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dangerouscommiesubversive · 3 years

Text

looking so camera-ready

Fandom: Mashin Sentai Kiramager

Characters: Oshikiri Shiguru, Oharu Sayo, Takamichi Crystalia

Song: "Pretty Please," Jackson Wang and Galantis (playlist here)

Note: This story probably has a wildly inaccurate idea of what filming a movie is like, but honestly I'm not too worried about it.

The interview

“So, Mr. Oshikiri,” says the interviewer, “what made you want to do a boy’s love film?”

Shiguru smiles winningly at her, and she visibly blushes as he’s answering. “Well, I’ve done a few romances before, it’s always a nice change of pace from serious period dramas, and when I was approached about this one, I thought, why not? And then of course the premise of the story is very enjoyable, I’ve never done science fiction at all before. I do all this sword-fighting on Earth, it might be fun to have a sword fight on another planet.”

She nods, still blushing. “That makes sense! Now, there are rumors that the movie’s going to be fairly racy; are you nervous about filming those sorts of scenes with another man?”

“Oh, not at all, why should I be? A kiss is a kiss no matter who it’s with, right?”

---

The crew

“Hey, Sugiyama,” says one of the grips to another “what’s a big-name heart surgeon doing on set? Seems a little extreme for first aid, don’t you think?”

Sugiyama grins. “Didn’t you know? She and Oshikiri are dating, it was all over magazine covers a few months ago when it got out. And apparently she’s a fan of the director’s, so she got Oshikiri to bring her. She’s real cute, ain’t she.”

“Shit, y’know, I do feel like I saw something about that, I don’t read those magazines but my girl eats ‘em up.” The first grip peers at where Dr. Oharu is standing, chatting pleasantly with the director. “Who’s the guy with her, though? The one in the silver jacket? Don’t recognize him from any magazine covers.”

A shrug. “Not sure. I think he’s affiliated with the company doing all’a this wild jewelry?”

---

Take 1—The first meeting

“All right, masquerade ball, take one!”

[They circle each other in an open space on the otherwise busy dance floor. The PRINCE’S costume is a rich, glowing blue; his antennae, rising up above his elaborate mask, have been gilded. The GUARD is dressed in a simpler brown, with a plain black mask, antennae unadorned.]

PRINCE: “What system are you from, stranger? What planet? Your costume is very striking.”

GUARD: “I’m no one special. And you don’t need to be polite about it, I know I’ve got the least interesting outfit here.” (openly looking at Prince’s body) “You look very nice.”

PRINCE: “But that’s what makes it so exciting! Everyone else here is overdressed, me included. Really, who are you?”

GUARD: “Isn’t it a little rude to ask someone their name at a masquerade? Your Highness?”

PRINCE: “Well, now you’re just teasing me, if you know who I am.”

GUARD: “Maybe I’m trying to tease you.”

PRINCE: (reaching for Guard’s hand) “Here, dance with me.”

“Cut! That was great! But let’s try it again from the top, gentlemen, with a little more, a little more mystery this time!”

---

There’s a break between takes, and tucked away in a briefly-quiet corner of the studio, Sayo says, “You should take me dancing sometime,” and beams up at Shiguru. “You look good out there.”

“You thought so? I only ever really feel confident dancing when I’m on camera.” Shiguru eats an energy bar in careful, delicate bites, working to not smudge any of his makeup, especially not the dramatically blue lip stain. “Although I suppose with everyone watching me like they do when we’re out that’s fairly similar to being on camera. I don’t really know places to dance, but we can go sometime if you like.”

“I would like, thank you.” She eyes him for a moment thoughtfully and then elbows Takamichi. “So, what did you think of it? As our resident alien prince?”

Takamichi shrugs, grinning. “It’s very interesting! Doesn’t look like any party I ever went to, though, most aliens look a littleless human than that.” He reaches out and flicks one of Shiguru’s antennae fondly.

“Take us to a party on Crystalia, then, show us what one of those looks like.” Sayo watches as Shiguru eats the last of his energy bar and then grabs his hand. “Show me how to do the dance you’re doing in that scene.”

They dance in their small space, Takamichi quietly clapping time until there’s a call of, “Five more minutes, people!” from nearby, at which point Sayo reaches up, grabs Shiguru by the collar of his costume, and pulls him into a lengthy kiss.

“You look good as an alien,” she says.

Shiguru blinks, blushing. “I, um. Ah. Thank you—oh dear.”

“What—oh, I forgot about your makeup.” Sayo’s hand flies up to cover the blue marking on her lips. “Quick, Takamichi, give me a handkerchief.”

As Takamichi produces a handkerchief and passes it to her, badly suppressing laughter, Shiguru pulls a compact mirror out of one of his sleeves and inspects the damage. “Excuse me, I have to go back to makeup to get this fixed, and ask them about a better setting option. If isn’t going to hold up to kissing then I’m barely going to make it through a quarter of the movie.”

---

Take 25—The dramatic kiss

“All right, let’s try this from the top!”

GUARD: “While we still have this time alone, though, I want to take the chance to do this.”

[He grabs Prince and sweeps him off his feet.]

PRINCE: “What are you—”

Thump.

“Ouch, oh, I’m sorry, Ray, was that your foot?”

“I should be apologizing to you, this is what, the third time I’ve dropped you?”

The director sighs. “Cut! What’s going on with this one?”

Shiguru winces as his co-star helps him off the floor. “I’m typically the one doing the dipping, is the problem, I’m not sure where to put my feet when I’m being dipped.”

His co-star looks similarly faintly embarrassed. “And I have dipped people before, but he’s a little bigger than my usual. No offense meant, Shiguru.”

“Oh, none taken.”

The director looks like she can’t decide being between frustrated and being amused. “You know, that’s fair, why don’t we take fifteen minutes so Oshikiri can get a break from being dropped on his tailbone for a little bit.”

---

“I can dip you without dropping you.”

Shiguru sighs, rubbing the small of his back. “Honestly, some of the problem’s me, I keep losing my footing mid-sweep and then over I go. I hope I didn’t hurt Ray’s foot too badly when I—whoa,” and he’s swept off his feet, as behind them Sayo claps delightedly.

“It’s all about supporting the back,” Takamichi says cheerfully as Shiguru stares up at him. “And you should maybe worry less about keeping your feet under you, you keep falling because you’re fighting to keep your balance instead of letting him do his thing. Do I have something on my face?”

“Ah. No. No.” Shiguru stares up at him, going red. “This is just. Different when it’s you.”

“I suppose it is.” Takamichi stares thoughtfully down at him, not letting go. “They figured out a better way to set your makeup, right?”

“Yes…? Why do you ask—”

Several minutes later Takamichi lets Shiguru stand up, and he kisses Sayo on the cheek, looking dazed. She reaches up and taps his nose with her finger. “I think you might need them to fix your hair before they start filming again.”

“Right, yes.” Shiguru nods slowly. “I imagine I do.”

---

Take 42—The racy bit

[Fade to black]

The lights come up on the set, and there’s a long, tense silence as the director and several other members of the production team fan themselves. Shiguru’s co-star stares down at him as he, in turn, is staring up, and then, after a moment, they both start to laugh, and the tension in the room breaks, and the director says, breathlessly, “Perfect, guys, got it in one, I don’t think we need any retakes on that one. But I do think we all deserve a breather for lunch, and then when we get back we’ll be doing the morning after with the attack by the insurgents and the prince’s big duel.”

Shiguru can’t get up until his co-star does, but when he is able to get his feet back on the floor he stretches and looks around. “Where did I put my socks, I know they’re somewhere around here—there they are.” Socks back on, he pads over to the edge of the sound stage, absently pulling the remains of the prince’s shirt up to cover his bare shoulder as he reaches the spot where Sayo and Takamichi are standing. “I forget, did we have plans for lunch?”

No answer.

“…guys?”

Sayo says, after a beat, “Takamichi and I thought of a good idea for lunch, yes.”

He nods expectantly. “Which is…?”

Takamichi grabs his hand, causing his shirt to fall back down off his shoulder. “Here, it’s this way.”

About forty-five minutes later, Shiguru wanders back out to the set. He’s eating a sandwich from the craft services table, somewhat absently, and he looks disheveled and flushed. There’s a noticeable red mark on the side of his neck. His shirt is, somehow, slightly more torn.

One of the women on the makeup crew looks at him and blinks. “Oh my god, come over here, let me fix you back up before we start filming again.”

As she’s reaching for him, though, she’s stopped by a hand on her arm. “No, don’t, this is perfect, he’s perfect.” The director looks him up and down. “I don’t know what you were having for lunch, darling, but this is the exact look we need for that morning-after scene.”

#oshikiri shiguru #oharu sayo #takamichi crystalia #fanfiction #30 day shuffle challenge

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xbaepsae · 4 years

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the ebb and flow | part six

“You’re trying really hard not to laugh. But it’s difficult to suppress laughter when the situation calls for it. So, for probably the first time ever, you laugh in front of Jeon Jeongguk.”

[demigod!jeongguk x demigod!reader]

genre: percy jackson!au, mythology!au, demigod!au, enemies to lovers!au

word count: 2k

rating: pg-13

warnings: language, the usual character tension, a brief moment of softness??

a/n: hi it’s been quite a while since my last update. but i really hope you enjoy this chapter :) xoxo

→ series masterlist!

the fourth summer – in which there is an inspection

The last week of summer at camp is always a memorable one—be it the late nights by the beach or the insane amount of chaos that seems to ensue every year.

For example, last summer, there was a monster that managed to break through the barrier. Fortunately, everyone was able to react promptly, and the monster was sent to Tartarus; at least, that’s what you think happened. At the end of the day, you’re just happy it hasn’t happened again since then.

This summer as the new camp counselor for your cabin—after Jinyoung so graciously handed you his title before heading off to New Rome—has been an interesting one; and least to say, you’re going to miss your little legion of cabinmates. It’s been fun leading them around—to greatness, of course.

But before summer can truly end, you need to make it to your last Senior Counsel meeting of the season.

Running to the Big House, you rush into the Rec Room with hopes that you’re not the only person who’s behind schedule. You hate that the one morning you oversleep is the one morning you have somewhere to be. In the Rec Room, you notice that all of the other Head Counselors have already arrived.

“Why, y/n, thank you for joining us,” Mr. D’s mouth curves into a frown.

You wince. “Sorry for running late.”

“You’re only a few minutes late,” Chiron waves his hand. “Take your place, y/n.”

Bypassing your grumpy camp director, you take your seat in-between Park Jimin and Jung Hoseok around the dingy ping pong table. The son of Ares offers you a narrow look—probably still upset you snatched his flag from underneath his nose last week—which you return with the same enthusiasm. “Can I help you, Park?”

“Don’t mind mister grouchy-pants over there,” Hoseok suddenly speaks up. “He clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”

“Not all of us can wake up as chipper as you, Hobi,” Jimin uses the son of Apollo’s infamous nickname.

“Well, I can’t help it if the sun makes me happy.”

“Everything makes you happy. It’s quite sickening, actually.”

Quickly, you realize that this little banter could seriously get out of hand. Luckily, you’re not the only one. Chiron takes a quick look at them and clears his throat. “That’s enough you two; we only have one week left of summer.”

“And there’s much you heroes have to do,” Mr. D adds, popping the tab of his Diet Coke. “I cannot wait for you little vermin to be gone; except for you, y/n…you never seem to want to leave.”

“I would if I could,” you roll your eyes. “I guess we’ll just be stuck here together.”

“Speaking of things to do,” Chiron changes the conversation, “there is one major thing left to be done before the end of summer.”

“Are we throwing a party?” Kim Seokjin asks, hair and face looking as perfect as ever.

Chiron frowns. “No, and there better not be anything of the sort happening in Cabin Ten.”

For a moment, you swear the son of Aphrodite’s eyes are shimmering. “Of course not, unless you want to throw us a party. A party seems fun.”

“A party does seem fun,” Chiron suddenly agrees. “We haven’t had one of those in a while…”

Seokjin’s eyes grow wider. “I want huge balloons and an extravagant display table. Also, is there any way to hire a DJ? No offense, but lyre playing is so ancient.”

“That could probably be arranged…” Chiron trails off, like he’s not even aware of what he’s saying.

“Cut it with the Charmspeak, Lim Sejin.”

The son of Aphrodite’s eyes whip to Dionysus. “It’s Kim Seokjin, Mr. D.”

“Lim Sejin, Kim Seokjin—same thing,” the god of wine rolls his eyes. “But seriously kid, cut it out. We’ve got serious business to attend to.”

“Fine,” Seokjin crosses his arms. “As you were saying, Chiron?”

Chiron blinks a few times. “Oh, yes—the major thing that must be done is cabin inspection.”

The entire Senior Counsel seems to tense at that. It’s not that everyone is a total slob, but cabin inspection is so tedious. There’s a reason it’s only done once in a while. And sometimes, you do end up finding some disgusting beds. The Hermes Cabin is always questionable. You’ve never had to do cabin inspection, and you don’t plan on it.

“Are there any volunteers?” Chiron continues. “You all know two counselors need to perform the tasks.”

As Chiron says that, everyone starts to look at Kim Taehyung. When he realizes that you’re all looking at him, he begins to shake his head aggressively. “No way—I did inspection last time. Besides, I’m busy with the Pegasi—I don’t have time to check all the cabins.”

He is right—the son of Zeus does have a lot of other responsibilities. But you all looked at him first because he is just so good at taking on different tasks.

“Okay, so excluding Taehyung…any volunteers?” Chiron asks again. No one dares to look at him. “Come on, heroes. There are worse things to do here.”

While there is some truth to that statement, no one budges. But for some reason, you feel compelled to offer your service? The thought of coming into contact with stinky socks is less than ideal, but you want to prove to Chiron and Mr. D that you’re serious about being Head Counselor of your cabin. And you want to make your mother proud.

So, almost subconsciously, you raise your hand. “I’ll do it, Chiron.”

Everyone’s head swivels toward you. Surprise and interest simultaneously mares their faces. Even Mr. D looks shocked that you spoke up—his Diet Coke spilling from his hand.

“Great, y/n!” Chiron exclaims. “Anyone want to join her?”

“I’ll do it.” For the first time today, your eyes look in his direction. Jeon Jeongguk stares back at you with his signature smirk plastered onto his dumb face. “I’ll help y/n out with cabin inspection.”

Chiron hums, probably wondering why your sworn enemy is offering to assist you. “Interesting. You may join her, Jeongguk.”

“I’ll gladly take anyone else but Jeon,” you groan. “Chiron don’t make us do inspection together. Please.”

“You’ll be fine, y/n. It’s just one day of cabin inspection. It’ll be fun.” Chiron says as he moves onto the next topic, something about the dining pavilion.

“Come on, y/n,” Jeongguk taunts with a smile. “It’ll be fun.”

***

It’ll be fun, they said.

Walking towards Cabin One with your clipboard, you turn around and watch as Jeongguk slowly follows behind you. In his hand, he carries his own clipboard and pen. “Don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“Sure, captain,” he mock salutes you, pen now hanging out of his mouth.

You roll your eyes and continue towards Zeus’s cabin. Once you’re in front of the white marble structure, you take in the columns and bronze decorations. Cabin One is the biggest of all the cabins—to reflect Zeus’s position as King of Olympus; you don’t think you’ll ever get over the robust columns and cold exterior.

“This place gives me the creeps.”

“Shut it, Jeon,” you order, knocking on the door. It opens mid-tap, revealing a smiling Taehyung. He opens the door wider, allowing you both to walk in.

“Welcome to my humble abode,” the son of Zeus says, revealing a pretty empty cabin.

You notice a few beds in the corner, but that’s about it for the furniture. In the middle of the room, boasts a rather intimidating statue of the god of thunder himself. The statue seems to stand ten feet tall, and you wonder how Taehyung can even stand to live in such a space. You voice this thought out loud, to which only seems to make the son of Zeus rumble with laughter.

“I’m just used to it, I guess. The others don’t mind either.”

Walking around the room, you can’t help but give Cabin One a perfect score—if anything, you feel like it’s almost too pristine in here. Looking over your shoulder, you notice Jeongguk giving the same score.

“Let’s move on, shall we?” you ask, not waiting for Jeongguk to give you an answer before you’re walking away.

The two of you bypass Cabin Two—which belongs to Hera herself and means no one lives there—and make your way towards Cabin Three. You allow Jeongguk to walk in front of you—since this is his place, after all—and you don’t miss the way sweat begins to bead along his brow.

“I hope for your sake, the cabin’s clean,” you remark, to which he doesn’t say anything.

“I’m sure my siblings cleaned up…” he trails off, seemingly unsure of his own words.

Jeongguk opens the door of the gray sea-shelled building and reveals a dark interior. His half-siblings are nowhere to be found, probably off doing their activities. You follow Jeongguk inside and watch as he switches the lights on. For the first time, you take in the glowing walls and the ceiling that makes the cabin appear as it’s underwater. There is also a fountain that looks like a fish in the room; and as you’re staring at the water sprouting from its mouth, you see it.

The last bed in the row is trashed—the sheets have been haphazardly thrown everywhere and clothes hang from each corner like a monster rolled through the space or something. On the floor beside the bed, there are even more clothes and random things; like miniature figurines of Hippocampi and other sea creatures.

You don’t realize it, but your mouth had dropped open. “Styx…who’s bed is that?”

Slowly, you turn to face your enemy. You expect him to be ready with a snide comment, except he seems at a loss for words. Jeongguk’s face is devoid of color and he looks absolutely horrified. You put two and two together, realizing that the trashed bed belongs to him.

“I am going to kill them,” he barely says above a whisper. For a second, you almost feel kind of bad for the son of Poseidon; then again, why should you feel bad for him? You don’t even like him. “When I asked them to clean up, I didn’t mean for them to give me all of their shit!”

You’re trying really hard not to laugh. But it’s difficult to suppress laughter when the situation calls for it. So, for probably the first time ever, you laugh in front of Jeon Jeongguk. It starts off as simple air passing between your lips, but soon morphs into something full-bellied as you feel laughter vibrate throughout your whole body.

He looks at you with wide eyes—probably thinking you’ve lost your mind—but you can’t help it. You can barely muster the words, “T-This is gold.”

As you shut your eyes, tears practically fall from them as you continue to laugh, you miss something. You miss the way Jeongguk’s wide eyes soften a bit as he continues to stare at you. The softness doesn’t last long, and you probably wouldn’t have caught it because his gaze becomes sharp in a blink, but it was there. It was real. Though he would never admit it to you.

“Shut up,” he says instead, which gradually sobers you up. “This is humiliating.”

You nod. “Oh, absolutely.” This causes Jeongguk to frown. “And I am so giving you a terrible grade for this.”

Focusing back on the task at hand, you give Cabin Three a big fat one out of five—much to the disappointment of a certain cabin member. As Jeongguk grades himself, you raise an eyebrow when he gives himself a modest score of three.

“What?” he asks, feigning ignorance.

“Three? C’mon, Jeon,” you roll your eyes. “You must see the destruction that is your bed.”

He scrunches his face. “But it’s not even my mess!”

You give him a look; one that says don’t fuck around right now. And it seems to work because Jeongguk, albeit begrudgingly, changes the three next to his cabin to a one. By the time he looks up again, you’re already halfway out the door.

“Come on, Jeon; we don’t have all day!”

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brywrites · 4 years

Note

Omg you made me so happy with that story of Eliza, now I know this is a stretch but can we get a update on Halloween where you left off with them going trick or treating with everyone🥺🙈 ?

Ask and you shall receive, anon! I really never get tired of writing Spencer and Bianca, and I really didn’t give myself the space to explore what their lives as parents would look like so it was fun to to take that a little further with this one! Here’s just some pure domestic Halloween fluff.

----

They arrived at JJ’s house just as the sun was beginning to paint the autumn sky golden. Before the door had even opened, they could hear Henry shout, “Mom! They’re here!” Seconds later it swung open, and Henry, dressed in red, white, and blue, greeted them with a grin. “Hi Uncle Spence! Hi Aunt Bianca!” He gave each of them a quick hug. “Wow, you brought a tiger!”

“It’s me!” Eliza said, giggling. Henry pretended to be shocked as she threw her arms around them.

“Let me guess… Captain America, right?” Spencer asked as they stepped inside.

“Yeah, he’s my favorite superhero!” Henry’s excitement faltered for a moment and he straightened up a little taller. “I mean, I know I’m kind of old to go trick-or-treating, but I promised Michael I’d come.”

“Henry, if I have taught you anything you should know by now that you’re never too old for Halloween,” Spencer replied.

His words brought a smile back to Henry’s face and he said, “Wait till you see my shield! I painted it all by myself!”

The inside of the LaMontagne-Jareau househould was already bustling. JJ, dressed as Black Widow, was finishing Michael’s Hulk-green face paint. Hotch and Jack had moved back to the DC area two years earlier, and Garcia was excitedly talking to Jack and his girlfriend Mabel. The two teens had donned the costumes of Ben Solo and Rey from Star Wars, while the BAU’s former tech wizard wore a bright pink dress and golden crown as Princess Peach. Hotch and Beth, masquerading as Han Solo and Princess Leia, were being regaled by one of Rossi’s stories while Krystall laughed. Rossi’s suit and tie didn’t quite make sense as a costume until Bianca realized that Krystall’s white dress and curled hair made her Marilyn Monroe, and Rossi must have been JFK.

“It’s about time you showed up Pretty Boy!” Morgan quickly cut through the room to make his way to them, ruffling Spencer’s hair. “And my favorite little lady,” he said, embracing Bianca. Then squatting down to Eliza’s height, “And littlest lady, too, Miss Eliza Lou!”

He lifted Elizabeth up into his arms. “Why do you have hair Uncle Derek?” she asked, pointing to Morgan’s head.

“Because zombie Michael Jackson has hair in the “Thriller” music video,” he replied, as though that context meant anything to a five year old. “And that’s who I’m dressed as for Halloween.”

“You look funny with hair,” the little girl replied.

Morgan put his free hand over his chest, and feigned melodramatic offense. “Oh, ouch! You wound me, Eliza Lou!” Eliza giggled as her godfather set her back on the ground. “Now what exactly are you two supposed to be?” he asked, gesturing between Spencer and Bianca.

Spencer wore a red zippered sweater with a tie and blue Converse, while Bianca had on a floral pink 70’s style prairie dress. “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood,” Spencer replied.

When Morgan just raised an eyebrow, Bianca said, “Mr. Rogers and Lady Aberlin, from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood!”

“You see,” Reid explained, “Elizabeth had her heart set on being a tiger, so we tried to come up with costumes that could go along with it. And Fred Rogers used a number of puppets on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood to help act out situations of learning and vulnerability in healthy ways, one of which was Daniel Striped Tiger who was the most recognizable from the show. It’s actually funny, the tiger puppet was a gift to Mr. Rogers the night before the very first episode was s-”

“I get it,” Morgan said, holding up a hand. “I’ll read the Wikipedia article later, I promise.”

“Oh come on now, babe, I think it’s cute.” Savannah appeared beside her husband, linking her arm with his. “It’s good to see you two.” She still wore nurse’s scrubs and had a stethoscope around her neck.

“Did you just come from work?” Bianca asked. Savannah and Morgan’s daughter, Ainslie, had just turned one and Savannah had gone back to full-time shifts at the hospital.

Savannah laughed, shaking her head. “Thank god, no. Hank wanted to be a zombie, so Derek came up with the idea of going as “Thriller” MJ to match. I figured if it’s the zombie apocalypse in our household, I might as well be the nurse on the frontlines trying to fight them off.”

“Uh oh,” Morgan said. “I don’t know how long you’ll last out there. The zombies are pretty handsome, I hear.” He kissed her cheek as she rolled her eyes. Turning back to the Reids, he asked, “So are we ready to take on trick or treating?”

Bianca winked. “Well Spencer here was born ready, and I think that after seven Halloweens together I’ve learned a thing or two.” The four of them had been chosen as the designated chaperones for the kid’s festivities while the rest of the adults finished up a Halloween feast at the house. Once all the kids were accounted for and everyone had a pillowcase in hand, they set out into the DC streets in search of spooks and sweets.

Spencer’s boundless enthusiasm was contagious, spreading even to Jack who seemed torn between being excited about Halloween and trying to look cool in front of Mabel. But once it became clear Mabel was into the scary stories Spencer told while they walked, Hotch’s son visibly relaxed. It was a good group of kids – at every house Henry, Jack, and Mabel made sure that Michael, Hank, and Eliza got candy first, and a chorus of thank you!s followed them from doorstep to doorstep.

Spencer’s delight for the present was carrying over to the future. “When she’s a little older,” he was saying, “we can go to a haunted house or two. Maybe even a haunted corn maze. And we can watch a midnight scary movie screening and she’ll be able to carve her own pumpkins!” Bianca laughed and he glanced her way, bashful. “What?”

“I just love seeing you excited about this,” she said. His eyes always lit up in a way that made her heart skip a beat after all this time. “And thinking about all the holidays we’re going to have together and how we’ll get to make all these new traditions as she grows up.”

Spencer stopped suddenly on the sidewalk and before she could react he was hugging her close. The fabric of his sweater was soft against her cheek. “What was that for?” she asked him, looking up, her arms still wrapped around his waist.

“I wouldn’t be doing any of this without you,” he said. “I would probably still be at the BAU. I wouldn’t have anything worth leaving for. I wouldn’t have someone I get excited about growing old with. But I have a home because I have you. I have a home and someone who will plan obscure Halloween costumes with me and I have a daughter and it’s all because I fell in love with you. Because you loved me.”

“And because you loved me,” she echoed. She wouldn’t have wanted it with anyone else. He was the only person who made her feel safe enough to trust him with every part of her. He made her feel brave enough to take on the world and to start a family. When nothing else made sense, he was there to anchor her with a warm embrace and all the words she needed to hear and promises to stay. He knew her better than she knew herself. Bianca stood on her toes to kiss him sweetly, not caring that there were people all around them.

“When you two are done being all lovey-dovey,” Morgan called, “we’ve still got one more block to hit.”

“Lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey!” Eliza sang, skipping beside them. Spencer smiled and kissed Bianca’s forehead as he interlaced his fingers through hers with one hand and reached down to hold their daughter’s hand with the other. When the final houses had been visited, they descended upon the LaMontagne-Jareau household once more, with pillowcases full of candy.

During their absence, more familiar faces had appeared at the house. Prentiss and Mendoza were drinking wine with Rossi in the living room and Luke, dressed as Mario, had his arm around Penelope while they talked with three of the newer BAU members.

“Aunt Alex!” Eliza’s bag of candy was temporarily forgotten as she ran to hug Alex Blake who was at the kitchen table with JJ, Will, and her husband James.

“Why Elizabeth,” she said, “aren’t you the most ferocious tiger I’ve ever seen?”

“I’ve been practicing!” Eliza replied. She furrowed her eyebrows and held her hands up by her face like claws. “Rarr!” Her godmother gave her around of applause for her performance, happily doting on her while everyone gathered around the table for dinner.

It was warm and inviting in the living room, feeling every bit like a cheerful Thanksgiving dinner except for the costumes and the spooky decorations. There was plenty to be discussed, whether it was Emily’s new position as Director of the Bureau or the book Rossi and Matt had just published. The Simmons clan were the only ones absent, their children having made plans already to spend Halloween with their friends in their own neighborhood. Bianca felt right at home among the people who had come to feel as much her family as they were Spencer’s. She swapped stories of international travels with Alex and James and was delighted to talk to Tara and her girlfriend, Elena. The two women were dressed as Cinderella and Prince Charming, and she had to admit that Tara could certainly pull off a suit. When Penelope begged Morgan for a chance to babysit Hank and Ainslie soon and Rossi said, “You know you could just have some of your own,” she and Luke both turned red.

“Hey now,” Luke said. “We’re just trying to get through the wedding first, okay?”

“Yeah, you never know, I could still change my mind,” Garcia teased, elbowing her fiancé.

“You say that at least once a month,” Luke laughed. “But I don’t think we can get our deposit back on the venue at this point, so it looks like you’re stuck with me.”

There was enough food and to go around, and a generous amount of libations courtesy of David Rossi. Bianca’s contribution was an array of desserts – pumpkin cheesecake, salted caramel brownies, and chocolate cupcakes with vampire fangs and raspberry filling – that were immediate hits, and Spencer’s contribution was agreeing not to consume them before the party. After dinner the kids went down to the basement to watch Hocus Pocus, Jack and Henry promising they’d look after everyone, while the adults settled into the living room.

“Eliza,” Bianca called. “How about you pick out a few pieces of candy for now, and we’ll keep the rest up here so you can have some later, okay?” The little girl was about to follow her cousins downstairs with her whole bag of sugary treasures. “If you eat too much candy at once you’ll get a bellyache.”

Eliza considered this, then nodded. “Okay, mama.” She dug through the pillowcase, choosing a few treats, then handed the bag back to her mother asking, “But how come daddy gets to?” She pointed to Spencer who sat on the floor of the living room, gorging himself on a plate of sweets. He looked up sheepishly, caught red-handed about to take a bite of oversized brownie.

“It’s because I’m old enough to anticipate the consequences of my actions,” he said. “I know when to stop before I feel sick.”

“You go have fun with your cousins, okay?” Bianca said, giving her daughter a quick hug before watching the tail of the tiger costume vanish the stairs. She sat down next to Spencer, shaking her head. “You’re such a bad liar,” she laughed. “You’ll be complaining all night that you feel awful.”

He shrugged. “What can I say? I just can’t help myself around something sweet.” Spencer put his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap, leaning in to kiss her. “See?”

She smiled. “You’re lucky, Mr. Rogers, that I like you just the way you are. Insatiable sweet tooth and all.”

Spencer grinned. “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.” Mimicking the song from the old children’s show, he sang, “Would you be mine? Could you be mine?”

“You know what my answer is,” she said. She let her head fall against his shoulder. Nestled close in his embrace, she sat listening to the BAU recount stories of the glory days and valiant acts of the past. Spencer traced circles on the back of her hand, resting his cheek against the top of her head with a sigh of contentment, and she knew he was thinking the same thing she was – that there was a relief in knowing that the monsters were in only in their yesterdays and nightmares. That there was no danger waiting around the corner for him anymore. Nothing to steal him away too soon. There were endless tomorrows stretching out ahead of them, but for now they could reminisce with the family that had been built by that shared past. And Bianca could think of few sweeter treats than that.

#tkow #the keeping of words

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 4 years

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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.

#Michael in the Mainstream #Harry Potter #Christopher Columbus #fantasy #fantasy film #Daniel Radcliffe #Emma Watson #Rupert Grint #Alan Rickman

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marcmyworks · 5 years

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Quentin Tarantino is one of the best directors of both the 20th and 21st Century, which started with his first wide release film in 1992. He has just recently released his 9th (or 10th depending on your point of view) film, Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood to rave reviews. As one of my favourite directors, I have decided to list rank each of his films. I want to first state that I love everything this man puts out, just some more than others. Lets begin.

*Spoilers below*

10. The Hateful Eight (2015)

The Hateful Eight is the least successful in Tarantino’s repertoire and I don’t mean financially. This film just seems to have little to no likeability, and before you say it, I do understand that each character is ‘hateful’ but at times it seems quite forced.

Though well written and acted, it feels that the shocking moments are put in there simply to shock rather than provide any interest. We have the story of eight characters trapped in a cabin during a snowstorm, the film is Western themed, there is a revenge plot as well a bounty hunter. I really do not think this is a bad film in any regard, and it even feels like the sister film to Reservoir Dogs, but in terms of style and content it feels like a mishmash of things the audience has seen before from the Director, like his greatest hits, rather than a new and original story.

9. Death Proof (2007)

A lot of critics, and even Tarantino himself, have put this as the lowest ranking of his films on their list, I disagree. This may not be the most fleshed out story, but it is one of the most fun. I am ranking the unrated version of the film, as the theatrical version was cut down from its 113 minutes to 87 minutes to be incorporated as the Grindhouse double feature (with Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror). The shorter version is the one critics saw and I don’t believe it does the full film justice.

Death Proof is inspired by Grindhouse revenge films such as I Spit on Your Grave and include a multitude of young starlets and even re-launched the career of actor Kurt Russell. Overall the film is quite good though there are instances where it is quite obvious that a man wrote the female dialogue, which in the Me-Too age isn’t as acceptable. An example of this can be read here, where this character speaks about her father:

“Look, he’s totally harmless and cute as a bug's ear! But you know, when he's got a bunch of half-naked poontang walking the floor of his lake house, he just likes to pay us a visit and make sure we got everything we need.”

8. Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Tarantino’s first full length film is the smallest scale of his career as most of it takes place in one room. Though the scale is small, the dialogue and action are immense, the characters fleshed out and, in most ways, stands the test of time. The film was well received by audiences and made more than twice its meager budget, but at times it is quite obvious this was shot by a new director still formulating his style. Tim Roth (as Mr. Orange) is excellent as the newest member of the gang and his relationship with Harvey Keitel (Mr. White) is one of the strongest bromances in cinema history.

7. Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood (2019)

Though advertised as an accurate biographical account of the Manson Murders in 1960s Hollywood, this film is actually more fictional, less about these murders and more a love letter to the actors of that time. The story is centred around director Roman Polanski and wife Sharon Tate’s fictional neighbour, actor Rick Dalton and his stunt man Cliff Booth (based screen legends Steve McQueen and Burt Reynolds and the latter’s stunt-double Hal Needham). The film explores how the two are struggling to adapt to the ever-changing Hollywood, paralleling with the growth of the Manson family who are interested with the Tate/Polanski household. Though a long film, it does quite well at showcasing the struggles of actors in Hollywood, the indulgence of the rich and the rise of a fanatic cult.

6. Jackie Brown (1997)

In the 1990s Tarantino was one of the biggest Directors around, he had won an Oscar for his writing and audiences were anxiously awaiting his third film. After acquiring the film rights to Elmore Leonard’s novel ‘Rum Punch’, Tarantino started writing Jackie Brown with the intent on giving the script to another director; however, Leonard loved the script so much Tarantino decided to direct himself.

Jackie Brown takes inspiration from Blaxploitation films like Coffy and Foxy Brown, though with a slower pace and using much less action. Pam Grier, star of both the aforementioned films, was Tarantino’s only choice for the lead role and to this day he is amazed that she was not nominated for an Oscar. The film is a slow burn compared to Tarantino’s previous two movies and does have its issues with pacing and story consistency but does contain more humour.

5. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)

The Kill Bill films are two of the coolest of Tarantino’s career; from the opening Klingon proverb, to the Pussy Wagon to the schlocky gore, this film was every film geek’s dream. Tarantino promised Uma Thurman that her birthday present would be the lead in his next film and a year after promising her this he delivered her the script. Originally conceived as one long epic film, it was split into two by production as it was felt the first half of the film had a different tone to the second. Producers also wanted to ensure it was a box office success and a four-hour film in the modern age was too much of a gamble. The first Kill Bill provides the groundwork for what is rarely seen in Hollywood, an even better sequel.

4. Django Unchained (2012)

Django is similar to the original film from 1966 in name only, as this version focuses on pre-American Civil War racism, slavery and the liberation a slave named Django. The film feels more like an homage to one of the biggest budget exploitation film of all time, Mandingo. It's a very simple story of a man who is trying to save his wife and along the way befriends a bounty hunter who aids him in his quest, but it is effective as it is a criticism of racism that still continues in the United States. Jamie Foxx does an excellent job portraying the titular character with Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson wonderfully playing the supporting roles.

3. Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)

I will say there is a large debate in the fan community whether the Kill Bill films should be ranked together as one film (as Tarantino states they should be), or whether they are two separate entities of a franchise as well which one is the better of the two. Upon first watching the films I was a bit disappointed Volume 2 did not have the same amount of camp violence as the first, as this film feels to be more a Spaghetti Western revenge film rather than a Samurai thriller. However, upon the re-watching the film multiple times it is quite obvious through the dialogue, storytelling and excellent cinematography that this is the superior film and is a contender for the top spot of Tarantino’s filmography.

2. Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Inglorious Basterds is one of the films that not only has incredible star power but also has amazing gravitas. The film made Irish actor Michael Fassbender and German actor Christoph Waltz popular with American audiences with the latter’s excellent performance winning him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The Basterds, a team of Jewish mercenary’s who capture, interrogate and kill Nazis and are played by a group of talents including Brad Pitt, Eli Roth and B.J. Novak. They are up against the evil Hans Landa (Waltz) also known as “The Jew Hunter”, a Nazi Colonel who is employed to ensure security for a film event being attended by Adolf Hitler. The film itself is a tribute to American war propaganda films from the 1940s, and though one of his most brutal, is truly one of Tarantino’s best writing efforts.

1. Pulp Fiction (1994)

I know this is the obvious choice, but with good reason. Pulp Fiction is the first film anyone thinks of when they think Tarantino. Made up of seemingly random story vignettes and inspired by pulp magazines, Tarantino devised to make a film made up of simple short stories that only later the viewer could see were actually intertwined. Tarantino proved he could make interesting films on a smaller scale with his critically acclaimed film Reservoir Dogs and was able to bring in major stars such as Bruce Willis, Uma Thurman, John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson, the latter of whom would star in or have roles in most of his pictures. The film was a box-office success and won several awards including the Academy Award for best writing. Though Tarantino has had many excellent films in his career, Pulp Fiction will always be the most iconic and original.

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Psych 2: Lassie Come Home Easter Egg and Reference Guide

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The following contains spoilers for Psych 2: Lassie Come Home.

As fun as 2017’s Psych: The Movie was, its 2020 sequel Psych 2: Lassie Come Home will likely supplant it in Psych-Os’ hearts, because it’s got 500% more Carlton Lassiter (Timothy Omundson). But how does it stack up to its predecessor in terms of Psych callbacks and pop culture homages? Using our Spencer powers of observation, we’ve tried to catch every recurring inside joke between Shawn (James Roday Rodriguez) and Gus (Dulé Hill), plus all the episodic-specific bits. It’s a feature-length Hitchcock homage, but it’s also the toughest Easter egg hunt of your life. C’mon, son!

Psych 2: Lassie Come Home Easter Eggs and References

The title is a reference to Lassie Come Home, the 1943 Lassie movie about the beloved dog making her way home from Scotland. A German-language remake came out early in 2020.

It’s always a treat to hear the Psych theme song “I Know, You Know,” performed by creator Steve Franks and his band The Friendly Indians.

Lassiter wakes up to Shawn and Gus hovering above him at the recovery clinic is a throwback to when they kidnapped him for his bachelor party in “Deez Nups” and he came to with them screaming “Surpriiise!”

Morrissey the rescue dog reprises his role from Psych: The Movie in being adorable, incredibly nosy, and oblivious to Shawn’s hissing commands.

Sarah Chalke’s nurse character Dolores is most likely a nod to San Francisco’s Mission Dolores church and cemetery, the location for Carlotta Valdes’ grave in Vertigo.

Right out the gate, Dolores is treated to the requisite Gus nickname: “My name is Shawn Spencer, and this is my partner Bill Poopingtons.” However, Shawn and Gus take a sidebar for a very meta argument about their ongoing bit (while fitting in another bit):

“Gus, don’t be the night your dad fell asleep inside your mom. We can’t just stop doing bits we’ve been doing for ten years. We have fans, they have expectations, there’ll be a huge backlash.”

“Shawn, we are two dumbasses, we do not have fans.”

Compromise: Gus gets right of refusal until they land on a nickname he prefers. And so:

Bill Poopingtons > All the Pips in One

Ding-Dong Ditch > Claude O’Dern > Big Poppa Pump > Lemon-a Lemon-a Lemon-a Liiime

Leggo My Eggo > Norman Brown Butter > Dijon Hounsou

Gus also calls himself Jermajesty, channeling some Jackson Five energy.

“Black Jello” was Gus’ nickname in their adult dodgeball league.

The Herschel House is likely a nod to Herschel Daugherty, who directed over two dozen episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents…

Gus and Shawn are still bickering over driving the drivers ed car, even if we don’t see it in the movie. They do manage to be just as bad at turning the right direction when riding a motorcycle together.

“Now I know this ‘goofy little white guy/sexy black dude’ routine the two of you have going like the back of my scrubs.” Sarah Chalke played Elliot on Scrubs, whose JD/Turk bromance walked so that Shawn/Gus could run.

Shawn calls Dolores “the nurse from Color of Night,” the 1994 Bruce Willis erotic mystery thriller that won a Golden Raspberry for Worst Picture.

The boys get Jamba Juice because you never turn down an opportunity for a Jamba.

Shawn likens Gus’ pubic hair to Eddie Murphy’s mustache in his 1987 stand-up film Raw.

Shawn offers the dismembered hand to Gus to “knuck it up softly,” per their penchant for fist-bumping.

They later do fist-bump outside the old Psych offices, but not before channeling Han Solo and Chewbacca in Star Wars: The Force Awakens: “Gus, we’re home.” “[Wookiee sound]”

Psych has become a French-themed cat café… for now, at least. It’s not an alternative universe from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, but the current subletter’s pop-up business. The proprietor (not the girl from Orphan) is played by Allison Miller, James Roday Rodriguez’s co-star in A Million Little Things.

“I am a psychic. He is a sympathetic pooper.” Poor Gus’ intestinal system gets called out again.

Henry’s (Corbin Bernsen) put-on voice gets compared to Tom Waits, Kathleen Turner, Harvey Fierstein, and Diedrich Bader.

Shawn neglected to tell his landlord that he’d moved, which tracks with his behavior in the series finale “The Break-Up.”

Henry reveals that in addition to telenovelas, he enjoys zeitgeist-y sobfests: “You left behind a slow cooker with a three-pound roast in it. You nearly This Is Us-ed the entire block.”

“This Is Us—Dad, why are you watching that show? They have the same show on ABC but newer”: Shawn’s shoutout to A Million Little Things.

Lassiter mistakes Reese Kessler, his supposed shooter, for country music singer Conway Twitty.

Lassiter’s to-do list includes “tape Galavant,” the short-lived musical comedy fantasy series created by Dan Fogelman (This Is Us), in which Timothy Omundson played King Richard. It also includes items poking fun at Lassiter’s crankiness (“yell at nature,” “chirping bird d-day plan”) and tenacity (“solve black dahlia”), and heartstring-tugging items (“pre-register for ironman” as in the triathlon). He also has written down Shawn’s S.E.I.Z.E. mantra from his short-lived career as Lassiter’s life coach in “S.E.I.Z.E. the Day”: Seize Eggs I don’t know Zebra Eighties.

Juliet (Maggie Lawson) lying to Shawn sounds strange, though not as strange as Lupita Nyong’o—the Tethered Lupita—in Jordan Peele’s Us.

Shawn’s “romantic dinner” for Jules is the menu from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (jelly beans, pretzels, buttered toast, popcorn, and ice cream sundaes) because it’s all they had at the gas station on the way home.

That prompts an iconic “C’mon, son!” from Gus.

Gus’ ringtone is “I’m Mr. Bootyman,” which is both Henry’s ringtone and the song featured in Buzz McNab’s bachelorette party stripper routine in “Deez Nups.”

Gus’ (technically Jules’) green snuggie bears a striking resemblance to official Psych contest merch.

Lassiter spotting mysterious bleeding figures out his window is an homage to Rear Window.

Richard Schiff (as Dr. Herschel) was Dulé Hill’s co-star in The West Wing.

Potterhead Gus wants to know if there are any people hiding in the pipes of the Herschel House, “speaking in their own tongue, perhaps Parsel.”

The Psych boys’ map of suspects briefly includes the Hell Hag from Gus’ dreams in “A Nightmare on State Street.”

Shawn has only been to Norway once with his brother-in-law Ewan O’Hara (John Cena), but they don’t talk about that… Maybe that’s where Psych: The Movie went after its cliffhanger ending?

Ova’s Norwegian song/chant toast at the Viking’s Ice Den is very similar to the Swedish toast in “Right Turn or Left for Dead.”

Ova’s violent son Per is first described as “the bearded Daryl Hannah.”

Shawn’s excuse to Detective Buzz McNab (Sage Brocklebank) for being in Santa Barbara is that he forgot a frisbee signed by German writer/director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.

Shawn’s first reaction to Jules potentially being pregnant: “You know the windows in the loft don’t even fully close, right? I’m gonna have to replace them, otherwise this is Baby’s Day Out all over again.” As Gus reassures him, he always did get worked up over John Hughes’ worst idea.

At the old Psych offices, Shawn pulls out the jousting lance from “100 Clues”—as well as a pineapple! He looks about to ask, “Should we cut this up for the road?” (his question during the pineapple’s first appearance in the pilot, plus at the end of Psych: The Movie) but stops himself.

When Lassie believes that fellow patient Mr. Wilkerson (Kadeem Hardison) has been walking around, Shawn and Gus have to go “full Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” to interrogate the supposedly catatonic patient.

Shoutout to Jessie Spano’s infamous “I’m so excited, I’m so excited, I’m so scared!” speed speech from Saved by the Bell.

If it’s not Scrubs, the boys are getting compared to Ren and Stimpy.

Mary Lightly (Jimmi Simpson) returns in another incredible, extra-hallucinatory look into Shawn’s brain… this time as a baby, since Shawn’s got fatherhood on the brain.

“We got jackaled!” Gus shouts upon learning that Wilkerson can walk—a reference to “hitting the jackal switch,” or going into stealth mode.

Shawn has always had a thing for singer Jewel, even after the Civil War movie (1999’s Ride with the Devil) and the Bollywood song.

Of course there’s a nasty dance when Shawn and Gus figure out who they think is behind everything.

Gus declares that “I am not going to let you shoot Shules’ baby!” only for the Chief (Kirsten Nelson) to ask, “What’s a Shules?” That’s the fans’ name for Shawn/Jules, a cute nod to a series OTP.

And of course, we can’t forget the fact that Jazmyn Simon, who plays Selene, is Dulé Hill’s real-life wife.

More than once, Shawn quotes The Handmaid’s Tale in reference to Gus and Selene’s baby: “Praise be” and “Blessed is the fruit.”

Dolores compliments Lassiter’s “chest of hair plentiful enough to wake all of Destiny’s Child.”

Shawn comes up with possible names for Gus’ child: Shaft, Shaftie, or D’Shaft—just like Gus’ nickname Sh’Dynasty (with a “God’s comma,” or apostrophe) from “Santabarbaratown.”

They also both coo “c’mon son” to Selene’s womb.

Selene’s proposal to Gus includes his negotiation that he and Shawn have adjacent homes with connecting pools, a callback to Shawn and Gus talking about their dream setup in “The Break-Up”; as well as Pluto! She asks, “Will you make me the happiest woman on this planet, on Eres, and Pluto?”

Shawn tells Juliet that “you’re my person,” the iconic Grey’s Anatomy line (though one would argue that Gus more accurately is his person).

When Lassiter stands (shut up, you’re crying) to meet Marlowe (Kristy Swanson), they place their palms together—like they did when he would visit her in jail, like they did at their wedding. My heart.

Join us on the Easter egg hunt—let us know what references we missed!

The post Psych 2: Lassie Come Home Easter Egg and Reference Guide appeared first on Den of Geek.

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superdorkcat · 5 years

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MCU Movies in Development: A Master Post

Last Edited: May 01, 2019

Since Endgame is coming out this month, I thought that I should make a master post of all of the MCU movies in development, as a sort of companion piece to my DCEU one. So, without further ado, let’s get to it.

Confirmed Release Dates:

Spider-Man: Far From Home - July 5, 2019

The Story: After the events of Avengers: Endgame, Peter Parker goes on a school trip to Europe with his friends. While abroad, he is recruited by Nick Fury to team up with Mysterio to battle the Elementals.

The Crew: Jon Watts (director), Kevin Feige, Amy Pascal (producers), Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers (writers), Michael Giacchino (composer), Matthew J. Lloyd (cinematographer)

The Cast: Tom Holland (Spider-Man), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Zendaya (MJ Jones), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), Jon Favreau (Happy Hogan), J.B. Smoove (TBA), Jacob Batalon (Ned Leeds), Martin Starr (Mr. Harrington), Marisa Tomei (May Parker), Jake Gyllenhaal (Mysterio)

Unknown Release Dates:

Black Widow

In February 2014, Kevin Feige stated that after exploring Black Widow's past in Age of Ultron, he would like to see it explored further in a solo film. Marvel has done some development work for the potential film, including a "pretty in depth" treatment by Nicole Perlman, and by May 2016, Feige stated that Marvel was "creatively and emotionally" committed to creating the solo film. By January 2018, Jac Schaeffer was hired to write the script. That July, Cate Shortland was hired to direct, with Johansson reprising her role as Black Widow. By February 2019, Ned Benson was hired to rewrite the script. Filming is expected to begin in June 2019 in the United Kingdom and last until that September. Florence Pugh and David Harbour have been cast, and Rachel Weiszis in talks to star.

The Eternals

By April 2018, Marvel had met with multiple screenwriters to craft a film based on the Eternals, with a focus on the characters Sersi and Ikaris. Kevin Feige stated that a film based on the group was "one of many many many things that we are actively beginning to have creative discussions about to see if we believe in them enough to put them on a slate." A month later, Matthew and Ryan Firpo were hired to write the script for the project. By late-September, Marvel hired Chloé Zhao to direct the film. Angelina Jolie is in talks to star. Filming was originally set to begin in August 2019 in Atlanta, but was later pushed to September 16, 2019 and will last until January 2020, the movie will have a new shooting location in London.

Doctor Strange sequel

In April 2016, co-writer C. Robert Cargill stated that Marvel felt some initial ideas for the film from him and Scott Derrickson highlighted too much of the "weird stuff" associated with the character to feature in an origin story, but told the duo to hold onto them for potential future films. In October 2016, Derrickson confirmed he had plans for a sequel, saying, "I love the character, I love the visual possibilities, and I know the comics so well—[the first movie is] the tip of an iceberg. There's so much progress that can be made." He would like to follow the example of The Dark Knight and "bring in a villain where you really got to go deep [and have] a more visceral experience". Benedict Cumberbatch added that he had signed on for at least one more Doctor Strange solo film. Derrickson hoped to feature Nightmare in a potential sequel, and expressed interest in further exploring the characters Jonathan Pangborn and Hamir in a sequel, after their smaller roles in the first film. He also explained that he is "kept in the loop" on how the Avengers films will use Strange, because of his close relationships with Kevin Feige and Joe Russo. Jon Spaihts has also expressed interest in seeing Clea appear in a potential sequel. By April 2017, it was reported that Derrickson would return for a potential sequel, beginning work on it after fulfilling his commitments to the television series, Locke & Key. Despite no official announcements, Benedict Wong said in October 2018 that he expected filming on a sequel to begin by the end of that year. By December 2018, Derrickson had "quietly" finalized a deal to return to direct the sequel, with Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, and Wong confirmed to reprise their roles from the first film. Marvel is beginning to search for a writer, with a plan to begin filming in early 2020.

Black Panther sequel

With the release of Black Panther, Kevin Feige said "there are many, many stories to tell" about the character, and that he wanted Ryan Coogler to return for any potential sequel. Coogler added that he wanted to see how T'Challa would grow as a king in future films, since his reign only began recently in the MCU, while in the comics, he has been king since childhood. In March 2018, Feige added there was "nothing specific to reveal" in terms of a sequel, but that there "absolutely" were "ideas and a pretty solid direction on where we want to head with the second one". By October 2018, Coogler had completed a deal to write and direct a sequel to Black Panther. Letita Wright will reprise her role as Shuri in the film.

Shang-Chi

By December 2018, Marvel was "fast-tracking" development on a Shang-Chi film, which would be their first Asian-led film. Chinese-American writer David Callaham was hired to work on the screenplay, with Marvel Studios looking to hire an Asian or Asian-American filmmaker to direct. By March 2019, Marvel hired Destin Daniel Cretton to direct the film.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

In November 2014, when James Gunn said he had the "basic story" for Vol. 2 while working on the first film, he also said he had ideas for a potential third film. Despite this, Gunn was unsure in June 2015 if he would be involved with a third Guardians film, saying it would depend on his feelings after making Vol. 2. In April 2016, Kevin Feige said the future MCU films are "still a big chess board for 2020 and beyond, but certainly I would say Guardians 3 is [one film that's] up there. I don't know what exactly the order will be." In March 2017, Gunn stated there would be a third film "for sure. We're trying to figure it out," also adding, "There are no specific plans for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. But we know unless something goes horribly—which is always possible, you never know—I think that Marvel would want to make another movie." He also reiterated he was still unsure if he would be involved with the film, and that he would figure out his involvement and his next project "over the next couple of weeks." The following month, Gunn announced he would return to write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

However, in July 2018, Disney cut ties with Gunn following the resurfacing of old, controversial tweets from Gunn. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Sean Gunn, Pom Klementieff, Michael Rooker, and Karen Gillan issued a statement in support of Gunn. Pratt, Klementieff, and Bautista are expected to reprise their roles, though Bautista threatened to leave his role if Gunn's script would not be used. Filming had been expected to begin in 2019, for an expected release in 2020. In early August, Variety reported that Disney was in no hurry to find a replacement director for Gunn, and is waiting for an A-list filmmaker to become available, even if it means pushing the film's original February 2019 production date. Later that month, production was put on hold, and delayed to February 2021. In March 2019, Disney and Marvel Studios reversed course and reinstated Gunn as director. Filming of Vol. 3 will commence once Gunn has completed his work for the DCEU film The Suicide Squad.

Ant-Man and the Wasp sequel

Ahead of the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp, Peyton Reed noted that he and Marvel were "hopeful" about a third film, having discussed potential story points. Michael Douglas also expressed interest in playing a younger version of his character Hank Pym in a prequel, something which Reed already teased back in 2015. In February 2019, Douglas said of a possible sequel, "There's been talk [about another Ant-Man]... [but] there's been nothing formal right now that I know of."

Captain Marvel sequel

In February 2019, Brie Larson expressed interest for including the character Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel in a sequel to Captain Marvel; Feige previously said he had plans to introduce Khan to the MCU following the release of Captain Marvel. The following month, Feige said he had "pretty amazing" ideas for a Captain Marvel sequel. Feige added that a possible sequel could explore the time gap between the end of the first film and Danvers' next appearance in Avengers: Endgame. Lashana Lynch expressed interest in reprising her role as Maria Rambeau in such a sequel.

Thor: Ragnarok sequel

In January 2018, Chris Hemsworth indicated his interest in continuing to play Thor, despite his contract with Marvel Studios scheduled to end after Avengers: Endgame, saying the next month "if there's another great script that comes along" he would consider playing the character again, and later added, "I’d play this character for as long as anyone would let me," crediting Taika Waititi for revitalizing his interest in Thor. He and Waititi had discussed what they would want in a potential fourth Thor film by then. By April 2019, Tessa Thompson believed that a pitch had been made for a sequel to Ragnarok that involved Waititi returning.

#mcu #avengers endgame #spider man far from home #black widow #the eternals #doctor strange #black panther #shang chi #guardians of the galaxy vol. 3 #guardians of the galaxy #ant man and the wasp #captain marvel #thor ragnarok

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douxreviews · 6 years

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Glass Review

...or, 'The People v. M. Night Shyamalan.'

I finally managed to get out to see Glass. I'm going to do something a little different with this one, so bear with me. SPOILER ALERT: I will discuss the movie's contents openly in this review. You have been warned.

The Charges:

After The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, the defendant was revered throughout Hollywood. His career seemed to be getting off to a promising start, and one magazine even heralded him as 'the next Spielberg.' Then audiences were underwhelmed by Signs and The Village, and distressed by The Lady in the Water, The Happening, and The Last Airbender. The defendant's career took a sharp downturn, and many came to hate him as a filmmaker and avoid his films. The defendant's name became an audience turnoff, rather than a draw. As the defendant's career went on, films like The Visit and Split engaged audiences and began to alter their perceptions of him. Then the defendant announced his development of Glass. A sequel to both Unbreakable and Split, two of his more popular films, and coming at an upturn in his career, it is clear that Glass will be the final trial of the defendant, M. Night Shyamalan. This film is the culmination of the argument of whether or not the defendant is a good filmmaker.

Past Evidence:

The prosecution brings to the court's attention the films The Lady in the Water, The Happening, The Last Airbender, and After Earth. These films are all poorly received by critics and audiences, and have disappointed many people over the years. The prosecution also draws attention to the underwhelming twists in The Village and Signs, which also disappointed audiences by not being as brilliant or monumental as they were hoping for.

The defense offers the films The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, The Visit, and Split. The first two are brilliant films, beloved by critics and audiences for many years. The latter two have represented an improvement in the defendant's career, as he steered away from the 'gotcha' twist approach to filmmaking and made good, straightforward films in the horror and thriller genres. The defense also points to the great crafting of atmosphere in Signs, also seen in the defendant's other thrillers and horror films.

The Defense's Opening Argument - Simple things I liked about Glass:

In Glass, M. Night Shyamalan has made a film that he wants to make. He financed it personally, and it is a wholly director-driven film from beginning to end. It is very clear as one watches that Shyamalan has made a film that conforms to the vision he had for it. Glass unfolds just as Shyamalan wants it to, and every decision that was made was the decision that Shyamalan intended to make. The argument cannot reasonably be made that he does not recognize what he is doing with his film. He knows exactly what he is doing with it, and he has done with it exactly what he believed was best for the film.

The cinematography is gorgeous, and it works perfectly with Shyamalan's intentions. The fancy camerawork and occasional dutch angles are wonderfully artistic, and they actually serve a purpose unlike many other films nowadays. Sweeping pans and tilted cameras are often used just for the sake of using them in modern films; in contrast, Shyamalan knows what these things will accomplish, and he uses them to great effect. As in many of his other films, Shyamalan also uses color in a very striking manner. From the monochrome, faded tones of Dr. Staple and the mental hospital to the bold, varied colors of the main characters, the film's use of color is at least beautiful, even if it isn't as brilliant as it was in The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable.

The last simple thing that really worked for me, although it may have ultimately been contrary to the film's goals, was the strong connection with Unbreakable, one of my favorite movies. West Dylan Thordson's score employs several themes from Unbreakable's music, composed by James Newton Howard. The use of many of the same actors who played characters in Unbreakable, too, helped ground the film in that world, especially Spencer Treat Clark as Joseph. It was also remarkable how well Shyamalan incorporated several deleted scenes from Unbreakable, never before seen by the general public. These felt like a seamless part of the film, as did the perfectly cut transition from Kevin's father on the train to the original opening sequence of Unbreakable. All of these choices help the film to feel like an authentic extension of what came before, and this really improved my enjoyment of Glass considerably as I watched it.

The Prosecution's Opening Argument - Simple things I disliked about Glass:

Glass is not a perfect film. There are a few things that I felt didn't work quite like Shyamalan wanted them to. The first is the pacing. There are some major pacing issues with the film in the second act, and there are some elements that Shyamalan spends too much time on. I got tired, for example, of cycling through Kevin Crumb's different personalities in scene after scene. Don't get me wrong: watching James McAvoy do his thing is remarkably entertaining, but it gets old when the same scene occurs over and over and the same information is delivered by Kevin's different personalities.

Another flaw was in the use, or lack thereof, of the film's secondary characters - Casey, Joseph, and Mrs. Price. While the actors do a great job, and it's especially fun to watch Spencer Treat Clark do an equally great job now as he did 19 years ago, they felt for most of the film like they weren't doing enough to justify the screen time they were taking up. I get that the audience needed to be reminded that these characters were important throughout the movie, but perhaps there were better ways to incorporate them so that they had more meaningful roles to play before the climax. Maybe Joseph could have planned a breakout, only to have his hopes dashed when his plan fails. Casey could have helped him, or interacted with a friend who helped her to make sense of the things that were going on in her mind. Mrs. Price is the only one who I feel was not underused, because her scenes with Elijah made sense and went places, without repeating themselves over and over.

Lastly, I would have liked some better set-up for the secret society of clover tattoos, or whatever we're calling them. I thought when I initially saw the first clover tattoo that I was supposed to recognize it from earlier in the film and I didn't remember having seen it. It seemed to come a bit out of left field, as well - I knew that Dr. Staple couldn't just have been a psychiatrist, but that's about all the justification we have for it from the rest of the movie.

Defense Witnesses - McAvoy, Willis, Jackson, Clark, and Taylor-Joy:

One thing M. Night Shyamalan is usually very good at is getting amazing performances from his actors, particularly young ones. In both Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense, the movies relied heavily on child performers, and Shyamalan was able to get incredible and moving portrayals from the children in each. Both Haley Joel Osment from The Sixth Sense and Spencer Treat Clark from Unbreakable went on to have reasonably successful careers, and remain good actors to this day. Even in today's Hollywood, with the practice of using young-looking actors in their twenties to play teenagers, Shyamalan has thrived on great performances from performers such as Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke.

But Shyamalan does not just get great work from children. The adults in his movies are often very skilled, and if they are, they bring all of their skill to the table for his films. Whether it's James McAvoy's stellar if overused performance as Kevin Crumb's 23 personalities, Samuel L. Jackson's appropriately unsettling turn as Mr. Glass, or Bruce Willis showing up and giving it his all for the first time in years, Shyamalan consistently utilizes all of the talent his actors have to offer.

The Prosecution Calls the Defendant to the Stand - M. Night's case against himself:

Even as filmmakers go, M. Night Shyamalan has had an enlarged sense of his own importance in the past - see also casting himself as a brilliant writer in The Lady in the Water. He is also not a subtle filmmaker - see also casting himself as a brilliant writer in The Lady in the Water. Both of these tendencies come into play in Glass. Shyamalan's intention for this film is to make it feel like a naturally progressing story, and yet also to make you think it's one film when it's really a completely different film the whole time. All this, and the audience is supposed to leave the film both feeling satisfied and feeling like they fell for something clever and well-constructed. In short, the audience needs to walk out of the theater believing that the filmmaker was intelligent and clever for tricking them in the way that he did. It's hard not to believe that this played into Shyamalan's ego a little bit. It's also understandable that he would want to feel this way again; after all, 'the next Spielberg' is high praise, and when people love the movies you've made as much as audiences loved The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, it becomes hard not to get a big head about your own talent. But if audiences are underwhelmed by the twist or reversal, and they feel like it wasn't worth the fake out, it backfires by making people feel cheated instead of cleverly tricked.

The Jury Deliberates:

I'm conflicted about this film. It's very well planned out, and equally well executed. Each element is used towards Shyamalan's purpose for the film as a whole. My big question is whether or not I like that purpose. The ending is successful in that I was duly convinced I was watching one film and I was surprised when I discovered I was watching another. But did it please me or did it disappoint utterly? Lest you think I'm creating false suspense, I'm trying to figure out these questions for myself as I type these words. But I think now the jury has reached a verdict.

The Verdict:

As a film, I love Glass. It's a true Shyamalan-style movie, with a reversal (I don't think I'll call this one a twist) at the end that does successfully alter your perception of the film entirely. It's well-constructed, though not without its pacing issues, but the buildup felt right and worked for me. The movie is well-shot, well-scored, and well-acted, and all the craftsmanship present is incredible. And I think that if Unbreakable had not existed, that would have been enough to make me love the movie. Simply marketing it as a superhero epic from M. Night Shyamalan would've been enough to get me into the theater, and would also have put the expectation in my mind that the film was building to a classic superhero conclusion. In such a case, the twist would have satisfied me by giving me a different movie than I expected, and I would have loved it.

But as a sequel and a continuation of Unbreakable, I'm not quite so convinced. As I said before, Unbreakable is one of my favorite movies of all time. I think the best description of that film is 'the first act of a superhero movie,' and in that context I expected Glass to be the second and third acts. Instead I got a classic M. Night Shyamalan film, that's not what you expect it to be and tells an odd but clever story. As a film, that's what I want to see, but as a sequel to Unbreakable, it was a let-down. Because I love Unbreakable so much, I was hoping to see an epic continuation/conclusion to that story. That drew me in just like I was supposed to be drawn in, and it made the twist work to subvert my expectations just as Shyamalan intended. I didn't get the film I was expecting. That would be fine if the film I was expecting wasn't also the film I wanted. It would be fine if the film I was expecting wasn't the film I've wished could exist since the closing credits of Unbreakable first crossed my screen. It would be fine if the epic conclusion to an epic story that I was really excited to see wasn't broken and crushed, shot in the gut, and drowned in a puddle. As a film, Glass is amazing. But as a sequel, 19 years in the making, to a movie I love, it was disappointing and sad.

However, Glass has successfully proved to this court that the defendant has still got it, that he can still deliver a film that's as well made as the ones he used to make two decades ago. The jury finds the defendant not guilty.

I'm not going to rate this movie. I couldn't rate it in a way that I could completely get behind.

CoramDeo believes in the power of storytelling.

#Glass #Unbreakable #Split #M. Night Shyamalan #Doux Reviews #Movie Reviews

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abitterlifethroughcinema · 6 years

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#ABitterLifeThroughCinema’s WOKE! Film Reviews

The Top Ten (+1) Best Movies of 2018 and where to find them!

Lucas Avram Cavazos

+1…11. Overlord Having its premiere at this year’s Sitges Int’l Film Fest, Overlord not only happened to be one of the fave films screened there this past festival, but this cinematic fantasy is an all-too-real and stark portrayal of a horror that actually occurred, and it deserves a nod from the Barcelona film critic family, so here it goes. Duly noted, I’d say. It starts with an insane aerial combat mission on the night of D-Day, one which goes awry and sees only a handful of paratroopers surviving the drop when enemy fire rains hell. They land in provincial France and the plot sets out to detail some of the inner workings of the Third Reich in reference to the insane, gruesome experiments done on captured Europeans and Jews. Those stories you’ve heard about turning these poor people into guinea pigs for super soldier intent using potent, injected serums…yeah, those? They’re true, if you believe the words of JJ Abrams. Are they as utterly brutal and horror/zombie film-like as displayed here? I sure as hell hope not. (now available On Demand and DVD)

10. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs There once was a film called O Brother Where Art Thou? While this is not its sequel, there is a sharp-witted vein to this film that could only be crafted and gifted to us by the Coen Brothers. What a hoot it is, even if it is a rather darkly-tinted hue of that hoot and humour. It is also one of their finest in years. Revolving around the singing cowpoke Buster Scruggs (Tim Blake Nelson) and five other tales brought to us with the commonly-threaded theme of death in often brutally funny ways, this film is a fine return to oddball form from two of the finest sibling directors of all time. Starring Liam Neeson, James Franco, Zoe Kazan, even Tyne Daly and so many in its vignettes, and that acting star power fuses this Western comedy into new territory for the brothers. Their previous works set in the west always seemed to be re-hashing works of years gone by but here, with their usage of almost comic-book-like details and witty banter make this much more enjoyable than their other historical works like O Bother and their remake of True Grit. Best western in absolute years! (available on Netflix or VOD)

9. Eighth Grade This poignant little film, which should have been wide-released everywhere the world over, is given fierce and bittersweet star power by Elsie Fisher, protagonist and student at the heart of this film. Comedian Bo Turnham has brought us the quintessential coming-of-tweenage story and along with Fisher, everyone in this film is so perfectly placed in their roles, especially Josh Hamilton as her dad, who deserves some nominations for this film but is unlikely to get any. Telling the story of 13-year old Kayla, we the audience get a sneak-peek into the minds and lives of today’s young adults. From her simple YouTube videos made to encourage other young kids to her obvious desire to fit in with older kids to her insecurity with boys, this film paints a stark reality that too many have lived through and this little indie film deserves aplomb from anywhere it can get it! (now available On Demand and DVD)

8. A Star is Born I skipped the critics’ screening of this film for the mere fact that I couldn’t bear to see if the acting and plot lines were another torrid take on a much-redone film. Even into the holiday season, I had not yet seen it and then when I did, I certainly took back any reservations. Bradley Cooper’s update of the film starring himself and Lady Gaga is just about as good as everyone said it was, and that was beyond refreshing to note post-viewing. In many ways, I feel that Cooper is likely revealing a few things about himself with the guise of “it’s a movie” being a nice cover; in some ways, he gives us what I believe are hints of his covert life, and it’s with Gaga’s turn as Ally that we really see him shine beyond the shtick of his character, country-rocker Jackson Maine. In a tad corny-tad, gripping way that takes hold the moment you see Gaga, let’s be frank and real, this film goes on to detail a Diet Coke version of the grim realities that often detail too many a tale of celebrity in Hollywood. Without revealing too many details of the film’s plot and denouement, we are looking at a necessary conversation about alcoholism, drug addiction and fame (plus a lack of ’NO’ men/women in many relationships) that needs to addressed for all ages. Well done, Mr. Cooper Goes to the Oscars. (At select screens, On Demand & DVD)

7. El Angel Incidentally, this may be the first time in a rather long time that I say something good about Argentinian men, so do take note. Telling the true story of fresh-faced boy killer Carlos Robledo Puch, played to Oscar-worthy perfection by newcomer Lorenzo Ferro, the masterful detail to which director Luis Ortega has crafted this arthouse meets dramedy-thriller is astounding and easily touches heights set by dePalma and even, dare I say it, Scorcese. We follow young Carlitos Puch, who is just nearing the edge of seventeen, as takes up with a rough and tough family of his devilishly attractive school chum Ramon, played by the spirited Chino Darin, son of Ricardo Darin. But as Carlitos comes to find out, his street crimes can easily be paved to real ones and his sadistic tendencies suddenly yet gradually paint a picture of someone who is in part desperate for attention and tacceptance and in part a fairly smart, well-to-do young adult. He parlays his sociopathy at pubescence into psychopathy with time, and this film will likely be, but should definitely not be, forgotten come awards and Best Of lists time.(available On Demand and DVD)

6. Black Panther As Oscar season comes to a head, it is worth talking about one of the most striking films that you’ll see for a while. Black Panther is that good, not only because of its genre but also because of its message: that seeking freedom through recreating systems of oppression will only extend the ill-treatment and broken nature we find ourselves in nowadays. Set in the fictional African nation of Wakanda, protagonist King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) brings us the first real black superhero from the Marvel universe. With a cast including Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker and Michael B Jordan, the acting is beyond impressive. What is even more amazing, however, is how the plot power-plays many elements of our world’s current political climate. (now available On Demand and DVD)

5. Chappaquiddick Another film which is nothing short of striking in its relevance to the current political situation in the USA. Senator Ted Kennedy was the only remaining Kennedy that I was familiar with throughout my adolescence and early adulthood. Jason Clarke as the Massachusetts senator is astounding, as is the cut of his jib and chin, although the accent was a tad weak, to be ever sincere. This is a complete revelation on the many details that were only gingerly touched upon during the course of the week following the death which this movie is detailing . As the facts are laid out in the film, it astounds me that the American people continued to vote and elect Kennedy for decades after. This is a study on arrogance, class and governmental ambiguity. And if that was the case with liberals in the Sixties, how much more so with conservatives in this digital age? My favourite film of last year’s BCN Film Festival. (now available On Demand and DVD)

4. Private Life Good Lawd this is such a heartwarming/breaking story with the finest elements of believable comedy and situational realism that define the art of the classic Gen X film from the 90s to now. May we never forget that it was Gen, and even those a few years before them, who gave us the digiverse-Netflix-instant oatmeal www.orld in which we live today and when I see a very NYC film like this one, it makes it a true reality check. Being the age that one should be married with kids, I watched Kathryn Hahn as Rachel absolutely slay the silver screen and am eager to see if she picks up any more accolades throughout the current awards season. Simple plot…she’s in her early 40s and her hubby Rich (played by Paul Giamatti) is entering his late 40s and they are fully entrenched within the confines of every single way to conceive a baby. Following the couple through their trials and tribulations really get pushed up an ante when sort-of relative Sadie (the lovely Kayli Carter) decides she will be the surrogate mum for them as things get a tad pear-shaped. This could easily be dubbed a dreamed, for in effect, it is; what needs to be known is that this is also a morality tale for a new age. The old-fashioned ethics of yesteryear just do not apply anymore, at least not in big cities, and the less is more factor easily makes this one of the finest films released within the last year. (available on Netflix)

3. BlacKKKlansman Without a doubt, this is the finest work in all too many years by Spike Lee, and he takes no prisoners in letting you know that the spilled essence of blaxploitation all over this celluloid is to egg you into knowing that this story is 100% true…and crazy. The mere fact that David Duke is literally cheerleading for the current President of the United States should scare us all and wake those who are not. Watching actor John David Washington portray Ron Stallworth, the real-life cop who slyly infiltrated the inner workings of the Klu Klux Klan 40 years ago. After signing up for the Colorado Spring PD, he realises the lack of trust in the 98% Anglo-Saxon workforce, as he’s thrown into monitoring the goings-on of any Black Panther student situations. Eventually, he takes up with a guy on the force that he can dig called Flip and played to skilled excellence by the oddest of lookers Adam Driver. Basically, the plot follows the twosome, as they tag team the aforementioned white supremacist movement, Ron being the voice and Flip being the wingman as they start an investigation on grand wizard bastard himself David Duke, played to troubling perfection by Topher Grace, evoking all of the calmness and utter sociopathic tendencies of a man reviled by most yet revered by still too many. And watching this taut film and how it rolls through such a daunting story with comedic aplomb and vicious realness gives you goosebumps. That said, as the film gets toward its ending, is when Lee gives you the goods when he flashes to scenes from the crazy Charlottesville, Virginia, riots, AntiFa protesting and subsequent death of Heather Heyer, may she rest in peace. God Save the World…and Amerikkka.

2. Fahrenheit 11/9 Premiering a few weeks ago here in Spain at very select cinema screens across the country, this is the first documentary in some time by Michael Moore that could play across an international landscape and should be required viewing on any critic’s or person’s list. The titular oddity refers to the day after we all woke up across the world in shock and awe that Donald J Trump had won the Presidency of the USA. Even if this is not Morre’s best film to date, it is undoubtedly the one that holds the viewers’ feet to the fire and calls for them to fight the nasty funk of this administration. But, it’s when he takes it back to his roots, to Flint, Michigan, and ends up involving all local and state politics, that we start to see the more sinister undertakings happening amongst conservative parties, ideals and societies. When you add in the fact of the Parkland High School shooting and the way Moore later fuses footage of Hitler and his minions and followers with a rally speech made by the current occupant of the White House, it becomes all too obvious that things are exactly as we think they are (A HOT MESS!) and we have very little recourse rather than claiming truth. (now available On Demand and DVD)

1. ROMA There are tender moments of realism that are permitted to happen with the rise of instant cinema on VOD and direct-to-home films, and it has been a pleasure to see that sites like Netflix and Amazon and Canal+ have truly added to the foray in which great celluloid can be brought to the masses. Case in point comes the finest piece of dramatic celluloid that graced the silver screen in the last year. Being a Mexican whose father is a naturalised citizen of the US and a mother who is Chicana from the US, like myself and my siblings, the sentimentality ran deep with this film. One of the differences I experienced was the fact that we were the only Mexican-American family in a stately US country club…and we had an entire childhood spent with loving housekeepers, which is what this film inherently is honouring and depicting, using the backdrop of Alfonso Cuarón’s take on growing up in 70s-upper middle class Mexico City in the neighbourhood of Roma. Depicting the life of the house assistant Cleo (first-time performer Yalitza Aparicio in a J.Hud moment, frankly) and the family of Sr. Antonio (Fernando Grediaga), a doctor in the Mexican capital, what Cuarón has called his most personal film to date, is also a B&W modern tale in the vein of Gone with the Wind, and the fact that he centres around a privileged Mexican family is poignant for several reasons: it not only takes a focus away from how Donald bloody Trump has painted Mexicans, in general, to the world, but it also highlights a very human element to how many classes of society function and live there in the frontier regions of North America and, more importantly, EVERYWHERE…easily put, this is a sweet, oft-times simple, oft-times brutal story on humanity. What binds so many critics together on this film’s merits is that fact that Alfonso Cuarón has crafted the past year’s most enigmatic movie, leaving us to make our own answers to what happens to Lady Cleo, her best mate Teresa, and this beautiful family. Absolutely and quietly stunning! (available on Netflix and selects screens across the country)

#abitterlifethroughcinema #BCNinEnglish #englishradiobcn #overlord #theballadofbusterscruggs #eighth grade #elangel #a star is born #blackpanther #chappaquiddick #privatelife #Blackkklansman #fahrenheit119 #roma film #LucasAvramCavazos

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Who Won The House Republicans Or Democrats

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Who Won The House Republicans Or Democrats

Only Two Republicans Liz Cheney And Adam Kinzinger Vote For Select Committee To Investigate Riot And Aftermath Following Gop Blockade Against Bipartisan Probe

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After congressional Republicans widely rejected a bipartisan commission to investigate the Capitol riot, US Rep Michelle Fischbach claimed that “Democrats refuse to put together a truly bipartisan commission” – after she voted against the bipartisan attempt from both Democrats and Republicans.

“Give me a break,” Democratic US Rep Jim McGovern told the House of Representatives on 30 June.

House Democrats are moving forward with a select committee after Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan probe into the events surrounding the 6 January riot and its aftermath, after a mob fuelled by Donald Trump’s baseless narrative that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from him stormed the halls of Congress to overturn the votes of millions of Americans.

“I noticed there’s a lack of Republicans who have the backbone to come down here and explain … why they won’t support the bipartisan commission or the select committee,” Mr McGovern said. “They don’t want to be on the record defending a position aimed at not getting the truth.”

Only two Republicans – Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both prominent GOP critics of the former president – voted to support the select committee on Wednesday.

Here Are The 17 Senate Republicans Who Sided With Democrats Voted To Advance Massive Infrastructure Bill

Jack Davis

Even as some Republican senators wanted to see the text of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that is being considered by the Senate, 17 GOP senators voted Wednesday to move forward with the bill, which is one of President Joe Biden’s top legislative priorities.

The procedural vote is not the final vote on the bill, but it clears one major hurdle as Democrats move forward with a one-two punch that also includes a $3.5 trillion catch-all bill to fund liberal priorities not included in the infrastructure legislation.

The 17 GOP senators who voted to move the bill forward without having read it were Sens. Roy Blunt of Missouri, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Mike Crapo of Idaho, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, John Hoeven of North Dakota, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio, Jim Risch of Idaho, Mitt Romney of Utah, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Todd Young of Indiana, according to CNN.

Others pushed back.

“I voted no on #infrastructure a week ago because there was no legislative text,” Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina tweeted. “My mind hasn’t changed. There’s still no legislative text or explanation on how to pay for a $1T infrastructure plan.”

— Tim Scott July 28, 2021

Portman noted that the bill is not final and there is time for debate.

Democrats Air Complaints About Overly Optimistic Predictions That Party Would Add To Its Majority

@kristinapet

WASHINGTON—Democratic lawmakers expressed frustration with party leaders over the loss of several congressional seats, saying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others oversold their prospects and didn’t adequately protect members from being attacked as socialists.

Party leaders had predicted gains in the House, but instead are taking losses. House Republicans had picked up a net gain of five seats by late Thursday, flipping seven districts held by Democrats and shrinking the Democrats’ majority. Two of those were in the Miami area where Democrats overall had a poorer-than-expected showing.

Far from their ambitions of venturing deep into Trump territory, Democrats had only picked up two seats in North Carolina, in large part because of redistricting, a much lower number than the double-digits prognosticators expected them to pick up.

The results of the races called as of late Thursday stood at 208 Democrats to 193 Republicans, with dozens of seats yet to be determined. The split headed into the election was 232-197 and one Libertarian and five vacancies, and Democrats had invested heavily in winning seats, in part in suburbs that Republicans had held on to in the Democrats’ strong 2018 showing.

Us Midterms 2018: Democrats Won The House Republicans Kept The Senate Sessions Is Out What Now

This article was published more than 2 years ago. Some information in it may no longer be current.

Open this photo in gallery

At New York’s La Boom nightclub, Mazeda Uddin and Marta Cualotuna celebratre the victory of Democrat Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. She was one of several female Democrats to make gains in the House of Representatives on Wednesday night.

The new balance of power • Winners, losers and toss-ups • Trouble at the polls • Trump’s reaction • What happens now? •

‘the Beast Is Growing’: Republicans Follow A Winning At All Costs Strategy Into The Midterms

Much remains uncertain about the midterm elections more than a year away — including the congressional districts themselves, thanks to the delayed redistricting process. The Senate, meanwhile, looks like more of a toss-up.

House Democrats think voters will reward them for advancing President Joe Biden’s generally popular agenda, which involves showering infrastructure money on virtually every district in the country and sending checks directly to millions of parents. And they think voters will punish Republicans for their rhetoric about the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2020 election.

“Democrats are delivering results, bringing back the economy, getting people back to work, passing the largest middle-class tax cut in history, while Republicans are engaged in frankly violent conspiracy theory rhetoric around lies in service of Donald Trump,” said Tim Persico, executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

But the challenges Democrats face are real and numerous.

They knew they would face a tough 2022 immediately after 2020, when massive, unexpected GOP gains whittled the Democratic majority to just a handful of seats.

“House Republicans are in a great position to retake the majority,” said Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, “but we are taking nothing for granted.”

His rural district had been trending Republican for years. Kind won re-election last year by just about 10,000 votes.

Who Won The Us Senate And House Of Representatives Did The Democrats Or Republicans Win

Given all the headlines you’d be forgiven for thinking that the US Presidency was the only game in town for American voters.

However, elections were also being held in 34 states for Senate seats, as well as all 435 seats in the House of Representatives being up for grabs.

Although not all the results have been announced yet, the Republicans are on course to hold onto both of these chambers in addition to winning the presidency.

Incoming Biden Administration And Democratic House Wont Have To Deal With A Republican

Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff wave to supporters during a joint rally on Nov. 15 in Marietta, Ga.

1.285%

Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock have defeated Georgia’s two incumbent Republican U.S. senators in the state’s runoff elections, the Associated Press said Wednesday, in a development that gives their party effective control of the Senate.

Ossoff and Warnock were projected the winners over Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler by the AP following campaigns that drew massive spending and worldwide attention because the runoffs were set to determine the balance of power in Washington. The AP , at about 2 a.m. Eastern, then followed with the call for Ossoff over Perdue on Wednesday afternoon.

President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration and the Democratic-run House of Representatives now won’t face the same checks on their policy priorities that they would have faced with a Republican-controlled Senate, though analysts have said the slim Democratic majority in the chamber could mean more power for moderate senators from either party.

See:With sweep expected in Georgia Senate races, Democrats have high hopes for what Biden can do

“It is looking like the Democratic campaign machine was more effective at driving turnout than the Republican one,” said Eurasia Group analyst Jon Lieber in a note late Tuesday.

Warnock then made just before 8 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday.

Gop Lawmaker Tries To Shame Democrats On Vaccinations Except Theyre All Vaccinated

Jennifer Bendery

Rep. Ronny Jackson on Thursday tried to shame Democrats for not saying whether they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19 ? except every Democratic lawmaker is vaccinated and has confirmed as much, unlike a huge portion of Republicans who either aren’t vaccinated or won’t say.

Jackson, a former White House physician, was trying to deflect a question from a reporter about whether it hurts Republicans’ efforts to urge the public to get vaccinated when so many of them won’t disclose their own status.

“I think you as a press have a responsibility to ask questions of the Democrats as well,” Jackson said. ”How many of the Democrats are willing to say whether or not they’ve been vaccinated?”

In fact, as of mid-May, House and Senate Democratic lawmakers have had a 100% vaccination rate, according to a CNN survey of all lawmakers.

That same survey found that at least 44.8% of House Republicans and 92% of Senate Republicans are vaccinated. But 112 GOP offices did not respond to multiple CNN inquiries on their vaccination status.

Ronny Jackson: I think you as a press have a responsibility to ask questions of the Democrats as well. How many of the Democrats are willing to say whether or not they’ve been vaccinated? pic.twitter.com/gkKzfmCgs8

— Acyn July 22, 2021

“What about the Texas delegation?” asked Jackson. When a reporter pointed out they are all vaccinated, he suggested some may be lying.

“Yep!” said Talarico. “So are all our staff members.”

Texas House Republicans Vote To Track Down Absent Democrats And Arrest Them

Texas House Republicans vote to arrest absent Democrats

MORE: TX Democrats aim to ‘do what’s best for constituents’ during special sessionRELATED: WATCH: Remaining House Dems locked in at Texas Capitol, lawmaker says

As 57 Texas House Democrats fled to Washington amid a showdown over controversial voting reforms, one of the few remaining lawmakers on the left who stayed in Austin explains what’s being down at the statehouse.

WATCH: Mayor Sylvester Turner vows to protect absent lawmakers from authorities

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who became a target of GOP lawmakers over voting methods used in Harris County, made a vow to protect Democratic lawmakers amid a GOP call to arrest the absent public servants.

For updates on this story, follow Nick Natario on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Cops Fired For Guarding Defund The Police Squad Member Without Permission

The House Democrat in charge of making sure the party retains control of the chamber after next year’s midterm elections is warning that a course correction is needed or they could find themselves the minority again — with current polling showing the Democrats would lose the majority if elections were held now.

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told a closed-door lunch last week that if the midterms were held now, Republicans would win control of the House, Politico reported Tuesday.

Maloney advised the gathering that Democrats have to embrace and promote President Biden’s agenda because it registers with swing voters.

“We are not afraid of this data … We’re not trying to hide this,” Tim Persico, executive director of the Maloney-chaired DCC, ?told Politico in an interview.

“If use it, we’re going to hold the House. That’s what this data tells us, but we gotta get in action,” ?Persico said.

M?aloney, in an interview with NPR, said ?issues like climate change, infrastructure, the expanded child tax credits, immigration policies and election reforms will attract voters next fall.

“We’re making a bet on substance,” Maloney said. “What’s the old saying — any jackass can kick down a barn, it takes a carpenter to build one. It’s harder to build it than to kick it down. And so we’re the party that’s going to build the future.”

M?aloney’s dire warning failed to surprise some Democrats who have been sounding similar alarms. ?

Democrats Got Millions More Votes So How Did Republicans Win The Senate

Senate electoral process means although Democrats received more overall votes for the Senate than Republicans, that does not translate to more seats

The 2018 midterm elections brought , who retook the House of Representatives and snatched several governorships from the grip of Republicans.

But some were left questioning why Democrats suffered a series of setbacks that prevented the party from picking up even more seats and, perhaps most consequentially, left the US Senate in Republican hands.

Among the most eye-catching was a statistic showing Democrats led Republicans by more than 12 million votes in Senate races, and yet still suffered losses on the night and failed to win a majority of seats in the chamber.

Constitutional experts said the discrepancy between votes cast and seats won was the result of misplaced ire that ignored the Senate electoral process.

Because each state gets two senators, irrespective of population, states such as Wyoming have as many seats as California, despite the latter having more than 60 times the population. The smaller states also tend to be the more rural, and rural areas traditionally favor Republicans.

This year, because Democrats were defending more seats, including California, they received more overall votes for the Senate than Republicans, but that does not translate to more seats.

However, some expressed frustration with a system they suggest gives an advantage to conservative-leaning states.

Democrat Jon Ossoff Claims Victory Over David Perdue In Georgia Runoff

Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York is expected to replace GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell as majority leader and will determine which bills come to the floor for votes.

The ambitious proposals addressing climate change and health care and other domestic priorities touted by Biden and Harris will be difficult, if impossible, to advance with more moderate Democrats — especially those facing competitive 2022 midterm reelection campaigns — reluctant to sign onto partisan proposals. The much smaller-than-anticipated House Democratic majority compounds the challenge for the party.

Instead, Biden will need to consider which domestic priorities can get bipartisan support since Senate rules now require anything to get 60 votes to advance. The president-elect has already indicated that additional coronavirus relief will be his first priority, but he has also said he plans to unveil an infrastructure plan that could get support from Republicans.

In a statement Wednesday, Biden said that “Georgia’s voters delivered a resounding message yesterday: they want action on the crises we face and they want it right now. On COVID-19, on economic relief, on climate, on racial justice, on voting rights and so much more. They want us to move, but move together.”

The president-elect also spoke to Democrats’ potential total control of Washington.

Pollster: Republicans Are Early Favorites To Take Back House In 2022

NBC News is reporting that “early indicators” have revealed the possibility of House Democrats losing their narrow majority in 2022.

“Based on all factors, you’d have to consider Republicans the early favorites for the House majority in 2022,” poll tracker David Wasserman told NBC. “Democrats’ best hope is that Biden’s approval rating stays above 50 percent and that Republicans have a tougher time turning out their voters without Trump on the ballot.”

The NBC report cites the all-too-predictable trend of the president’s party losing House seats in midterm elections, Democrats choosing not to run for reelection in some cases, and Republicans reaping the benefits of increased online donations, which are now on par with those of Democrats.

Three Michigan RINOs Censured After Election Report

As for the Senate, it’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen. The chamber is currently deadlocked at 50-50, and at least five GOP senators have announced that they will retire after next year’s midterms.

2022 will be an interesting and impactful year.

Republicans Can Win The Next Elections Through Gerrymandering Alone

Even if voting patterns remain the same, Republicans could still win more seats in Congress through redistricting

Last modified on Mon 28 Jun 2021 22.13 BST

In Washington, the real insiders know that the true outrages are what’s perfectly legal and that it’s simply a gaffe when someone accidentally blurts out something honest.

And so it barely made a ripple last week when a Texas congressman said aloud what’s supposed to be kept to a backroom whisper: Republicans intend to retake the US House of Representatives in 2022 through gerrymandering.

“We have redistricting coming up and the Republicans control most of that process in most of the states around the country,” Representative Ronny Jackson told a conference of religious conservatives. “That alone should get us the majority back.”

He’s right. Republicans won’t have to win more votes next year to claim the US House.

In fact, everyone could vote the exact same way for Congress next year as they did in 2020 – when Democratic candidates nationwide won more than 4.7m votes than Republicans and narrowly held the chamber – but under the new maps that will be in place, the Republican party would take control.

It’s one of the many time bombs that threatens representative democracy and American traditions of majority rule. It’s a sign of how much power they have – and how aggressively they intend to wield it – that Republicans aren’t even bothering to deny that they intend to implode it.

Democrats Keep House Majority But ‘republicans Defied The Odds’

The Democrats could wind up with the slimmest House majority in 20 years.

Nancy Pelosi praises Democrats for retaining the House majority

The Democrats will keep their majority in the House of Representatives, but after all the votes are counted, they could wind up with the slimmest House majority in 20 years.

The Democrats gained a majority in the House following the 2018 election in which they won 41 seats. This was the largest gain for the political party since the 1974 election, in which they gained 49.

Some of the popular freshman Democrats who came into office in 2018, including New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar, have been elected for a second term.

But Republicans appear set to make some gains, winning nearly every tossup and picking up at least six seats based on calls of races by The Associated Press.

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted Wednesday morning, “Republicans defied the odds and grew our party last night.”

He also tweeted to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, “You’ve been put on notice.”

Among the Republican victories is Marjorie Taylor Greene, who won Georgia’s conservative 14th Congressional District after publicly supporting the fringe conspiracy theory known as QAnon.

MORE: Georgia Republican who supports QAnon wins US House seat

In videos unearthed by POLITICO, Greene is also heard spouting racist, Islamophobic and sexist views.

ABC News’ Quinn Scanlan and Mariam Khan contributed to this report.

Us Election 2020: Battle For Us Senate To Be Decided In January

The balance of power in the US Senate will be decided in January, when Georgia will hold run-off elections for both its seats.

No candidate in either race has polled 50%, as required by state election law.

The run-off elections will take place on 5 January, two days after the new Senate is due to convene.

The Republicans currently have a 53 to 47 majority in the Senate. So far, the Democrats have managed a net gain of one seat.

The Democrats had high hopes of gaining the four seats they needed to take control, but many Republican incumbents held their seats.

If however the Democrats can gain both seats in Georgia, a traditionally Republican state, this would lead to a 50-50 tie in the Senate.

The result will effectively put them in control of the chamber if Joe Biden wins the White House, given the vice-president’s power to cast tie-breaking votes.

In one of Georgia’s Senate races, incumbent Republican David Perdue had 49.8% of the vote and Democrat Jon Ossoff had 47.9%, according to the BBC’s results system.

“If overtime is required when all of the votes have been counted, we’re ready, and we will win,” Mr Perdue campaign manager Ben Fry said on Thursday.

But the Ossoff campaign predicted that “when a run-off is called and held in January, Georgians are going to send Jon to the Senate”.

In Georgia’s other Senate race, Democrat Raphael Warnock won 32.9% and will go into a run-off against Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, who trailed him with 26%.

Republicans Draft Veteran Candidates To Reclaim House Majority

The GOP is borrowing a page from Democrats’ 2018 playbook.

Jen Kiggans, a former Navy pilot who now serves as a Virginiastate senator and nurse practitioner, is expected to formally launch a run next week. | AP Photo/Steve Helber

04/09/2021 04:00 PM EDT

Link Copied

Republicans blew a chance at winning the House majority in 2020, with a number of weak recruits unable to take advantage of a better-than-expected national environment on Election Day.

To avoid a similar fate in the 2022 midterms, the GOP is taking a page out of Democrats’ 2018 playbook: finding veterans to run for office.

In the first three months of the off-year, party recruiters are reporting a surge of enthusiasm from a diverse crop of prospective candidates, including women and people of color. National Republican Congressional Committee leaders have so far talked to 112 recruits in their 47 target districts. Butthey say theyare particularly excited about an uptick in interest from those who served in the military — a trend they think will serve them well in competitive districts.

“We’ve got a built-in advantage. I think, if you look at polling, about two thirds of our veterans tend to be Republican,” said Rep. Don Bacon , a retired Air Force general who is working to recruit more candidates from the military. “The Democrats were smart, too, in trying to emphasize that area. Fact is: It’s the most trusted institution in America.”

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Republicans Are Not Unilaterally Voting Against Bidens Agenda

After Biden was elected last year, story after story predicted that Republicans would thwart his agenda as control of the Senate remained in limbo and that Trump retained an ironclad grip on the party. And while the latter is still at least partially true, it’s also not yet entirely clear the extent to which they’re impacting the GOP’s ability to compromise. Republicans, for instance, haven’t entirely stymied Biden’s agenda.

Sure, no Republican in the House or Senate voted in favor of Biden’s COVID-19 relief bill. But in the Senate, many have backed his Cabinet picks, and in the House, Republicans and Democrats have found common ground on bills like reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act and allowing farmworkers a pathway to legal immigration status.

Now, it doesn’t mean these bills featured overwhelming bipartisan majorities, but 140 different House Republicans have voted at least once for something Biden supported. And for some members who fall in this category, the choice appears to be a matter of political caution. Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith and Michigan Rep. Fred Upton — two of whom represent districts Biden either won in 2020 or was competitive in — are so far the GOP members backing Biden’s agenda most frequently.

House Republicans who back Biden the most

The 11 Republican House members who vote with Biden’s positions most often, and how often we anticipated they’d vote with Biden based on their district’s 2020 vote margin

The Republicans Also Hold On In The House Of Representatives

The House of Representatives was a far harder nut to crack for the Democrats and the Republicans have also held on here.

The Republicans had a fairly large majority in the House and it would have taken a very strong performance from the Democrats to win the 30 extra seats needed to flip the chamber.

With a few seats still to declare it looks as though this majority will be cut from 30 to 24.

House of Reps – predictions bar

Paul Ryan, the Republican Speaker of the House, has swayed back and forth on whether to endorse Donald Trump with many in the party feeling that denouncing their controversial nominee will give them a better chance of holding onto the House.

Last week Trump was trailing Clinton in the polls by double-digit margins but the seem to have significantly narrowed that lead.

Prior to this latest scandal there was a realistic, if unlikely, chance that the Democrats could have wrestled the House from the grasp of the Republicans and hold both chambers in Congress.

Democrats Take Control Of Senate With Twin Georgia Victories

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Democrats will have a narrow control of the U.S. Senate. The chamber will be split 50-50, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris having a tiebreaking vote. Patrick Semansky/APhide caption

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Democrats will have a narrow control of the U.S. Senate. The chamber will be split 50-50, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris having a tiebreaking vote.

Democrats took exceedingly narrow control of the Senate on Wednesday after winning both runoff elections in Georgia, granting them control of Congress and the White House for the first time since 2011.

Democrat Jon Ossoff defeated Republican David Perdue, according to The Associated Press, making him the youngest member of the U.S. Senate and the first Jewish senator from Georgia. Earlier Raphael Warnock, a pastor from Atlanta, defeated GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler after a bitter campaign. Warnock becomes the first Black Democrat elected to the Senate from a Southern state.

The Senate will now be split 50-50 between the two parties, giving Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the tiebreaking vote.

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Ossoff had a narrow lead Wednesday morning when he declared victory.

“It is with humility that I thank the people of Georgia for electing me to serve you in the United States Senate,” he said.

Perdue has not conceded.

Impact on Biden agenda

Republicans Sound Alarm As Democrats Claim Pennsylvania Win

6 Min Read

CANONSBURG, Pa./WASHINGTON – Republicans sounded the alarm on Wednesday after Democrats claimed victory in a Pennsylvania congressional election seen as a referendum on U.S. President Donald Trump’s performance, although the vote tally remained officially too close to call.

In an ominous sign for Trump’s Republicans eight months before national midterm elections, moderate Democrat Conor Lamb led conservative Republican Rick Saccone on Wednesday by a fraction of a percentage point for the House of Representatives seat.

The earliest the election result could be certified is March 26, according to a state official, but the final tally could be unknown for weeks.

County officials are expected to begin counting provisional paper ballots late this week, and military ballots next week, officials said.

The election should have been a shoo-in for Republicans in a district that Trump won by almost 20 points in the 2016 presidential election. He campaigned for Saccone, who started the race well ahead of Lamb.

Republican Speaker Paul Ryan called the election a “wakeup call” in a meeting with Republican House members and pushed them to raise more campaign funds. He also urged them to do more to highlight tax cuts approved by the Republican-dominated Congress and signed by Trump.

Lamb led Saccone by 627 votes on Wednesday, the state’s unofficial returns showed; Lamb had 49.8 percent of the vote and Saccone 49.6 percent.

‘TRUMP BEFORE TRUMP WAS TRUMP’

Editing by Alistair Bell

Why Did House Democrats Underperform Compared To Joe Biden

The results of the 2020 elections pose several puzzles, one of which is the gap between Joe Biden’s handsome victory in the presidential race and the Democrats’ disappointing performance in the House of Representatives. Biden enjoyed an edge of 7.1 million votes over President Trump, while the Democrats suffered a loss of 13 seats in the House, reducing their margin from 36 to just 10.

BillGalston

Turnout in the 2018 mid-term election reached its highest level in more than a century. Democrats were fervently opposed to the Trump administration and turned out in droves. Compared to its performance in 2016, the party’s total House vote fell by only 2%. Without Donald Trump at the head of the ticket, Republican voters were much less enthusiastic, and the total House vote for Republican candidates fell by nearly 20% from 2016. Democratic candidates received almost 10 million more votes than Republican candidates, a margin of 8.6%, the highest ever for a party that was previously in the minority. It was, in short, a spectacular year for House Democrats.

To understand the difference this Democratic disadvantage can make, compare the 2020 presidential and House results in five critical swing states.

Table 1: Presidential versus House results

Arizona

Senate And House Elections 2020: Full Results For Congress

As well as electing the US president, the country has been voting for senators and members of the House of Representatives. Here are full results from all 50 states

Mon 9 Nov 2020 09.44 GMT Last modified on Tue 15 Dec 2020 14.28 GMT

The US legislature, Congress, has two chambers. The lower chamber, the House of Representatives, has 435 voting seats, each representing a district of roughly similar size. There are elections in each of these seats every two years.

The upper chamber, the Senate, has 100 members, who sit for six-year terms. One-third of the seats come up for election in each two-year cycle. Each state has two senators, regardless of its population; this means that Wyoming, with a population of less than 600,000, carries the same weight as California, with almost 40 million.

Most legislation needs to pass both chambers to become law, but the Senate has some important other functions, notably approving senior presidential appointments, for instance to the supreme court.

In most states, the candidate with the most votes on election day wins the seat. However, Georgia and Louisiana require the winning candidate to garner 50% of votes cast; if no one does, they hold a run-off election between the top two candidates.

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garecc · 7 years

Text

The Hidden Oracle+1

Chapter 11

Chiron the centaur / Meg eats final oreo / I wanted it though

Meg’s eyes just about bugged out of her head when she saw Chiron. “He- He really is a centaur!”

“How observant of you Meg. Do we assume him having the lower body of a horse is what gave you that startling realization?” I joked. Meg glared at me.

“Shut up!” Meg snapped.

My mouth snapped shut against my will, I found myself unable to speak. How to describe it.. I felt like my voice just stopped, and my jaw locked into place.. I can't describe it. I glanced at Apollo helplessly, he took a deep breath before turning to Meg.

“Meg,” He sounded annoyed. “Shut up, is, in fact, a direct order. So unless you want my sister to be mute for the foreseeable future, I’d advise you to allow her to speak.” Apollo’s voice was clipped and furious.

Meg nodded, a surprised look in her eyes.

“Um- You can speak, Artemis” I took a deep breath, Apollo looked something between furious and pained..

“Thank you. Never do that again.” I massaged my jaw, wincing. I turned to Chiron. “ Anyway. Chiron, This is me and Apollo’s new.. master. Meg. Meg McCaffrey.”

He looked amused. Does he find this funny?!

“You were saying something about disappearances? Apologies for taking forever to get here.. We had a slight issue with the fact that I’m hurt.” Apollo muttered sheepishly.

Chiron’s tail flicked as he glanced between us, last I had seen Chiron he had looked much younger, his hair looked greyer and he definitely didn't have so many wrinkles. Whatever is happening must be taking its toll on him.

“Welcome, Meg.” He attempted to sound friendly, and surprisingly, he managed. A feat considering the havoc she has been causing all day.

“I understand you showed great bravery in the woods. You and Artemis got Apollo here in one piece, despite the many dangers you made it. I’m glad to have you at Camp Half-Blood.”

“I helped” I muttered.

Meg snorted. “No, you were crying and panicking and generally freaking out. I got you two here, you just helped carry him.”

Apollo looked concerned, I forced a smile.

“And thanks,” Meg said. “Also! You’re really tall. Don’t you hit your head on light fixtures?”

Why? How was that relevant? At All?

Chiron chuckled. “Sometimes.” Wow. Just… just wow . “If I want to be closer to human size, I have a magical wheelchair that allows me to compact my lower half into…Actually, that’s not important now.”

“Disappearances,” Apollo repeated. “Please continue.”

“What has disappeared?” I added.

“Not what, but who,” Chiron said. Oh shit. “Let’s talk inside. Will, Nico, could you please tell the other campers we’ll gather for dinner in one hour? I’ll give everyone an update then. In the meantime, no one should roam the camp alone. Use the buddy system.”

“Understood.” Will looked at Nico. “Will you be my buddy?”

“You are a dork,” Nico announced.

The two of them strolled off bickering.

If you’re wondering how I saw them as a couple? I couldn't care less. No matter their gender, I’ve sworn off romance of all forms, I know what your thinking, No . Orion does not count. That was one time and resulted in one of the worst mistakes of my life. No , I'm not elaborating.

Chiron led us to the living room, There were two couches arranged in a V facing towards a stone fireplace. Above the mantel, a stuffed leopard head was snoring. Probably Dio’s work.

I steered Apollo to the couches, the trek to the big house had clearly taken it out of him.

He didn't even try to protest when I practically pushed him onto one.

“Lie down ‘Pollo, you look like you're about to fall over.” I plopped down on the couch next to him. He tried to look annoyed but he was smiling.

“Move over, your big ass is taking up the entire couch!” He shoved me over. I fell sideways, I hadn't been expecting him to push me.

“Apollo!” I was laughing too hard to even pretend to be offended. My eyes were watering and I was smiling so wide my cheeks were beginning to hurt, Apollo maneuvered into a more comfortable position as I got ahold of myself, I could hardly remember the last time I laughed like that. Apollo had his head rested on my lap, I felt a smile tugging at my lips.

Meg was throwing things at Seymour the leopard head, trying to wake him up, while Chiron got into his wheelchair. I couldn't care less about what they were doing.

At least, I didn't care, not until I glanced at Chiron. His legs were… very feminine. (Fishnet stockings? Really?) “Chiron- Your er.. Legs” I stared at them. They did not mesh with his professor aesthetic.

Chiron glanced down and sighed.

“Let me guess… The Stoll brothers? Connor and Travis?” Apollo guessed. “I've heard about them from Hermes.”

“No, I doubt it.” Chiron reached for a blanket from a nearby basket and covered his “Legs”. “Connor has mellowed ever since Travis left for college last autumn.”

“I poked that Connor guy in the eye.”

Chiron winced. “That’s nice, dear….At any rate, we have Julia Feingold and Alice Miyazawa now. They have taken up pranking duty. You’ll meet them soon enough.” Those girls in the Hermes cabin doorway came to mind. The ones who were giggling at us.

Meg looked over from playing on the Pac-man machine. When had she even gone over there?

Meg stepped away from the Pac-man game, it entertained her for a full twenty seconds. Apollo spoke up when she began to climb on the walls. Literally. She was scaling it by the grapevines. “Meg, Why don't you go watch the orientation video while we talk?” Apollo asked, pleaded, something along those lines.

I actually wouldn't mind watching it myself, if only to see Apollo’s normal form. It took him ages to make that film. Guess who had to man the camera? Me.

“I know plenty,” she said. Welp, we’re stuck with her. “I talked to the campers while you were passed out. ‘Safe place for modern demigods.’ Blah, blah, blah.”

“Oh, but the film is very good,” He pleaded. “I shot it on a tight budget in the 1950s-”

I cleared my throat. “You shot it?” I asked rhetorically. “Because I remember it differently. Didn’t you come barging into my camp because you broke-”

“Shhh” He reached up and covered my mouth. “As I was saying-” I bit his hand. “ARTEMIS!”

“Don't cover my mouth. How many times have we gone over this.”

He squinted at me. “ As I was saying, some of the camera work was revolutionary. You should really—”

The grapevine gave out from her weight, and Meg crashed to the floor she shot up directly after, her eyes honing in on a platter of cookies. “Are those free?”

Meg. Meg, it's a plate of cookies. Why wouldn't they be free? “Yes, child,” Chiron said. “Bring the tea as well, would you?”

Meg laid down on the couch beside ours, her legs hanging over the armrest. She was holding something like 8 cookies in one hand and was eating them religiously. Throwing crumbs and Seymour when Chiron wasn't looking.

I helped Apollo into a sitting position as Chiron poured us cups of tea. “I’m sorry Mr. D is not here to welcome you.”

“Mr. Dee?” Meg asked.

“Dionysus,” Apollo explained. “The god of wine. Also the director of this camp.”

Chiron handed Apollo his tea. “After the battle with Gaea, I thought Mr. D might return to camp, but he never did. I hope he’s alright.” He passed me my tea.

The centaur looked at us expectantly, Apollo shrugged and I tried to think of where Dio was. “Apollo here can't remember anything from the last six months.. As for me, I was to busy trying to appeal his- our punishment. I guess I was hoping for you to fill us in.” And my memories are startling blurry. Why couldn't I recall where Dio is?

Chiron did a poor job hiding his disappointment. “I see….”

I quickly realized he was hoping that we could assist him, he was looking for advice. I mean, he shouldn't have expected much, especially considering that we arrived beat up, soaking wet and half dead. I mean, just look at us. Bruised, beaten, cold, mortal. Hell, Apollo still looks like a gust of wind could knock him over. I might look the same, forgive me but I haven't looked in a mirror recently.

In a strange way, Chiron looking at us for advice was a little overwhelming. As a goddess, lesser beings relied on me, but now? The idea of people begging and praying for me to assist them felt a tad terrifying.

“So Chiron, what's going on? You look distressed.”

“Like Cassandra when Troy was falling,” Apollo grumbled. I would have elbowed him if not for the fact I feared hurting him.

Chiron didn't comment on his comparison, he cupped his hands around his tea.

“You know that during the war with Gaea, the Oracle of Delphi stopped receiving prophecies. In fact, all known methods of divining the future suddenly failed.” “Because the original cave of Delphi was retaken,” Apollo said with a sigh.

“Not his fault,” I said immediately. Apollo glanced at me warningly, like Do not have a repeat of earlier.

Chiron raised an eyebrow.

Meg threw a chocolate chip at Seymour the leopard’s nose. It bounced off. “Oracle of Delphi. Percy mentioned that.”

“Percy Jackson?” Chiron sat up. “Percy was with you?”

“For a time,” Apollo replied.

“There were some monsters-” Chiron looked concerned. “No, he did not die, don't think like that, he just got a head cold. Nosoi are nasty things.”

“Basically, to sum it up quickly, Artemis saved my life,” Apollo glanced at me pointedly. “Meg used fruit as missiles, Yes Meg, that was you, and Percy also saved our lives with his water bending abilities, and-”

“A demon fruit toddler devoured the Nosoi in the end” I Interrupted.

“A…. Demon fruit toddler..?” Chiron inquired

“His name is peaches.” Meg cut in. “I think Percy called him a carp-oy.”

“Karpoi” I corrected.

“Whatever.”

“Anyway, Percy said he would drive up here over the weekend if he could.”

Chiron looked disappointed. Was Percy that much more pleasant than us?

“At any rate,” he continued, “we hoped that once the war was over, the Oracle might start working again. When it did not…Rachel became concerned.”

“Who’s Rachel?” Meg asked.

“Rachel Dare,” Apollo said. “The Oracle.”

“Thought the Oracle was a place.”

“It is.”

“Then Rachel is a place, and she stopped working?”

Apollo groaned, then sipped his tea.

“The original Delphi was a place in Greece,” Apollo told her. “A cavern filled with volcanic fumes, where people would come to receive guidance from my priestess, the Pythia.”

“Pythia.” Meg giggled. “That’s a funny word.”

“Yes. Ha-ha. So the Oracle is both a place and a person. When the Greek gods relocated to America back in…what was it, Chiron, 1860?”

Chiron seesawed his hand. “More or less.”

“18...1856 I think it was” I answered quietly

“I brought the Oracle here to continue speaking prophecies on my behalf. The power has passed down from priestess to priestess over the years. Rachel Dare is the present Oracle.”

Meg grabbed the only Oreo, the cookie I wanted.

“Mm-kay. Is it too late to watch that movie?”

“Yes,” He snapped. “Now, the way I gained possession of the Oracle of Delphi in the first place was by killing this monster called Python who lived in the depths of the cavern.”

Oh.

I have to feign indifference. How does one pretend not to know that their brother’s mortal enemy nearly defeated him and that he’s terrified of the snake, I have no idea. I made my best slightly worried face.

“A python like the snake?” Meg asked.

“Yes and no. The snake species is named after Python the monster, who is also rather snaky, but who is much bigger and scarier and devours small girls who talk too much"

"That's cold,” I muttered, sipping my tea.

“At any rate, last August, while I was…indisposed-”

I coughed.

Apollo sighed. “While I was stuck on Delphi, my ancient foe Python was released from Tartarus. He reclaimed the cave of Delphi. That’s why the Oracle stopped working.”

“But if the Oracle is in America now, why does it matter if some snake monster takes over its old cave?”

“It’s too much to explain,” Apollo said. “You’ll just have to—”

“Meg, The original site of the Oracle is like the deepest taproot of a tree. The branches and leaves of prophecy may extend across the world, and Rachel Dare may be our loftiest branch, but if the taproot is strangled, the whole tree is endangered. With Python back in residence at his old lair, the spirit of the Oracle has been completely blocked.”

“Oh.” Meg made a face at Apollo. “Why didn’t you just say so?”

Apollo looked livid, I set my hand over his. Chiron refilled his teacup.

“The larger problem,” Chiron said, “is that we have no other source of prophecies.”

“Who cares?” Meg asked. “So you don’t know the future. Nobody knows the future.”

She.. really shouldn't have said that.

“Who cares?!” Apollo shouted. “Meg McCaffrey, prophecies are the catalysts for every important event—every quest or battle, disaster or miracle, birth or death. Prophecies don’t simply foretell the future. They shape it! They allow the future to happen.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Apollo. She’s 12.”

He grunted in response.

Chiron cleared his throat. “Imagine prophecies are flower seeds. With the right seeds, you can grow any garden you desire. Without seeds, no growth is possible.”

“Oh.” Meg nodded. “That would suck.”

“So where is Rachel Dare?” Apollo asked, forcing himself to sound calm “Perhaps if I spoke with her…?”

Chiron set down his tea. “Rachel planned to visit us during her winter vacation, but she never did. It might not mean anything….”

Apollo leaned forward. From the little I've heard of Rachel, it wasn’t like her not to show up at all.

“Or?” Apollo asked.

“Or it might be part of the larger problem,” Chiron said. “Prophecies are not the only things that have failed. Travel and communication have become difficult in the last few months. We haven’t heard from our friends at Camp Jupiter in weeks. No new demigods have arrived. Satyrs aren’t reporting from the field. Iris messages no longer work.”

“Iris what?” Meg asked.

“Two-way visions,” I explained. “Demigods throw a drachma into a rainbow as an offering the rainbow goddess, Iris.”

“Iris has always been flighty….” Apollo murmured.

“Except that normal human communications are also on the fritz,” Chiron said. “Of course, phones have always been dangerous for demigods—”

“Yeah, they attract monsters,” Meg agreed. “I haven’t used a phone in forever.”

“A wise move,” Chiron said. “But recently our phones have stopped working altogether. Mobile, landline, Internet…it doesn’t seem to matter. Even the archaic form of communication known as e-mail is strangely unreliable. The messages simply don’t arrive.”

“Did you look in the junk folder?” Apollo offered.

“I fear the problem is more complicated,” Chiron said. “We have no communication with the outside world. We are alone and understaffed. You are the first newcomers in almost two months.”

“Huh. I mean.. I’d assume my relatives have more children out there. But who knows, the titan war sent the population of demigods lower than it's been in generations."

Apollo frowned. “Percy Jackson mentioned nothing of this.”

“I doubt Percy is even aware,” Chiron said. “He’s been busy with school. Winter is normally our quietest time. For a while, I was able to convince myself that the communication failures were nothing but an inconvenient happenstance. Then the disappearances started.”

In the fireplace, a log slipped from the andiron and into the fire. Beside me Apollo practically jumped out of his seat, tea spilled from his cup into his lap. He visibly deflated as he weakly attempted to brush the drops off. A pointless endeavor.

“Oh dear...” I murmured, standing up to fetch Apollo a napkin, then I realized I didn't know where any were. “Do you have any napkins? Paper towel?”

“Yes, paper towel. Around the corner on the counter.”

I had.. A difficult time finding the paper towel, but I managed. I may or may not have required more information from Chiron. But I managed, bringing a few back to Apollo, who was trying to ignore Megs snickering. “Here”

“Thank you.” He murmured, fervently attempted to dry his pants.

“Don't mind me” He grit out. “Please continue”

“Alright.. Three demigods have gone missing in the last month Chiron said. “First it was Cecil Markowitz from the Hermes cabin, One morning his bunk was simply empty. He didn’t say anything about wanting to leave. No one saw him go. And in the past few weeks, no one has seen or heard from him.

“Children of Hermes do tend to sneak around,” Apollo interjected.

“At first, that’s what we thought,” said Chiron. “But a week later, Ellis Wakefield disappeared from the Ares cabin. Same story: empty bunk, no signs that he had either left on his own or was…ah, taken. Ellis was an impetuous young man. It was conceivable he might have charged off on some ill-advised adventure, but it made me uneasy. Then this morning we realized a third camper had vanished: Miranda Gardiner, head of the Demeter cabin. That was the worst news of all.”

Meg swung her feet off the armrest. “Why is that the worst?”

“Miranda is one of our senior counselors,” Chiron explained. “She would never leave on her own without notice. She is too smart to be tricked away from camp and too powerful to be forced. Yet something happened to her…something I can’t explain.”

The old centaur turned to face us, a haunted look in his eyes. “Something is very wrong Letoides, These problems may not be as alarming as the rise of Kronos or the awakening of Gaea, but in a way, I find them even more unsettling, because I have never seen anything like this before.”

Apollo seemed to be lost in thought. “These demigods…” He said. “Before they disappeared, did they act unusual in any way? Did they report…hearing things?”

Chiron raised an eyebrow. “Not that I am aware of. Why?”

I turned to face him, he never did say what happened in the woods.

He seemed reluctant to say more, I understood where he was coming from. Causing a panic was a bad idea. Chiron studied us.

“Nevermind. Our first priority should be helping us regain our divinity. Then we can assist with other problems.”

I couldn't say I didn't agree, but we would be a mortal at least a year. “Apollo. You know these punishments last a year. There isn't much point in trying to sway Father.”

Chiron stroked his beard. “Artemis is correct, but on the other hand, what if the problems are connected, my friends? What if the only way to restore you both to Olympus is by reclaiming the Oracle of Delphi, thus freeing the power of prophecy? What if Delphi is the key to it all?”

That… made sense. Python controlled Delphi. Meaning we had to kill the serpent. Meaning many things that I will think about later.

“In our present state, that’s impossible.” I pointed at Meg. “Right now, our job is to serve this demigod, probably for a year, as Artie pointed out. After I’ve done whatever tasks he assigns me, Zeus will judge if our sentence has been served, and we can once again reign immortal.”

Meg pulled apart a Fig Newton. Why? I couldn't tell you.Those are the best cookies.. Eat them normally child. “I could order you to go to this Delphi place.”

“No!” Apollo’s voice cracked mid-shriek. “You should assign us easy tasks—like starting a rock band, or just hanging out. Yes, hanging out is good.”

I glared at Meg, Strike one. I reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. “Meg. We are currently in no shape to fight anything. Much less get to Delphi"

Meg looked unconvinced. “You could take a plane”

Apollo stiffened and I laughed humorlessly. “You mean get thrown from the sky by our father so we die in the flaming wreckage of a plane. No.” Chiron glanced at me curiously. I ignored him.

“...well, Hanging out isn't a task.” Meg resorted.

“It is if you do it right. Camp Half-Blood can protect us while we hang out. After our year of servitude is up, we’ll become immortal again. Then we can talk about how to restore Delphi.” Apollo argued.

But I knew immediately after he’d order some demigods to do it for him, and Zeus wouldn’t like that.

“Apollo,” I sighed. “We may not have a year.”

“What do you mean?” He questioned.

“If demigods keep disappearing, the strength of camp weakens, and then they can't protect us. Besides, you are far from helpless.”

“I’m mortal ” He responded.

“I’m mortal.” I repeated, gesturing to myself. “‘Pollo, we are both mortal, we’re in this mess together,”

Apollo gestured angrily. “Artie we can die-”

“and! Apollo, Delphi IS your responsibility.” I added.

Chiron nodded thoughtfully.

Apollo groaned and put his head in his hands. Even he can't argue with logic. “Why us?” He asked rhetorically. “ I didn't open the doors of breath and let Python out! Zeus’s bad judgment got us in this mess in the first place!”

“Apollo..”

“When the giants started to wake, I drew up a very clear Twenty-Point Plan of Action to Protect Apollo and Also You Other Gods, but he didn’t even read it!”

“Yes. I do remember. ‘Pollo. You refused to let me edit.. But, to be honest, your plan was better than Zeus’s ‘wait till the last minute plan’.”

“Thank you.”

Meg tossed half of her cookie at Seymour’s head. “I still think it’s your fault. Hey, look! He’s awake!” Meg spoke in a way that made it sound like the Leopard had woken up in his own, was like he wasn't nailed in the eye with a Fig Newton.

His fault? I bristled at her statement because this so wasn’t his fault. Before I could argue Apollo just looked at me and shook his head. His message was clear. It's not worth it.

“RARR,” Seymour complained.

I felt the same.

Chiron wheeled his chair back from the table. “My dear, in that jar on the mantel, you’ll find some Snausages. Why don’t you feed him dinner? The twins and I will wait on the porch.”

~0~

I helped Apollo to his feet, a task in it'self. He didn't fall like earlier, thank the gods, but he swayed for a moment, almost falling, he steadied himself on the back of the couch.

Chiron looked wary.

“Do you think you can walk?” I asked quietly, he nodded quickly, staggering into a standing position. Once we reached the porch, Apollo started leaned on the railing heavily.

Chiron turned his wheelchair to face us. “She’s an interesting demigod.”

“Interesting is such a nonjudgmental term,” Apollo stated.

I smiled weakly.

“She really summoned a karpos?” Chiron

“Well…the spirit appeared when she was in trouble. Whether she consciously summoned it, I don’t know” Apollo replied.

Chiron scratched his beard. “I have not seen a demigod with the power to summon grain spirits in a very long time. You know what it means?”

Apollo’s legs began to tremble. I immediately took a step closer to him. “I have my suspicions. I’m trying to stay positive.” He muttered.

“She guided you two of the woods,” Chiron noted. “Without her—”

“Artemis would have gotten me out.” He interrupted, looking at Chiron.

“Apollo-” I attempted to speak.

“You would have gotten us out, Artie. I trust you.” He replied I felt my lip twitch upward.

Chiron chuckled. I turned to him. He had this.. Look in his eyes. A look I've seen mirrored in my previous lieutenant’s eyes as she looked over recruit's. The look of someone scanning for new talent, I’d never imagined someone would look at me like that. It felt.. Objectifying.

“Tell me,” Chiron looked at Apollo, “what did you hear in the woods?”

Apollo froze, he laughed dryly. “I- well.. When I was in the woods.. There was a distinctly feminine voice.. And she was.. Screaming. Screaming from inside my head, I think. You couldn't hear it… Screaming stuff about fires and finding her and-” his voice was trembling. “She said- I'm quoting here- “The sun's fall, the final verse” and-” His voice broke, I reached over and grabbed his hand.

“I won't let you die,” I said quietly. “I’ll continue with the dream, okay?”

“That.. That would be nice” He looked out of it, his eyes on the ground. I squeezed his hand, hoping I was reassuring. I'm not going to let him die.

“When.. When I took a nap in the cabin while Apollo was unconscious, we shared a dream. In the dream we were in the sun chariot, a lady was there. She.. Looked like a queen. Not Hera. Hera doesn't smile. She was talking about following the voices and finding some gates.” I said. “Apollo you said something about a prophecy didn't you?”

“Uh- Yeah. I just- I don't know what I meant by that…”

“That's fine ‘Pollo. After that, she disappeared and the Chariot went into bus form. There was this… man in the back. I don't know why but.. He’s bad news. I know he is. The chariot was in a death spiral and he said something about burning down an Oracle. He was laughing.” Apollo’s grip on my hand tightened as I spoke.

Chiron’s hands curled into his lap blanket. He looked about as worried as it is possible for a man to look while wearing fishnet stockings.

“We will have to warn the campers to stay away from the forest,” he decided. “I do not understand what is happening, but I still maintain it must be connected to Delphi, and your present…ah, situation. The Oracle must be liberated from the monster Python. We must find a way.”

I translated that easily enough: Apollo and I must find a way.

Chiron smiled weakly at us.

“Come, come, Apollo,” he said. “You have done it before. Perhaps you are not a god now, but the first time you killed Python it was no challenge at all! Hundreds of storybooks have praised the way you easily slew your enemy.”

I winced. The biggest lie my brother has ever told. Apollo glanced at me curiously.

“Yes,” He muttered. “Hundreds of storybooks.”

As I've said before, Python was not an easy fight for my brother. I saw the aftermath. He doesn't know I know how badly he was injured, but he’s had nightmares about the Serpent forever. My brother told everyone he killed it quickly, called out the serpent, and BAM! A dead snake, Apollo became lord of Delphi, and everyone was happy. From the bit's I've heard, and what I've seen, Python was no pushover. I doubted we could even pose a threat without our divine powers, the ability to teleport and our bows. We would die in mere minutes.

What kind of chance would we have as a sixteen-year-old mortals? We are not going to charge off to Greece and get ourselves killed.

Apollo looked frustrated, anxious, and angry. He looked like he was going to speak but before he could speak a conch horn in the distance.

“That means dinner.” The centaur forced a smile. “We will talk more later, eh? For now, let’s celebrate your arrival.”

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#what the hell #the hidden oracle+1 #the hidden oracle plus one #hahahahahahahhaHAHHAHAH #lester papadopoulos #apollo #artemis #trials of apollo #my fic #my ficc #my ficccccc #help me

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fordallstreams-blog · 7 years

Text

What if THIS is how it ends?

X-Files Speculation Fiction, End of Season 11:

For the eightieth time, Skinner cursed the devilish traffic he'd fought through. Skidding to a full stop and finally shutting down his wailing siren, he jumped out of the FBI SUV and strode toward the bay shore. Despite the small clumps of gawkers staring out onto the water, he knew he'd arrived too late.

Surveying the area where the most FBI jackets could be seen, Skinner filtered them all out and finally zoned in on the tall teenager who stood a little apart. Ignoring any agent who spoke to him, he hurried over, and when he reached the boy, he lightly touched him on the shoulder.

"Where are they?" he asked William/Jackson.

"You missed it." William glanced at him as he spoke matter-of-factly. There was no accusation in his voice.

"Tell me what happened." Skinner urged. He also now took time to look at their surroundings and saw a body lying about twenty feet behind them. It was covered with a tarp or a sheet or something.

He made to step over to it, but William, who continued to gaze out on the water, said, "That's C. G. B. Spender. He's definitely dead this time. But just in case, it's probably a good idea to cremate what's left of his body and scatter the ashes in a secret location."

Skinner wondered whether the kid was in shock. William seemed disconnected, distant.

"I'm all right, Mr. Skinner," the boy assured him even though the assistant director had not asked any question out loud. "The danger is past. There isn't going to be any alien apocalypse or mass plague -- at least not in our lifetimes."

"I heard a few things on the FBI channel in the car, but then it cut out." Skinner paused, unsure if he should ask this but then going ahead: "Did Mulder kill the old bastard?"

William slowly shook his head.

"Do you know who did?"

"Mulder and the old monster faced off. Mulder told him all his evil plans to decimate humanity had been exposed and shut down. He told CSM he was finished...forever. Mulder refused to get out of Spender’s face; he said the old man would have to go through him, and he wasn't budging. Mulder said the old guy had only one choice: to live out the rest of his forsaken days in a six-by-ten isolation cell, nowhere else. That's when one of CSM's goons got a really itchy trigger finger and shot the old man dead. Some of the blood spray hit Mulder."

Relief flooded Skinner. He really had feared that Mulder had pulled the trigger on CSM. Not that he gave a damn about the life of old Cancer Man. But, Mulder...well, who the hell wanted to visit him while he did a prison stretch for a murder rap?

On the other hand though, a jury probably wouldn't have convicted Mulder if he had killed Spender Senior. Not if the jury learned that Dana Scully was dying of cancer again because she had removed the chip -- alien they thought -- that had kept the malignancy in check all these years.

She'd removed it because she'd needed to use it to uncover and halt CSM's diabolical plans. How, exactly, Skinner wasn't sure. He couldn’t follow the scientific intricacies even if they were explained to him. But he knew her cancer was back with a vengeance, and they had no more chips. She and Mulder both knew her death was imminent.

Skinner only learned this earlier today when Scully appeared in his office -- alone -- to tell him this grim news. Funny, he'd thought then, she doesn't look sick -- maybe a little thin, but that’s all. But he hadn't doubted her in the least. She was a bad liar; he would have known if her story'd been concocted.

Then he'd thought how horribly unfair it was that she had only just met her sixteen-year-old son again, and now would leave both William and Mulder. Scully had been composed, even serene, and emitted no bitterness: "I had to do what I had to do to stop millions from dying. I'm content with that."

But Mulder was another story. Scully's sacrifice drove him to chase down CSM and rage at him. Spender and a small armed encourage were on the road here when Mulder ran Spender off the road. Soon quite a crowd of law enforcement people formed on the one side and Spender bodyguards and toadies on the other. Scully was there. And William too, of course. All these tidbits Skinner had learned over the car radio before communications had gone strangely dead.

What Skinner did not know though was: the whereabouts of Mulder and Scully now... He had to ask, "Where are your parents, William?

The young man studied Skinner a moment before replying, "You know there are aliens with good intentions as well as ones with bad ones, right?"

Skinner eyed him blankly.

William continued, "I can communicate with some of the friendly ones on occasion. A ship of theirs was stationed beneath the bay's surface, waiting. After Spender was offed, and chaos took over on shore, the ship rose up from the waters and put everyone but the three of us in a kind of trance.

"These beings have powers eons ahead of earth. The aliens invited my parents to come on board. They can make my mother well; human medicine can't. They also wanted to show them both some things."

Skinner stared at the boy. "You're saying that Mulder and Scully were whisked away in an alien spaceship? They went?"

"Yes."

"What about you? Why didn't you go?"

"My alien friends know it isn't the right time for me. I need to go back and be Jackson Van de Camp again now. My adoptive parents love me and need me."

Skinner felt a wave of tenderness for the young man. "William, I hope you know that Mulder and Scully have always loved you with their whole hearts. Your absence over the years left a gaping wound in both of them."

"I know it," William answered quietly and smiled gently, wistfully. Skinner though he saw a tear or two in the teen's eyes. "I hope to see them again and have time then to get to know them."

Abruptly William stood straighter, pushing his emotion down in a very Scully-like manner. "The main thing is that they're together." He gestured upward into the cold, spring night sky and added, "That's what they both need more than anything: to meet their challenges together."

The two went silent then under the vastness of space over their heads.

by Fordallstreams

#XF speculation fic End of X-Files season 11?

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bigyack-com · 5 years

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How Technology is Changing the Future of Higher Education

This article is part of our latest Learning special report. We’re focusing on Generation Z, which is facing challenges from changing curriculums and new technology to financial aid gaps and homelessness.MANCHESTER, N.H. — Cruising to class in her driverless car, a student crams from notes projected on the inside of the windshield while she gestures with her hands to shape a 3-D holographic model of her architecture project.It looks like science fiction, an impression reinforced by the fact that it is being demonstrated in virtual reality in an ultramodern space with overstuffed pillows for seats. But this scenario is based on technology already in development.The setting is the Sandbox ColLABorative, the innovation arm of Southern New Hampshire University, on the fifth floor of a downtown building with panoramic views of the sprawling red brick mills that date from this city’s 19th-century industrial heyday.It is one of a small but growing number of places where experts are testing new ideas that will shape the future of a college education, using everything from blockchain networks to computer simulations to artificial intelligence, or A.I.Theirs is not a future of falling enrollment, financial challenges and closing campuses. It’s a brighter world in which students subscribe to rather than enroll in college, learn languages in virtual reality foreign streetscapes with avatars for conversation partners, have their questions answered day or night by A.I. teaching assistants and control their own digital transcripts that record every life achievement.The possibilities for advances such as these are vast. The structure of higher education as it is still largely practiced in America is as old as those Manchester mills, based on a calendar that dates from a time when students had to go home to help with the harvest, and divided into academic disciplines on physical campuses for 18- to 24-year-olds.Universities may be at the cutting edge of research into almost every other field, said Gordon Jones, founding dean of the Boise State University College of Innovation and Design. But when it comes to reconsidering the structure of their own, he said, “they’ve been very risk-averse.”Now, however, squeezed by the demands of employers and students — especially the up and coming Generation Z — and the need to attract new customers, some schools, such as Boise State and Southern New Hampshire University, are starting labs to come up with improvements to help people learn more effectively, match their skills with jobs and lower their costs.

College by Subscription

One of these would transform the way students pay for higher education. Instead of enrolling, for example, they might subscribe to college; for a monthly fee, they could take whatever courses they want, when they want, with long-term access to advising and career help.The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the places mulling a subscription model, said Richard DeMillo, director of its Center for 21st Century Universities. It would include access to a worldwide network of mentors and advisers and “whatever someone needs to do to improve their professional situation or acquire a new skill or get feedback on how things are going.”Boise State is already piloting this concept. Its Passport to Education costs $425 a month for six credit hours or $525 for nine in either of two online bachelor’s degree programs. That’s 30 percent cheaper than the in-state, in-person tuition.Paying by the month encourages students to move faster through their educations, and most are projected to graduate in 18 months, Mr. Jones said. The subscription model has attracted 47 students so far, he said, with another 94 in the application process.However they pay for it, future students could find other drastic changes in the way their educations are delivered.

Your Teacher Is a Robot

Georgia Tech has been experimenting with a virtual teaching assistant named Jill Watson, built on the Jeopardy-winning IBM Watson supercomputer platform. This A.I. answers questions in a discussion forum alongside human teaching assistants; students often can’t distinguish among them, their professor says. More Jill Watsons could help students get over hurdles they encounter in large or online courses. The university is working next on developing virtual tutors, which it says could be viable in two to five years.S.N.H.U., in a collaboration with the education company Pearson, is testing A.I. grading. Barnes & Noble Education already has an A.I. writing tool called bartleby write, named for the clerk in the Herman Melville short story, that corrects grammar, punctuation and spelling, searches for plagiarism and helps create citations.At Arizona State University, A.I. is being used to watch for signs that A.S.U. Online students might be struggling, and to alert their academic advisers.“If we could catch early signals, we could go to them much earlier and say, ‘Hey you’re still in the window’ ” to pass, said Donna Kidwell, chief technology officer of the university’s digital teaching and learning lab, EdPlus.Another harbinger of things to come sits on a hillside near the Hudson River in upstate New York, where an immersion lab with 15-foot walls and a 360-degree projection system transports Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute language students to China, virtually.The students learn Mandarin Chinese by conversing with A.I. avatars that can recognize not only what they say but their gestures and expressions, all against a computer-generated backdrop of Chinese street markets, restaurants and other scenes.Julian Wong, a mechanical engineering major in the first group of students to go through the program, “thought it would be cheesy.” In fact, he said, “It’s definitely more engaging, because you’re actively involved with what’s going on.”Students in the immersion lab mastered Mandarin about twice as fast as their counterparts in conventional classrooms, said Shirley Ann Jackson, the president of Rensselaer.Dr. Jackson, a physicist, was not surprised. The students enrolling in college now “grew up in a digital environment,” she said. “Why not use that to actually engage them?”Slightly less sophisticated simulations are being used in schools of education, where trainee teachers practice coping with simulated schoolchildren. Engineering students at the University of Michigan use an augmented-reality track to test autonomous vehicles in simulated traffic.

A Transcript for Life

The way these kinds of learning get documented is also about to change. A race is underway to create a lifelong transcript.Most academic transcripts omit work or military histories, internships, apprenticeships and other relevant experience. And course names such as Biology 301 or Business 102 reveal little about what students have actually learned.“The learner, the learning provider and the employer all are speaking different languages that don’t interconnect,” said Michelle Weise, chief innovation officer at the Strada Institute for the Future of Work.A proposed solution: the “interoperable learning record,” or I.L.R. (proof that, even in the future, higher education will be rife with acronyms and jargon).The I.L.R. would list the specific skills that people have learned — customer service, say, or project management — as opposed to which courses they passed and majors they declared. And it would include other life experiences they accumulated.This “digital trail” would remain in the learner’s control to share with prospective employers and make it easier for a student to transfer academic credits earned at one institution to another.American universities, colleges and work force training programs are now awarding at least 738,428 unique credentials, according to a September analysis by a nonprofit organization called Credential Engine, which has taken on the task of translating these into a standardized registry of skills.Unlike transcripts, I.L.R.s could work in two directions. Not only could prospective employees use them to look for jobs requiring the skills they have; employers could comb through them to find prospective hires with the skills they need.“We’re trying to live inside this whole preindustrial design and figure out how we interface with technology to take it further,” said Ms. Kidwell of Arizona State. “Everybody is wrangling with trying to figure out which of these experiments are really going to work.”This story was produced in collaboration with The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Read the full article

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junker-town · 5 years

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Patrick Mahomes is the latest MLB draftee to play in a Super Bowl

Football and baseball have had a lot of crossover for years.

The Chiefs’ quarterback was drafted as a pitcher out of high school, but chose football instead.

Patrick Mahomes was the NFL’s MVP in his first full season as a starting quarterback, and then led the Kansas City Chiefs to their first Super Bowl in 50 years the following year. So it’s hard to deny that choosing football was the proper and correct career decision, especially with Mahomes in line for possibly the first $200-million contract in NFL history.

But it’s still fun to think about Mahomes the baseball player.

Baseball is in his genes. His father, Pat Mahomes, pitched for six major league teams over 11 seasons. Growing up, the younger Mahomes was a fixture around the clubhouse with his dad. Patrick Mahomes was a three-sport star at Whitehouse High School in Texas, and was drafted by the Tigers as a pitcher in the 37th round in 2014.

“If he had just focused on the mound, we’d be talking about somebody throwing 94-95,” Tigers scout Tim Grieve told MLB.com. “How he throws a football is a lot like how he throws a baseball.”

LaTroy Hawkins, who was a teammate of the elder Mahomes in Minnesota, is the younger Mahomes’ godfather. He helped advise Patrick upon getting drafted in baseball. Per Emily Kaplan of Sports Illustrated:

Hawkins wanted Mahomes to make the best decision. He consulted Mike Larson, a veteran MLB scout. “With a kid like that,” Larson said, “baseball is not as big of a deal, it comes naturally. But if he wants to be a professional in football, he will have to sacrifice the next step and focus completely on football. He’s going to need to be entirely invested.”

“Once we told him that,” Hawkins recalled. “He was entirely invested in football.”

Mahomes focused solely on football and played at Texas Tech before being drafted 10th overall by the Chiefs in 2017. So while he left baseball behind, at least the Tigers can still claim bragging rights in Detroit.

With former Tigers Draft Pick Patrick Mahomes advancing to the super bowl, the Detroit Tigers have drafted more Super Bowl Starting QB's than the Detroit Lions have.

— SkitchP (@skitchP) January 20, 2020

It should be noted that should something happen to Mahomes on Sunday, backup quarterback Matt Moore was also drafted in baseball, as a third baseman in the 22nd round by the Angels in 2004. Multi-sport talents abound!

Mahomes is one of a litany of former MLB Draft picks to play in the Super Bowl, including some of the very best players in football history.

Ready for prime time: Deion Sanders

Sanders is the gold standard for Super Bowl players drafted into MLB. He’s a Hall of Fame football player who’s a two-time Super Bowl champion, including the last time the 49ers won a championship 25 years ago. Sanders also played parts of nine major league seasons, and led the majors in triples in 1992. He was drafted in the sixth round by the Royals out of high school but didn’t sign, then again by the Yankees in the 30th round out of Florida State in 1988.

Sanders was 8-for-15 (.533) with two doubles and five stolen bases for the Braves in the 1992 World Series, the only player to play in both a World Series and Super Bowl. Memorably that year, he played a game with the Falcons on Oct. 11 in Miami, then flew to Pittsburgh to join the Braves for Game 5 of the NLCS later that night. However, he didn’t play in the baseball game.

That Falcons team with Sanders were multi-sport delights. Alongside him in the secondary from 1989-91 was strong safety Brian Jordan, who played 15 years in the majors. Quarterback Chris Miller played with Sanders from 1989-93 in Atlanta, and he was drafted in three straight MLB Drafts — first out of high school in 1983, then out of Oregon in both 1984 and 1985 as a shortstop. But neither Jordan nor Miller played in a Super Bowl.

Bo Jackson is the only player to make both an MLB All-Star team and a Pro Bowl, but a hip injury cut short both careers. He never played in a Super Bowl.

Backstop Tom: Tom Brady

Nobody has played in, or won, more Super Bowls than Tom Brady, but before he became TOM BRADY he was drafted out of high school as a catcher by the Montreal Expos in 1995.

“[Brady] had a high ceiling,” former Expos general manager Kevin Malone told Tim Rohan of Sports Illustrated in 2017. “He was a left-handed, power-hitting catcher who was cerebral. He had arm strength. He had everything that would warrant him being projected as a major league all-star. He had everything.”

Photo by Stickman/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Tom Brady playing baseball instead of football. What might have been.

Brady was a lefty-hitting, righty-throwing catcher with power, but he was intent on using that strong arm to play quarterback at Michigan. Selected in MLB’s 18th round, Brady would have had to overcome the stigma of being drafted 507th overall but getting picked low hasn’t proven to be much of a deterrent in his career. More relevant was that it would take a very large bonus to lure him away from college.

Former Expos scout John Hughes told Rohan he was authorized to give Brady a bonus “in the neighborhood of bottom of the second [round], top of the third type money.” But in the end, the Expos never made a formal offer because they knew Brady wouldn’t pick baseball over football.

Keep in mind Brady was drafted in 1995, in the aftermath of the baseball strike that canceled the previous World Series. The Expos ended the 1994 season with the best record in baseball and were stocked with talent, including Hall of Famers Pedro Martinez and Larry Walker. It was the beginning of the end for the franchise in Montreal, and within 10 years the team moved to Washington D.C. to become the Nationals.

Safe to say that Brady choosing football killed baseball in Montreal.

Where there’s a will, Elway: John Elway

John Elway was an all-world quarterback, and it’s easy to remember that in hindsight. But he was a legitimate two-sport star at Stanford who probably utilized the leverage of his baseball acumen better than anyone else.

After hitting .361/.484/.627 as a sophomore at Stanford, Elway the outfielder was drafted by the Yankees with the final pick of the second round, six spots ahead of future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.

Elway hit an impressive .318/.432/.464 in 42 games for low Class-A Oneonta in the summer of 1982, before his stellar senior season in football with Stanford. His baseball future was so bright that Yankees owner George Steinbrenner gushed at the time, “He will be a great outfielder for me, one in the great Yankee tradition of Mantle, Maris, DiMaggio and all the others ... including Reggie.”

The Colts drafted him first overall in 1983, though Elway made it clear he had no desire to play for Baltimore.

‘’Right now it looks like I’ll be playing baseball with the Yankees. It will be a couple of days, or maybe even two weeks, before I make the final decision,” Elway told reporters after being drafted. “We haven’t ruled out football, but it doesn’t look good right now.’’

Within a week Elway was traded to the Broncos and baseball took a back seat. He led Denver to a Super Bowl appearance in his fourth season, the first of five for Elway on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Laces out, Finkle: Dan Marino

Dan Marino, another alumnus of the quarterback-rich 1983 NFL Draft and another Hall of Famer, was selected as a right-handed pitcher in the fourth round out of high school by the Royals in 1979, 14 rounds before the Royals also selected Elway. Then-Royals scouting director John Schuerholz told The Guardian in 2017:

“After we drafted [Marino] I spoke to his dad several times. In those days if you signed a professional baseball contract you couldn’t play another sport. Mr. Marino, rightly as a concerned dad, said: ‘He loves baseball but if he signs with you that will cost him his scholarship.’ I told him: ‘Mr. Marino, I will gladly reimburse the amount if you tell me what it is.’ We were willing to work with him to let him go to college.”

Marino didn’t sign with Kansas City and instead started his football odyssey with Pitt. Marino played in Super Bowl XIX with the Dolphins.

Other notable MLB draftees in the Super Bowl

There are scores of players drafted in both baseball and football, and several MLB draftees who have played in a Super Bowl. But for sake of brevity, I only included here baseballers who started at quarterback in a Super Bowl, won Super Bowl MVP, or in some cases both.

Photo by Gregg Forwerck/Getty Images

Super Bowl winner Russell Wilson has been invited to major league spring training four times with the Rangers and Yankees.

Russell Wilson, a veteran of two Super Bowls with the Seahawks, was drafted by the Rockies in the fourth round in 2010, and hit .229/.354/.356 in parts of two minor league seasons as a second baseman before starting his NFL career in 2012. He was a non-roster invitee to spring training four times, including each of the last two seasons with the Yankees.

Ken Stabler was drafted three straight years (1966-68) as a pitcher out of Alabama, though never played professional baseball. He was also offered a reported $50,000 by the Pirates out of high school in 1964 (one year before the MLB Draft was implemented), but opted for college instead. Stabler didn’t choose between sports until he was done with college.

”I had no preference between baseball and football until I heard I was going to the Raiders,” Stabler told the Oakland Tribune in 1968. “I’m really happy Oakland got me. In my opinion it’s the best team in the AFL and I like to play on a winning team.”

He played 15 years in a Hall of Fame football career, and was the winning quarterback for the Raiders in Super Bowl XI.

The Dark Knight Rises star Hines Ward was selected by the Marlins in the 73rd round in 1994 out of Forest Park High School in Georgia, where Ward was an outfielder. He opted instead for football, which brought him first to the University of Georgia. Then, he spent 14 years with the Steelers, with whom he won two Super Bowls. Ward was the MVP of Super Bowl XL, catching five passes for 123 yards and a touchdown.

Colin Kaepernick, the quarterback for the 49ers in their most recent trip to the Super Bowl before this year, was drafted as a pitcher in the 43rd round by the Cubs in 2009. He did not sign, making baseball the only sport he no longer plays professionally by his choice.

Before he starred at Alcorn State and then the NFL, Steve McNair was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 35th round in 1991. He traded in his shortstop glove to play quarterback, and played 13 years in the NFL, including starting Super Bowl XXXIV for the Titans.

Super Bowl XXXV quarterback Kerry Collins was picked three times in the MLB Draft, the first two times (1990, 1991) as a shortstop and finally as a pitcher (1994). He never played baseball professionally.

The two quarterbacks who played in the most Super Bowls — Brady and Elway — were both once drafted in baseball. Mahomes, at 24 years old, is younger than both at the time of their first Super Bowl, so maybe he can one day join his fellow baseball draftees turned NFL MVP atop the Super Bowl record book.

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