Brain Leakage): As I mentioned in this post a couple of months back, I’ve always played the game by cobbling rules together from various editions. But I’m going to give Demilich Jim a big hat-tip here for borrowing the perfect term for it from the model-building community. Demilich Jim also wrote an awesome thread about a month ago, one that’s well worth a read for anyone with plans to do some D&D kitbashing.

Cartoons (Entertainment Weekly): “Years ago, it started off as a kids 6-11 show about this little caveman and he has a little dinosaur friend and they have adventures together,” Tartakovsky tells EW. “Then, as my tastes started to grow and I felt like I’m not sure where I’m heading with this, it organically started to develop into something more mature.” The biggest turning point for Primal, shifting away from that kids concept to what it is today, came when Tartakovsky read Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian stories, first published in the 1930s.

Fiction (Gardner F. Fox): By the telling of Mr. Fox’s version of Jean du Dunois’s life, he was a bastard and made a few of them himself along the way. The first chapter has Jean climbing into the room of the man, Raoul D’Anquetonville, that had his father assassinated, only to run into Raoul’s wife. So instead of killing her, he gives her a child, knowing the whole world knows the old Raoul is too old to sire a child, their reputation would be dragged into the dirt. Not a bad way to seek revenge and start a story.

Art & History (Adams Planes): Alex Raymond made a famous mark for himself when he created Flash Gordon in 1934.  His groundbreaking use of color and attention to detail are widely recognized as setting new standards in the comic art form.  His career was cut short, at age 46, by an auto accident in 1956 but by then he had created three other cartoon strips that also became popular … ‘Secret Agent X-9’, ‘Rip Kirby’ and ‘Jungle Jim’.

T.V. (Closer Weekly): “If there wasn’t a Man From Atlantis, I wouldn’t have

been on Dallas,” Patrick exclusively told Closer Weekly at Nostalgiacon. “For starters, the producer of Dallas, when he was creating the original show, was filming a different one, right next door to me on Man From Atlantis. He requested me to play the part of Bobby; I never auditioned for it. Had he not been there, next door to where I was doing Atlantis, that opportunity may never have presented itself to me. So Atlantis is very important in my career.”

RPG (Matthew J. Constantine): Cyberpunk is a subgenre that’s always appealed to me, for reasons that are often beyond me.  I’m not into computers, never was. I’m not much of a tech person at all, really. But there’s something about the aesthetic, the attitude, etc. that’s made me a lifelong fan.  From early movies like “Bladerunner” to tertiary works like the TV miniseries “Wild Palms,” or blockbusters as far flung as “The Matrix” and “Mad Max: Fury Road,” and low budget crap like “Cyborg” and “Nemesis.”

Art (Paperback Palette): Beginning in August, 1978, and ending in May, 1982, Bantam, under the guidance of their legendary art director Leonard P. Leone Sr., began issuing a series of non-Robert E. Howard material continuing and supplementing the much earlier Lancer/Ace Conan paperback series. Bantam numbered their paperback volumes in order of intended publication and only on the spine, but in the event volume 5 was issued after volume 6, and volume 7 was issued without numbering.

Amateur Press (Howard History): If you’re reading this blog, you may be aware of the Robert E. Howard United Press Association or REHupa (pronounced “ray-hoop-uh”), an amateur press association that is focused on Howard and his writing. If you’re not, REHupa is a bunch of people who occasionally send in 35 or so copies of a fanzine that they have produced to an “editor.” The editor combines all the ‘zines into mailings and sends them back out to the members so that everyone gets a copy of everyone else’s work.

Sword & Sorcery (DMR Books): “I guess heavy metal means different things to different people. To me, one of these elements is living one’s life as a free and wild entity and casting off the chains of oppression. Just going beyond the threshold, in general. This is one of the reasons people get into black magick and some of the philosophies dealing with the Left-Hand-Path.”

Sensor Sweep: 10/14/2019 published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

[torentialtribute]

Quinlan caps his best ever season with surprise victory on Takingrisks in Scottish Grand National

Veteran jockey Sean Quinlan, who almost let his wild side derail, chose his best season ever with his biggest victory ever

Thirty-five years old is a little late to claim a breakthrough, but Quinlan's career has turned around The low point for Quinlan came in 2014 when he was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for his involvement. [1] [2] [3] [4] at a time of a violent incident in a pub, career had hit the buffers. But he moved north and changed his life.

After raising the first prize at the 122,442 £

Jockey Sean Quinlan celebrates Scottish Grand National at Takingrisks on Saturday Nicklan, a gelding educated by Richy in a sunny but windy wind, Ayr hovered in front of 18,500 sold-out crowds, said: & # 39; I could never think of anything like that.

I was a jockey companion, things didn't happen and it crossed me to go back to Ireland. I met Harvey Smith at the races one day and he said: & Come to my place (in Yorkshire). If you do the work, I will give you rides & # 39; & # 39;

& # 39; I just left for some great trainers .. There are so many people I should thank, but I have to mention including my agent Richard Hale and my miss Lizzie.

& # 39; (My colleague) Paddy Brennan keeps saying to me: & # 39; Behind every good man is a good woman. & # 39; & # 39; Lizzie grabbed me. She tamed me fairly. I used to be a little wild when I was younger. She grabbed me. She's a good woman and probably made me a man. "

<img id =" i-445b99e13206ee92 "src =" https://dailym.ai/2UTjE5j a-2_1555177141696.jpg "height =" 433 "width =" 634 "alt =" Takingrisks won the Scottish Grand National with three lengths at Ayr with a clearance of 25-1 "

Takingrisks won the Scottish Grand National with three lengths at Ayr with a clearance of 25-1 "

Quinlan and Takingrisks claimed honor, but only after an error at the first gates that Quinlan thought had ended his chance

almost a long time ago

The jockey, who rode 53 winners this season, added: & # 39; I have winged the first and am in hit the sky. I thought his chances were gone. It was only fear that helped me. I hung out the back door and prayed to God to hold me up.

& # 39; But then I winged the second and traveled fantastic.

Harry Skelton-ridden runner-up Crosspark jumped in the lead at the third-last fence but through the penultimate fence Quinlan had his support in the foreground and he gradually forged clear.

Quinlan said: & I didn't want to get there too fast, but I didn't want to sprint either. Harry chased me third, but he fought. It is very tough. & # 39;

[Richards] Richards, Takingrisks was delivering the win in a race that his late father Gordon won with Playlord in 1969 and Four Trix in 1990.

Third place went to Jonjo O & # 39; Neill & # 39; s Cloth Cap, who always played prominently, with Nigel Twiston-Davies trained Blue Flight, a gelding with the colors of Dundee United co-owner Jimmy Fyffes, was fourth just over four lengths

first Scottish

Favorite Vintage Clouds faded after a prominent race in a sixth while one of them

The drying place meant there were five non-runners, including top weight trained by Nicky Henderson. Beware Dingo trained by Bear and Alan King

No jump trainer has trained 200 or more winners in a season since Martin Pipe achieved the achievement in the 2001 season / 2 But Dan moved in within eight of the double century when the first well-supported 5-2 favorite Azzuri galloped his rivals into the ground in the Scotty Brand Handicap Chase and then Molly The Dolly landed the £ 100,000 J&D Pierce Novices & # 39 Champion Handicap Chase.

Both were ridden by Skelton & jockey brother Harry and took the Warwickshire trainer to four winners during the two-day meeting for Skelton, which was successful with Born Survivor and Peppay Le Pugh on Friday

The victory of Molly The Dolly was the realization of a long-term plan by Skelton with a mare that has not been running since December and the trainer is hatching a plan for the longer term. now.

Skelton said: & # 39; The owner (Dermot Hanafin) has been sitting still since December. I said that this is the perfect race for her and that it is worth 100 million.

& # 39; Everything next year will be focused on coming back next year for the Scottish National. & # 39;

Skelton had high hopes for Black Cloud in the Scottish Championship, but he disappeared to sixth place after seeing three obstacles in a race where he told the top weight and 4-1 favorite Verdana Blue strolled to a seven-along win from Dino Velvet

Winner trainer Henderson pulled five of his runners on the map because of the ground but the drying was exactly what Verdana Blue caused a shock when he stablemate Buveur D & # 39; Air defeated in the Grade One Christmas Hurdle

She gave Conor Brace, a 17-year-old just starting his career, his biggest win.

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[jodyedgarus]

How Anthony Davis Would Fit On The Lakers, Celtics, Nets, Sixers And Knicks

There are deals made at the NBA trade deadline every year, but rarely do those last-minute swaps truly change the trajectory of a season. Yet that sort of potential might exist this season: We learned Monday that superstar big man Anthony Davis wants out of New Orleans, which all but means that the Pelicans have to deal him before he leaves for nothing.

Davis is supremely talented, enough so that teams that once said they wouldn’t touch their rebuilding plans are no doubt now counting their pocket change to gauge the cost of a deal with New Orleans. It’s widely assumed that the Los Angeles Lakers will be aggressive in trying to get something done before the Feb. 7 deadline. And there’s seemingly a huge incentive for them to make that push. The Pelicans can almost certainly create an even bigger bidding war if they wait to trade Davis this summer. By then, the asset-rich Boston Celtics can be involved, and the draft-lottery dust will settle, clarifying which club will have the rights to the No. 1 overall pick.1 So it will probably take a home-run offer to entice the Pelicans to let Davis go now.

For the time being, we took a crack at estimating where Davis could go and how five teams would fare with him — according to our CARMELO projection model, which generates depth charts and power ratings for every team — after parting ways with the players it’d take to land him.2

Lakers

Possible deal for Davis: Lonzo Ball, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Josh Hart, Kyle Kuzma, Ivica Zubac and picks.

What the Lakers would look like with AD

Projected full-strength playoff depth chart for the 2018-19 Los Angeles Lakers with Anthony Davis, based on CARMELO plus/minus ratings

EXPECTED MINUTES PER GAME PLAYER RATING PLAYER PG SG SF PF C TOTAL OFF. +/- DEF. +/- TOT. +/- LeBron James 4 0 14 21 0 39 +4.9 +1.2 +6.1 Anthony Davis 0 0 0 22 18 40 +2.9 +3.2 +6.1 Brandon Ingram 0 0 34 0 0 34 -1.4 -0.4 -1.8 Rajon Rondo 25 2 0 0 0 27 -0.9 -0.3 -1.2 JaVale McGee 0 0 0 0 17 17 -2.4 +1.7 -0.7 Tyson Chandler 0 0 0 3 12 15 -2.3 +2.4 +0.2 Lance Stephenson 0 19 0 0 0 19 -0.8 -1.2 -2.0 Johnathan Williams 0 0 0 2 1 3 -2.0 +0.2 -1.9 Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk 0 17 0 0 0 17 -2.0 -1.6 -3.6 Michael Beasley 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1.3 -0.2 -1.5 Moritz Wagner 0 0 0 0 0 0 -2.1 +0.0 -2.1 Isaac Bonga 8 6 0 0 0 14 -1.8 -0.2 -2.0 Alex Caruso 11 4 0 0 0 15 -1.6 -0.2 -1.7 Team total 240 +1.2 +3.4 +4.6 Expected wins 52.9 CARMELO team rating 1645

The Lakers’ package3 — likely made up of some combination of Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and Ivica Zubac — isn’t really a secret to anyone at this point. That group is young and talented. It just isn’t clear whether any of the players possess the talent to become stars at some point. (For the sake of this exercise, we left Ingram out of the deal, though the Pelicans could easily demand that he, Kuzma, Ball and others be included. Their preference remains to be seen.)

Ball, Kuzma and Ingram have all struggled to take the next step this season. That shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. It’s a huge adjustment learning to play with LeBron James and then having to go back to playing without him as he recovers from injury. But it does raise a big question for New Orleans: Should the Pelicans really be dealing away a superstar on the hope that one of these young Lakers will ascend into something significant? The answer becomes even more important considering that any picks the Lakers send over would likely be toward the back end of the first round, because a Davis-LeBron duo would peg Los Angeles as one of the top seeds out West.

In the short term, the Lakers’ full-strength postseason version with Davis would improve to a CARMELO rating of 1645,4 up from the 1589 posteason mark we’re estimating with their current roster. That is roughly the same as the Denver Nuggets’ full-strength playoff rating, but it may also be understating the Lakers’ chances. Would YOU want to bet against a team led by James and Davis in the playoffs (at least against anybody except perhaps the Warriors)?5

Celtics

Possible deal for Davis: Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum and picks.

Boston probably has the most attractive, cost-controlled assets in the league. But the Celtics are in a holding pattern because of a little-known rule that prohibits teams from acquiring more than one player on Davis’s “Rose Rule” contract via trade. In 2017, Boston traded for Kyrie Irving, who also signed a Rose Rule extension. That means the club would have to deal Irving to acquire Davis — which obviously won’t happen. More feasibly, Boston could re-sign Irving to a new contract in free agency this offseason, which would give the team the freedom to then make a deal for Davis.

The Celtics have several young, relatively cheap players — Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum — who would appeal to any team starting a rebuild. They’re also likely to have three first-round picks in the 2019 draft. With this war chest potentially available from Boston this summer, the Pelicans should consider waiting on a Davis deal if they are not blown away by an offer at the deadline.

Just for fun, though, if the Celtics did trade Kyrie for AD this year — sending, say, Irving, Daniel Theis and Guerschon Yabusele to the Pelicans for Davis — the resulting team would be pretty stacked, with a playoff full-strength CARMELO of 1752. That’s about 50 points higher than the Houston Rockets and 20 higher than the Toronto Raptors, albeit still nearly 100 points lower than the Warriors’ mark. The Celtics currently have the third-highest standard rating in the East, but their playoff rating would easily vault to No. 1 with a Kyrie-for-AD swap (which, again, will not actually happen).

(By comparison, it’s worth noting that in the far more realistic scenario — a Davis trade for Brown, Rozier, Smart and Tatum over the summer — the Celtics’ CARMELO would be 1723, which would also be a 30-point improvement over their current full-strength playoff rating, good for about two-and-a-half extra wins over a full season.)

Nets

Possible deal for Davis: Jarrett Allen, Allen Crabbe, D’Angelo Russell and picks.

What the Nets would look like with AD

Projected full-strength playoff depth chart for the 2018-19 Brooklyn Nets with Anthony Davis, based on CARMELO plus/minus ratings

EXPECTED MINUTES PER GAME PLAYER RATING PLAYER PG SG SF PF C TOTAL OFF. +/- DEF. +/- TOT. +/- Anthony Davis 0 0 0 19 23 42 +2.9 +3.2 +6.1 Caris LeVert 0 9 21 0 0 30 +0.0 -0.6 -0.6 Spencer Dinwiddie 31 0 0 0 0 31 +2.3 -2.1 +0.2 Joe Harris 0 29 0 0 0 29 +1.0 -1.1 -0.1 Rondae Hollis-Jefferson 0 8 16 0 0 24 -1.8 +0.4 -1.3 DeMarre Carroll 0 0 7 15 0 22 -0.5 -0.3 -0.8 Jared Dudley 0 0 4 14 0 18 -1.4 +0.2 -1.2 Rodions Kurucs 0 0 0 0 20 20 -1.4 -0.5 -1.9 Treveon Graham 13 2 0 0 0 15 -1.6 -0.5 -2.0 Ed Davis 0 0 0 0 5 5 -1.3 +2.1 +0.8 Shabazz Napier 4 0 0 0 0 4 +0.2 -0.8 -0.6 Dzanan Musa 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1.8 -0.5 -2.3 Theo Pinson 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1.7 -0.5 -2.1 Alan Williams 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1.7 +1.3 -0.5 Team total 240 +1.8 +0.3 +2.2 Expected wins 46.5 CARMELO team rating 1560

They may not get much attention in this conversation, but the Brooklyn Nets probably have some dark-horse potential for landing Davis.

Any deal would obviously hinge on the Pelicans’ interest in building around one of the Nets’ guards — either 22-year-old D’Angelo Russell, who has an outside chance at an All-Star spot and is a restricted free agent this summer, or Caris LeVert,6 who illustrated flashes of stardom before going down with an injury earlier this season. Beyond surrendering one of them, Brooklyn would also have to offer promising 20-year-old center Jarrett Allen. Allen Crabbe would almost certainly have to be part of any deal to make the money work, and it seems likely that the Nets would need to part ways with a couple of first-round picks.

It’d be a steep, depth-diminishing price for a team that, after years of irrelevance, is just now finding its footing in the Eastern Conference playoff race. And even with Davis in the fold, the resulting roster, with a CARMELO rating of 1560, would not be much better than a lower-tier playoff team in the short term. But the Nets have long been interested in landing a top-flight star, and this provides them that chance, giving them more than a full season to build around Davis and convince him to stick around.

Sixers

Possible deal for Davis: Markelle Fultz, Mike Muscala, Justin Patton, Ben Simmons and a pick.

What the Sixers would look like with AD

Projected full-strength playoff depth chart for the 2018-19 Philadelphia 76ers with Anthony Davis, based on CARMELO plus/minus ratings

EXPECTED MINUTES PER GAME PLAYER RATING PLAYER PG SG SF PF C TOTAL OFF. +/- DEF. +/- TOT. +/- Anthony Davis 0 0 0 25 17 42 +2.9 +3.2 +6.1 Jimmy Butler 0 15 20 0 0 35 +3.0 +0.9 +3.9 Joel Embiid 0 0 0 0 31 31 +1.5 +2.6 +4.0 J.J. Redick 0 27 3 0 0 30 +2.0 -2.0 +0.0 Wilson Chandler 0 0 9 18 0 27 -0.9 -0.1 -1.1 Landry Shamet 22 0 0 0 0 22 +0.7 -2.4 -1.6 T.J. McConnell 24 0 0 0 0 24 -1.1 -0.5 -1.6 Zhaire Smith 0 0 15 0 0 15 -1.2 -0.4 -1.6 Furkan Korkmaz 0 6 1 0 0 7 -0.4 -1.2 -1.6 Amir Johnson 0 0 0 5 0 5 -1.2 +1.9 +0.6 Jonah Bolden 0 0 0 0 0 0 -2.2 +1.1 -1.0 Shake Milton 2 0 0 0 0 2 -1.2 -0.8 -2.0 Corey Brewer 0 0 0 0 0 0 -2.4 +0.6 -1.8 Team total 240 +5.6 +2.3 +7.9 Expected wins 60.2 CARMELO team rating 1710

New Orleans has to listen if the Sixers are willing to offer 22-year-old rookie of the year Ben Simmons — the burly ball-handling forward who will likely develop into a perennial All-Star. Simmons would not only give the Pelicans a franchise player, but he would also be on a reasonable contract, which buys New Orleans some time to build around him.

The real question here is whether Philadelphia — which arguably possesses the best frontcourt in the league already — would even consider such a move. The Sixers already pulled off a trade in November for Jimmy Butler and have done well since then — even while some players grumbled over a need for more defined offensive roles. A deal for Davis would improve Philly’s roster on paper slightly, elevating its full-strength playoff CARMELO from 1677 to 1710, but maybe not by as much as a team might expect when adding a superstar of Davis’s stature. And a Davis deal — one that would force Joel Embiid to learn how to play alongside another dominant big — might bring about even more questions about chemistry, since they’d be somewhat redundant as rim protectors and floor-spacing bigs.

All of this suggests that the Sixers might sit this opportunity out rather than offer up Simmons.

Knicks

Possible deal for Davis: Tim Hardaway Jr., Kristaps Porzingis and a pick.

What the Knicks would look like with AD

Projected full-strength playoff depth chart for the 2018-19 New York Knicks with Anthony Davis, based on CARMELO plus/minus ratings

EXPECTED MINUTES PER GAME PLAYER RATING PLAYER PG SG SF PF C TOTAL OFF. +/- DEF. +/- TOT. +/- Anthony Davis 0 0 0 17 23 40 +2.9 +3.2 +6.1 Kevin Knox 0 0 27 5 0 32 -2.8 -3.2 -5.9 Emmanuel Mudiay 30 0 0 0 0 30 -0.3 -2.0 -2.3 Noah Vonleh 0 0 0 21 0 21 -1.3 +1.5 +0.2 Luke Kornet 0 0 0 5 12 17 -0.4 +0.6 +0.2 Damyean Dotson 0 18 5 0 0 23 -0.7 -1.1 -1.8 Enes Kanter 0 0 0 0 13 13 +0.5 -0.6 -0.1 Allonzo Trier 3 18 0 0 0 21 -1.9 -2.6 -4.5 Courtney Lee 0 11 9 0 0 20 -0.5 -1.1 -1.5 Trey Burke 13 0 0 0 0 13 +0.7 -2.5 -1.8 Mitchell Robinson 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1.2 +2.4 +1.2 Mario Hezonja 0 0 7 0 0 7 -1.9 -0.2 -2.1 Frank Ntilikina 2 1 0 0 0 3 -2.6 -1.0 -3.6 Lance Thomas 0 0 0 0 0 0 -2.7 -0.1 -2.9 Team total 240 -1.8 -2.9 -4.6 Expected wins 28.8 CARMELO team rating 1387

Expected wins: 28.8 | CARMELO team rating: 1387

Depending on how a New Orleans deal with New York would look, the Knicks could be in a similar boat to the one the Celtics are in.

Because the Pelicans will be looking to replace Davis’s star power, they might be interested in exploring a deal with whichever team lands the No. 1 overall pick — something the Knicks are in the running for (we won’t have clarity on that until mid-May). If New York wins the lottery, it’s possible that New Orleans would have enough interest in that pick, Tim Hardaway Jr. and perhaps Kevin Knox to make a deal.

But there’s another school of thought to consider: that perhaps it’s better for the Knicks to trade Kristaps Porzingis — who’s coming off an ACL tear and who basically plays the same position as Davis — than to surrender the team’s top pick to the Pelicans. And perhaps New Orleans would prefer to have the 23-year-old Porzingis, who was a known, All-Star level commodity before his injury.

The teams’ preferences at this stage are a mystery. But if both the Knicks and Pelicans have legitimate interest, a few options potentially exist for a deal to happen. Would the resulting team even be any good, though? According to CARMELO, a Davis-led Knicks squad would still carry a below-average 1387 rating at full strength. That wouldn’t exactly be a great fit with what Rich Paul, Davis’s agent, described as the star’s preference to play for “a team that allows him a chance to win consistently and compete for a championship.”

Yet the Knicks would have considerable cap space to put another top-shelf talent next to Davis during free agency, which would help boost their projection much higher.

Jay Boice contributed research.

Check out our latest NBA predictions.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-anthony-davis-would-fit-on-the-lakers-celtics-nets-sixers-and-knicks/

[netunleashed-blog]

Your summer podcast guide: Why 2018 is the year of the 'podcast boom'

http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=16424 Your summer podcast guide: Why 2018 is the year of the 'podcast boom' - http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=16424 Image copyright Instagram:@mydadwrotea/ITV Image caption My Dad Wrote a Porno and Love Island are among the UK's most successful podcasts Whether driving the car, sitting on a train, out running or doing the housework, more of us than ever before are choosing podcasts to keep us company.The latest figures from Rajar suggest six million (11%) of us listen to a podcast each week.That's up from 3.8 million in 2016.While that's still a relatively low proportion of the population, it represents a 58% increase over a two-year period.But one of the key factors is the age of those listening. Recent research from podcast platform Acast suggests that podcast listeners in the UK tend to be millennials - with two-thirds falling into the 16-34 age bracket. Of this group, 27% listen once a week, and 29% listen between two to four times a week. What's more, 21% of respondents in the Acast research, conducted by Ipsos Mori, said they had started listening in the last six months. The popularity of podcasts with this elusive audience - which so many traditional broadcasters and media companies have failed to attract - may be one of the key drivers of the growing podcast market. Image copyright ITV Image caption Last year's Love Island co-winner Kem Cetinay and Arielle Free host the Love Island: The Morning After podcast "This is the year podcasts have gone mainstream," says Hannah Verdier, a freelance podcast reviewer. "A couple of years ago it was still a really niche thing. It seemed to me that no-one really listened to podcasts outside of the London media bubble."But this year feels different, and the last few weeks, in particular, they've really hit their stride. "The one that has really exploded has been the Love Island podcast - it's been on the top of the charts since it launched. It's now seen as essential to a brand to have a podcast as well as a website."'A podcast boom'Matt Deegan, who produces the podcast Love Island: The Morning After, says: "In the last six months a lot of new podcasts have emerged, so it would be fair to say it's having a bit of a boom."We're seeing lots of tweets and reaction to our podcast - many of which are from college students who say they are listening to a podcast for the first time."The successful podcast format has traditionally been the companion format - fan-made shows, for the likes of Westworld, West Wing etc. "Spin-off TV shows have always been popular - like Big Brother's Little Brother, and the same goes for podcasts. Love Island is the first UK television show to really go for it and I think they have been rewarded for it."Podcasts, as we know them, have been around for 15 years and gained some traction in the mid-2000s but seemed to take a blow from other online media content.Rowan Slaney, who writes the Guardian's Hear, Here podcast column, and is an audio content specialist at Google, says: "YouTube came along and since then everyone's been pretty video-focused. And then slowly - mainly because American speech radio is awful - podcasts have been making a comeback."The UK has typically been behind the US in the podcasting stakes because the BBC makes good content and people don't feel the need to go away and download different audio content. "But now everyone has a podcast - and the BBC has had to start taking it more seriously too."'True crime craze'One of the landmarks on the podcast landscape was, of course, the podcast Serial. The first two seasons of the true crime hit have been downloaded more than 250 million times, according to Serial Productions. Image copyright Serial Image caption Serial is about the conviction of Adnan Syed for the murder of ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee "Serial was amazing," says Slaney. "But you can't attribute everything to that podcast. If it weren't for the ongoing dedication of real audio fans, who had the interest in podcasts all along we would never have had a series like that. Serial kicked off a real true crime craze - and it's still the most-listened-to genre."Deegan, who is also the co-founder of the British Podcast Awards, says Serial coincided with podcasts becoming much more accessible via smart phones."When it became a default app on the iPhone, perhaps four or five years ago, it meant more and more people clicking on it. And that was the same sort of time Serial came out - which was the first real podcast content hit."'Game changer'It wasn't much longer before the podcast sensation My Dad Wrote A Porno came out. Hosted by Radio 1 presenter Alice Levine and two of her university friends, James Cooper and Jamie Morton, the podcast has been on the iTunes chart for more than two years. It recently went on tour with its live shows, selling out the Royal Albert Hall. Image copyright PA Image caption The stars of the podcast My Dad Wrote a Porno, l-r: James Cooper, Jamie Morton and Alice Levine "When My Dad Wrote A Porno came along, it was a game-changer," says Hannah Verdier. "And others have realised there is a real market there with young, female audiences."Slaney agrees: "Everything is traditionally made for men. Young women are let down by most speech radio - there's a real gap. "Currently the only real route into audio is through the BBC and if you don't fit into those six channels then there's nowhere for you to be heard on mainstream media. But podcasting is a really exciting format, and anyone can do it - so it opens up the door to lots more content and more creativity."Now young women are making their own content that they enjoy. And the amount of black and non-white voices we've heard in podcasting has just exploded. "They're also voices that are not well served by traditional media, so it's a means for ethnic minorities to get their voices heard."The Shout Out Network is one of a number of platforms supporting people of colour and actively encouraging women in podcasts. Wolves In The City, hosted by YouTuber Lee Gray, grime artist Karnage Kills and DJ Jay Jay Revlon, is just one of the podcasts they promote - which aims itself at gay black men exploring their sexuality in London. Image copyright Twitter/@WolvesITC Image caption The team behind Wolves in the City And celebrities have seen fit to get in on some of this action too.Deegan says: "Probably in the last six to 12 months, we've seen a higher number of mainstream personalities getting into the world of podcasts, like Fearne Cotton, Ed Miliband, Jessie Ware, along with a number of others."The success of some of these more recent podcasts has in turn informed the kind of radio that is now being commissioned."I think podcasts have opened radio's mind," says Deegan. "Radio 4 has commissioned a series of the Beef and Dairy Network, for example, a comedy which started out as a podcast."And Ed Miliband has sat in twice for Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 following the success of his Reasons to be Cheerful podcast - currently number 16 on the iTunes chart."In short," says Deegan, "podcasts have grown up." Podcasts to listen to now...Hannah Verdier's recommendations: Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Julia Davis and Vicki Pepperdine's Dear Joan and Jericha is currently number two in the podcast charts Dear Joan and Jericha - Julia Davis and Vicki Pepperdine pretend to be a pair of agony aunts and they're quite rude and filthy. It's got a really dry, observational humour. Very daring.Gossip - about three friends who meet weekly to... you guessed it... gossip and freak out over the latest developments in their fictional suburban town, Golden Acres.Dirty John - this is a good one for total podcast beginners. It's an American true crime about a woman who meets a man on the internet. She thinks he's a surgeon and then it all unravels...Sandra - this is a bit more upbeat from Gimlet, one of the best podcasting companies in the US. Ethan Hawke plays a boss and Kristen Wiig plays an Alexa/Siri type character. Turns out Sandra is powered by real people though. Dark comedy drama.Griefcast - this doesn't sound fun, but trust me, it's good. It's very simple: just people talking about their experience with grief. It's really honest but uplifting and a really nice listen.Rowan Slaney's recommendations:Capital - a drama about a referendum won by 51% of the vote to bring back capital punishment.The Discovery Adventures - a good one for the family. It's easy and fun, and you can go and visit some of the places that the episodes are based on.Harry Potter and the Sacred Text - two friends going through each chapter of Harry Potter, looking at the symbolism and language of all the books. Very well structured.The Dollop - two comedians find the most ridiculous events in US history that shaped their country. Really well researched and funny.How To Be A Girl - won the best international podcast at the British Podcast Awards. A mother and her transgender daughter talk to each other. It's about how they navigate the world while she's growing up and going through her transition.Matt Deegan's recommendations: Image copyright Twitter/@walkthedogcast Image caption The Times' Emily Dean interviewed Alan Carr in her first episode of Walking the Dog Where should we begin? - Esther Perell is a counsellor. You sit in a therapy situation with real couples.The Tip-Off - behind the scenes of investigative journalism, how did they get the story?Love Island - you should definitely listen to this if you like the show, Pod Save America - Barack Obama's old speech writing team, on the annoying things Donald Trump has done that week. Has turned from a very angry podcast, to more of a campaigning, fun podcast.Walking the Dog - from The Times. Emily Dean interviews a celebrity guest each week while they walk their dogs. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk. Source link

[how2to18]

NONFICTION SECTIONS of our bookstores feature two radically different kinds of books on the human condition. They update the age-old question — do humans soar with the angels or grovel with the beasts — by arguing for or against human exceptionalism.

The first kind of book still assumes humans are the crown of creation, but now resorts to highlighting our “glorious” free will, consciousness, morality, culture, and so on. Many anthropology books dance around this theme, not denying evolution per se but presenting humans as “a spectacular evolutionary anomaly.” Other animals are invoked not so much for what they can do, but for what they cannot do.

The second kind of book resolutely insists on a biological framework, describing us as one animal among many and stressing our kinship with other species. In this regard, consider the amygdala, that pea-shaped part of the brain that has recently received so much press. Activated by both fear in rats and phobias in humans, it has a common function across species. Last year’s Behave by Robert Sapolsky, a Stanford primatologist and neuroscientist, exemplifies this second type of book, insisting on the neural organization and transmitters we share with all other mammals.

As a student of animal behavior, I won’t hide my overwhelming preference for the second approach, especially after the last few decades when cognitive science has blown big drafty holes in the wall supposedly separating us from the rest of nature. Focusing on human uniqueness is like having eyes only for the tip of the iceberg, whereas we need to grasp the whole submerged mountain to know where we come from. Books that set us apart face the problem not just of shrinking evidence, but also of evolutionary continuity: how to reconcile the slow and smooth transitions of evolution with the assumption that humans represent a fundamental departure? William James, the founder of American psychology, pointed out this dilemma more than a century ago. He predicted that if we keep assuming that humans alone are thinking, self-aware beings, then we’ll have great trouble explaining our origin: “We ought ourselves sincerely to try every possible mode of conceiving the dawn of consciousness so that it may not appear equivalent to the irruption into the universe of a new nature, non-existent until then.”

Cecilia Heyes’s Cognitive Gadgets addresses the perceived human difference by proposing precisely the kind of irruption James warned against. A British expert of animal cognition, Heyes has made waves in her country by questioning nearly every new discovery in this burgeoning field. When chimpanzees were said to recognize their own reflection by inspecting a mark painted on their face, Heyes proposed that they just randomly touch themselves in front of a mirror. When it was reported that Japanese macaques learn how to wash sweet potatoes from watching each other, Heyes suggested that they very well might have been chased into the ocean while holding a spud. Simple associative learning, she argues, is the key to nearly everything animals do. While few of her armchair hypotheses have held up, it is no surprise that after decades of pooh-poohing the abilities of other species, Heyes needs a miracle to explain how we got where we are today. Her answer is that we have culturally invented new ways of learning. These are our “gadgets.” We are masters of imitation, for example, not because we possess mirror neurons or are endowed with a special instinct, but thanks to a uniquely human advance: matching the movements that we see with the movements that we make, and vice versa. Thus, a recent paper by Heyes carried the title: “Imitation: Not in Our Genes.” It’s a cultural innovation.

Her proposal for shoring up our exceptionality ignores the overwhelming evidence for spontaneous matching of movements in other species. Why else do we have the verb “aping”? Fireflies flash in unison, dolphins jump out of the water as one, and a monkey who watches another monkey press a button will press its own button in perfect synchrony. Heyes also downplays the fact that human copying starts so early in life that a cultural explanation is unlikely. It is well-documented, for example, that human babies stick out their tongue in response to an experimenter doing the same, a reaction also seen in other infant primates. Her denial that this even happens has her clashing with developmental psychologists, who went so far as to reanalyze the data in her favorite study. Instead of finding the “mortal blow” to neonatal imitation she had touted, they actually found support for it. Regardless of who is right here, the deeper problem is that Heyes tries to account for human exceptionalism by bypassing evolution, which doesn’t permit the sort of jumps she envisions. A cultural explanation is a poor alternative, though, because culture is by definition variable. It tells us why people differ from place to place, but does not account for traits that characterize our species as a whole. For this, we still need biology.

Explanations of human behavior grounded in biology are wonderfully straightforward. Instead of engaging in theoretical acrobatics à la Heyes, they stress commonalities across species — even with respect to the emotions. In The Emotional Foundations of Personality, the late Estonian-American neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp and his former student Kenneth L. Davis develop an evolutionary approach for understanding human personality. Panksepp founded the field of affective neuroscience, placing human and animal emotions on a continuum, and thus helping to make animal emotions a respectable topic. Known for his studies of joy and “laughter” in rats (registered in their ultrasonic vocalizations), he found that rats actively seek out tickling fingers, probably rewarded by opioids in their brains. His work went far beyond this arcane topic, however, situating emotions in ancient subcortical brain areas shared across all vertebrates rather than in our recently expanded cerebral cortex.

In their book, Panksepp and Davis challenge the so-called Big Five personality traits, still the most popular method for plotting human personality. Its method reflects blinding faith in the thousands of labels that we use to describe personality. A large number of them are thrown into a giant statistical “grinder” (as one critic called it) to see how they hang together. The end product is a factor analysis that usually yields five dimensions: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. In the old days, the computations were so burdensome that any graduate student who could complete them in four years was said to deserve a PhD. Today, we do them by computer obviously, but we still end up with the same five factors.

The method may be sophisticated, but unfortunately the theory behind it is largely nonexistent. Panksepp and Davis suggest that there is, in fact, little connection between the Big Five and their manifestations in daily life. For one thing, if we analyze adjectives in languages other than English, we often end up with a different number of dimensions. For another, the approach isn’t based on any ideas about how personalities come about in evolutionary terms, how they are expressed, or how they intersect with human biology and neuroscience. In one well-respected study, twins reared in the same household were found to be as similar in personality as twins reared apart. This means that genes are important drivers of personality, which may indeed also explain the parallels between human and animal personalities.

The book devotes several chapters to the temperaments of primates, dogs, rats, even fish. Anyone who has had two cats or two dogs at home knows how much their behavior varies. For my part, I have had aloof cats, who keep their distance, as well as cuddly ones who love to snuggle with both humans and their feline fellows. Panksepp and Davis recognize the same set of basic emotions in all mammals, and argue convincingly that we should ground the science of human personality in bio-drivers rather than linguistic labels. If we can apply genetic selection to the aggressiveness of fish, for example, then this hints at a biological personality trait grounded in an emotion, one called Rage/Anger by the authors, also found in other species, including our own.

The third book under discussion, Alan Jasanoff’s The Biological Mind, is the most accessible, written in an engaging style and with a clear message. He mobilizes his culinary experience in passages like this one: “When I first touched a brain, it was braised and enveloped in a blanket of beaten eggs.” This is certainly one way to evoke the brain-body connection! Since the brain is part of the body in humans as in other species, argues Jasanoff, we should never consider one without the other. Director of the MIT Center for Neurobiological Engineering, he strenuously objects to any hint of dualism between body and mind according to which the brain is in charge. In other words, we can’t say “we are our brain” without also saying we are our body. The brain is connected in a million and more ways to the body, and shaped by everything that happens to it and in it.

A patient’s personality may change after an organ transplant, for example, seemingly adopting part of the donor’s proclivities. Thus, the recipient of a cyclist’s heart may suddenly become a cycling enthusiast. There is also evidence that altering someone’s gut microbiome via a fecal transplant can affect their mental health. These are certainly interesting examples of how the body affects the mind, but the best-documented effects involve the bodily states known as emotions. We describe our emotions in visceral terms for good reason: every one of them arises in the body. Here, too, William James had something insightful to say, claiming that bodily changes accompanying an emotion are not just an expression of it: they are the emotion. Our guts are wrenched by sadness, our blood boils in anger, our heart throbs with infatuation, and so on. Moreover, we are by no means exceptional in this regard. We make ourselves large in anger or get “cold feet” when afraid, similar to the temperature drop in the feet and tail of a scared rat.

Jasanoff rightly objects to the cerebral mystique known as “neuroessentialism,” which reduces our lives and societies to the workings of the human brain. The idea that the brain can be hacked or digitally preserved is one rather extreme manifestation of this view — and in places like Silicon Valley, cryogenically freezing one’s head is now a fad. Wannabe immortalists anticipate the day when their brain’s contents will be “uploaded” to a machine. They are willing to pay a fortune for such a digitally immortal future. Never mind that science hardly knows what a mind without a body would look or feel like — or indeed whether waking up in digital format would constitute a happy moment. Happiness is a bodily state in humans as in other animals, and a brain severed from the body probably doesn’t feel much.

To drive this point home, Jasanoff’s final chapter imagines his own brain in a vat. He, or “it,” can still explore the world to satisfy his curiosity, but because these adventures lack corporal movement or embodiment, they are rather boring and lacking in purpose. The notion that the brain can live by itself undoubtedly stems from the absurd metaphor that brains are machines. Many of us fall for this metaphor even though the brain looks much more like soup than a computer. As Jasanoff writes:

The true brain is a grimy affair, swamped with fluids, chemicals, and glue-like cells called glia. The centerpiece of our biological mind is more like our other organs than a man-made device, but the ways we think and talk about it often misrepresents its true nature.

For me as a biologist, we live in happy times with so many books that expertly treat where we come from, who we are, and how we operate. So long as these books resist the temptation, so prevalent in our culture, to treat the human mind as its own creation, they will, I hope, over time encourage us to embrace our kinship with both the beast within and the beasts without, and consider the angels and our closeness to them just a figment of our imagination.

¤

Frans de Waal, a primatologist and professor of psychology at Emory University, is the author of Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? (Norton, 2016).

The post Closer to Beast Than Angel appeared first on Los Angeles Review of Books.

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