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chrancecriber · 1 year

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Antenne Vorarlberg Chillout Lounge (August 19, 2023)

23:58 Elderbrook - I Need You 23:53 Afterlife - How Does It Feel (Original Mix) 23:50 Armin Van Buuren Feat. Rbvln - Weight Of The World (Feat. Rbvln) 23:45 Thomas Lemmer & Andreas Bach - Embracing Love 23:41 Depeche Mode - Freelove 23:38 Zoe - C'est La Vie 23:34 Airstream One - Southern Light 23:30 Winona Oak & Robin Schulz - Oxygen 23:23 Blank & Jones - White Light 23:17 Groovecatcher - Angel Of Nature 23:15 Alok & Timmy Trumpet - Underwater Love (La Vision Remix) 23:04 Monkey Safari - Hi Life (Cheeky Bold Cover) 22:59 Massive Attack - Protection 22:55 Sound Nomaden - The Morning After 22:51 Kygo & Sasha Sloan - I'll Wait 22:43 Tactful - No Fear 22:40 Bolier & Arman Cekin - Fade Away (Feat. Rhi'n'b) 22:36 Blank & Jones Feat. Zoe Durrant - Adios Ayer 22:28 Chaim Feat. Meital De Razon - Love Rehab 22:25 Klingande, Wrabel - Big Love 22:20 Jacob Gurevitsch - Lovers In Paris 22:17 Filatov & Karas - Au Au 22:13 Tinlicker Feat. Nathan Nicholson - Be Here And Now 22:07 Hippiehaus - Galaxy 22:04 Lost Frequencies, Zonderling & Kelvin Jones - Love To Go 21:56 Martin Roth - An Analog Guy In A Digital World 21:50 Bliss - End Titles 21:47 Laniia - Fireflies 21:42 Enui - Adieu (Arielle Lb Remix) 21:37 Roger Shah, Feel, Zara Taylor - One Life (Pedro Del Mar & R.i.b Chillout Remix) 21:32 Glide - Y Môr 21:29 Cosmic Soul & Tom Novy - Like A Dream 21:27 Sylvering - Is There Anybody Out There 21:18 Blond:ish Feat. Bahramji - Omnipresent 21:13 Schiller Feat. Mia Bergström - Playing With Madness 21:07 Banderas - This Is Your Life (Easy Life Mix) 21:02 Christopher Von Deylen - Free 20:58 Karen Gibson Roc - Painted Room 20:51 Rodriguez Jr. Feat. Liset Alea - What Is Real 20:49 Felix Jaehn & The Stickmen Project Feat. Calum Scott - Rain In Ibiza 20:45 Be Svendsen - Drop The Gun 20:39 Röyksopp & Jamie Irrepressible - The Next Day (Mind Against Remix) 20:36 Ck West - Aldebaran 2021 20:32 Smoke City - Underwater Love 20:28 Klangkarussel & Poppy Baskcomb - This Love 20:24 Chicane Feat. Bryan Adams - Don't Give Up 20:18 Kruder & Dorfmeister - Black Baby 20:14 Clément Leroux - Memories 20:11 Kygo Feat. Kodaline - Raging 20:05 Nora En Pure - Thermal (Extended Mix) 20:01 Julian Wassermann - Painfully 19:56 Schiller - Zukunft 19:49 Blond:ish Feat. Shawni - Wizard Of Love 19:47 Vievie - Blue Island 19:40 Sweed Feat. Janana - Finally (Holter & Mogyoro Remix) 19:37 Magnofield - Lupino 19:33 Robin Schulz - Above The Clouds 19:29 Aromabar - Renegade 19:26 Lost Frequencies & Elley Duhé - Back To You 19:21 Pete Tong & Tale Of Us Feat. Jules Buckley - Time 19:14 Depeche Mode - Waiting For The Night 19:12 Chaël Feat Kaii - Don't Speak 19:08 Frank & Friedrich Feat. Duncan Woods - Coming Home 19:05 Vize & Tom Gregory - Never Let Me Down 18:59 Nora En Pure - Cognitive Fadings (Club Mix) 18:55 Moby - The Sky Is Broken 18:52 Edx - Ecletric (Mixed) 18:49 Sono - Keep Control (Artbat Remix Edit) 18:41 Framewerk - Electric Religion 18:38 Hanns Feat. Lu - Chemistry 18:35 Kygo & Tina Turner - What's Love Got To Do With It 18:31 Air - You Make It Easy 18:23 Armin Van Buuren & Avira Feat. Sam Martin - Mask 18:19 Valante - Rissa 18:12 Chris Zippel - Mirror Dawn 18:07 Three Drives On A Vinyl - Greece 2000 (Sebastian Davidson & Melosense Remix) 18:03 Thievery Corporation - It Takes A Thief 17:58 Schiller - White Nights (Don't Let Me Go) 17:55 Morgan Page Feat. Lissie - Firewalk 17:52 Blank & Jones - Fall In Love 17:47 Nora En Pure - Trailblazer (Club Mix) 17:43 Moli - Cloud No9 (Montmartre Remix) 17:39 Stj, Clifford Borg - Eco Ballad 17:35 Ac Venture - Rain In Spain (Roberto Sol Remix) 17:30 Worakls - Caprice 17:26 Patrick Baker - Call Me Up (Original Mix) 17:21 Goa Foundation - (I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight 17:14 Hraach - After Dark 17:09 Remady & Manu-l - Another Day In Paradise 17:06 Robin Schulz & Alle Farben & Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - Somewhere Over The Rainbow / What A Wonderful World 17:03 Sam Feldt - Show Me Love (Original Mix) 16:58 Schiller Feat. Jael - Tired (Live) 16:54 Schiller - Once Upon A Time (Cahill Remix) 16:51 Sal De Sol - Another Chance (Single Mix) 16:47 Blank & Jones - Sunny (Summer Vibe Mix) 16:44 Thomas Gold Feat. Bright Sparks - Seventeen 16:41 Tom Walker - Just You And I 16:35 Twocolors - Together 16:32 Trinix - Soweto 16:26 Alle Farben - Sonoro (2018 Rework) 16:24 Carstn, Jason Walker - Could You Love Me (Munich Monstrs Remix) 16:20 Sum Wave - Goodbye Earth 16:16 Alan Walker Feat. Anthony Keyrous & Henri Purnell Feat. Romy Wave - Alone (Remix) 16:13 Klangkarussell And Givven - Follow 16:10 Worm Is Green - Electron John 16:07 Rene Rodrigezz & Tristan Henry - Let Me Go 16:03 The Ocean Piano - Piano Mi Camino (Blue Wave Mix) 15:59 Schiller - Lichtwerk 15:56 Sans Souci - Condor 15:52 Panama, Satin Jackets - The Future 15:47 Tibet Project - Tibet (A Passage To ...) 15:41 Beyhude - Terso 15:37 P. Lion - Happy Children (Special Remastered) 15:29 Nor Elle - Silent Storm 15:24 Lstn - Floral Decor 15:21 Milkwish - From The Earth To The Moon 15:16 Sise - The Rain (Where Do I Begin) 15:13 Sum Wave - Backyard Stories 15:06 Richard Grey - Need Your Lovin (Murjd Remix) 15:03 Nihoni - After Sun 14:56 Consolidation Feat. Moguai - Ode To Joy 14:54 Meduza & Becky Hill X Goodboys - Lose Control 14:50 Younotus Feat. Chris Gelbuda - When I Think About You 14:47 Above & Beyond - Is It Love? (1001) (Original Mix) 14:42 Schiller & Giorgio Moroder - Lichtjahre 14:38 Schiller - Summer In Berlin 14:36 Mila Feat. Uwe Worlitzer - Teil Von Mir 14:32 Gary B. - Lead Me Home 14:29 Klangperlenspiel - Fraction Of Your Love 14:26 Atb & Topic - Your Love (9pm) 14:21 Glenn Main - Message To Spain 14:15 Beyhude - Rüzgar 14:12 Lucy Neville - Fall At Your Feet 14:09 Milk & Sugar Feat. John Paul Young - Love Is In The Air 14:05 Eli & Fur - Come Back Around 14:01 The Chill Out Orchestra - Wish You Were Here 13:58 The Alan Parsons Project - The Turn Of A Friendly Card 13:55 R3hab & Marnik - Candyman 13:51 Deeperise Feat. Jabbar - One By One 13:48 Armin Van Buuren & Avira - Illusion (Mixed) 13:43 Elderbrook & Bob Moses - Inner Light 13:37 Fous De La Mer - Waiting For The Sun 13:33 Golden Tone Radio - Glück 13:30 Blank & Jones Feat. Zoe Durrant - Erase Rewind 13:24 Under Pressure - Near The Ocean 13:21 Loud Luxury - Cold Feet 13:14 Armen Miran - Precious Story 13:10 Schiller & Tricia Mcteague - Guardian Angel 13:07 Gibbs & Code X - Close To Your Heart 13:04 Duke Dumont Feat. Jax Jones - I Got U 12:57 Hraach & Armen Miran - Nowhere 12:53 Schiller - Free The Dragon 12:49 Robin Schulz Feat. Graham Candy - 4 Life (Original Mix) 12:45 Nora En Pure - World Of Rules 12:41 Kid Massive, Yuji Ono, Dtale - Pray (Wolf Krew Remix) 12:38 Clyb Foster - How Deep Is Your Love 12:34 Passenger 10 - Serving The World 12:31 Sam Feldt Feat. Lateshift - The Riddle 12:26 Melounge - Too Much Sugar 12:24 Srtw & Mave Feat. Sønlille - Last Train Home 12:19 Moby - Everything That Rises 12:16 Robin Schulz Feat. Alida - In Your Eyes 12:11 Avira & Kiko Franco Feat. Nathan Nicholson) - Ocean 12:09 Jubel Feat. Neimy - Dancing In The Moonlight 12:06 Bernward Koch - Flowing Colors 12:00 Anrey - The Forgotten (Extended Mix) 11:55 Les Negresses Vertes - Face A La Mer 11:49 Christopher Von Deylen - Euphoria 11:44 Victoriya - Nothing Remains 11:41 Lilly Wood & The Prick And Robin Schulz - Prayer In C 11:37 Lstn - Sïstër 11:31 Colyn - Unstable Gravity Alert 11:27 Quantic - Painting Silhouettes (Original Mix) 11:23 Sons Of Maria - Elevate 11:19 Solaris Navis - Blissful Memories 11:15 Basixx - Stay In Your Sunlight 11:12 Loud Luxury And Frank Walker Feat. Stephen Puth - Like Gold 11:08 Aguaflames - Moiman 11:05 Sans Souci - Take My Breath Away (Original Mix) 11:01 Neptune & Moonnight - I Need A New Love (Original Mix) 10:57 Cristian Marchi Feat. Block - Baker Street 10:53 Above & Beyond Feat. Zoe Johnston - Treasure 10:51 The Holy Santa Barbara Feat. Madugo - The Sailor Song 10:46 Black Zone Ensemble - Bubbles 10:42 Nora En Pure - Sign Of The Times 10:39 Schiller - Midnight In Shiraz 10:35 Blank & Jones - Wyb (Deeper) 10:32 Kygo With Avicii & Sandro Cavazza - Forever Yours (Tribute) 10:25 Marcel - Departure 10:18 Avira & Diana Miro - The Worship (Mark Knight Extended) 10:13 Fritz Kalkbrenner - Good Things 10:10 James Blunt - Cold 10:06 Dvine - Unknown Reality 10:03 Agatino Romero - I'm Feeling For You 09:59 Moist - Far Beyond The Endless (Original Mix) 09:56 Mike Candys - Sky (Club Mix) 09:49 Röyksopp Feat. Susanne Sundførd - Oh, Lover 09:46 Mario & Vidis Feat. Jazzu - I'll Be Gone 09:43 Bolier - Another Blue 09:40 Kush Kush & Sickmellow Feat. Kazhi - Blacklight 09:36 Moby - Porcelain (Arty Remix) 09:33 Blank & Jones - Swept Away 09:28 Depeche Mode - Useless 09:24 Ec Twins, Oda Loves You - Wonderful Life 09:20 Olga Scheps - How Much Is The Fish? 09:15 La Vita - Saxual Seduction 09:10 Robin Schulz - Moonlit Sky (With The Void Pacific Choir) 09:05 Exstra - Comet (Extended Mix) 09:01 Black Coffee & David Guetta Feat. Delila Montagu - Drive 08:56 Jens Buchert - Cocoon 08:53 Undressd - Forever Young 08:45 Andre Rizo - Hang 08:42 Shouse - Won't Forget You 08:39 Vamero & Lizot - Bleeding Love 08:32 Francesco Rossi - Paper Aeroplane 08:28 Nora En Pure - All I Need 08:25 Thievery Corporation Feat. Shana Halligan - Depth Of My Soul 08:22 Dimitri Vegas - Pull Me Closer 08:14 Maxim Lany - Riding The Wave (Extended Mix) 08:11 Marit Larsen - I Don't Want To Talk About It (Nelsaan & Matoma Tropical Remix) 08:07 Kungs Feat. Jhart - Dopamine 08:05 Famba Feat. Brando & Mkla - Games We Play 08:02 Martin Jensen - Solo Dance 07:58 Klangperlenspiel & Puzzls - Kyoto (Wish You'd Move On) 07:55 Robin Schulz & David Guetta - On Repeat 07:51 The Alan Parsons Project - Lucifer 07:48 Gamper & Dadoni - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! 07:45 Sam Feldt & Sam Fischer - Pick Me Up (Vavo Remix) 07:38 Worakls - Elea (Original Mix) 07:33 Lazy Hammbock - Surround Me 07:30 Kygo Feat. Ellie Goulding - First Time 07:25 Two Lanes - Pièces Froides: Ii. Danses De Travers 07:22 Gamper & Dadoni Feat. Joe Jury - Satellites 07:19 Bossasonic - Wicked Game 07:16 Zaz - Demain C'est Toi 07:09 Bay Area - Dolphin Rider (Pianodreamsession) 07:04 Mahoroba - Soft Breeze (On Air Mix) 06:59 Thomas Lemmer & Andreas Bach - Sweet Lullaby 06:55 Joachim Pastor Feat. Nathan Nicholson - Saint Louis 06:50 Eelke Kleijn - Mojo's Tale 06:48 Minelli, Filatov & Karas Remi - Rampampam 06:45 York - On The Beach (Kryder & Jenjammin Sax Edit) 06:41 Stephane De Lucia - Trippin 06:34 Soul Button - Circadian Rhythm (Hraach Remix) 06:30 Wankelmut & Emma Louise - My Head Is A Jungle 06:27 Rosa Linn - Snap 06:23 Alina Baraz & Galimatias - Fantasy (Felix Jaehn Remix) 06:17 Alex Cortiz - Enter The Matrix 06:14 Gestört Aber Geil & Anna Grey - Thank You 06:11 Armin Van Buuren & Garibay - Phone Down 06:05 Danijel Kostic - Vinternatt (Club Mix) 05:58 John Kah - Carina (Enui Remix) 05:51 Worakls - By The Brook 05:49 Lost Frequencies Feat. James Blunt - Melody 05:42 Dale Anderson Feat. Anil Chawla - Pimento Grove 05:35 True & Berger - Imprint Of Pleasure 05:30 Eli Kazah - Return Home 05:26 Gardenstate & Bien - The Best Part 05:23 Sono - Twist In My Sobriety (Sans Souci Remix Edit) 05:14 Jan Blomqvist - Empty Floor 05:11 Nto (Fr) Feat. Sofiane Pamart - Invisible (Piano Version) 05:08 Blank & Jones Feat. Coralie Clément - Jardin D'hiver 05:05 Steve Forest, Te Pai - Never Gonna Give You Up 05:02 Alex Zind Feat. Lisa Schwab - Cruel Summer 04:55 A Forest Mighty Black - Rebirth 04:51 Cats On Bricks Feat. Zach Alwin - Planes Over Ushuaia 04:47 Sofi Tukker X Mahmut Orhan - Forgive Me 04:42 James Bright - Sarabande 04:40 Nightcall X Henri Purnell Feat. Eke - When The Morning Breaks 04:36 Daniel Steidtmann - Pigeon Lake 04:33 Filous Feat. James Hersey - How Hard I Try 04:27 Airstream - Your Tears (Del Mar Mix) 04:25 Nimus - Wasted Heart 04:20 Blank & Jones Feat. Zoe Durrant - One Evening (Lofi Selection) 04:16 Lstn - Thoughts 04:10 Fous De La Mer - Esse Sonho 04:04 Jean-michel Jarre - Equinoxe, Pt. 4 04:00 Above & Beyond - Out Of Time (Original Mix) 03:56 Kygo Feat. Parson James - Stole The Show 03:54 Digital Camel - Shine Bright 03:47 Monolink - Otherside (Club Mix) 03:42 Moca - Kleine Träumerei 03:40 Avian Grays & Azteck - Endlessly 03:32 Garlington - Falling To Pieces (Extended Mix) 03:26 Coastline - Adriatic Sea (Milews Remix) 03:22 Audien - Blue 03:17 Nora En Pure Feat. Ashibah - We Found Love 03:14 Tomas Skyldeberg - Chillin With You 03:10 Kryder & Natalie Shay - Rapture 03:04 Deep-dive-corp. - Lucsus 03:02 Christopher Von Deylen - Arco Iris 02:56 Shkoon Feat. Fruiterama - Napauken 02:51 Croquet Club - Awake 02:47 Above & Beyond Feat. Zoe Johnston - We're All We Need 02:44 Tiësto & Ty Dolla $ign - The Business, Pt. Ii 02:39 Mic Max - Como El Viento 02:31 Atb - No Fate 02:29 Thrdl!fe & Sleepwalkrs - Outta My Head 02:25 Peter Ries - Hold Me (The Force Radio Mix) 02:19 Röyksopp Feat. Susanne Sundfør - If You Want Me 02:12 Tapesh And Dayne S - How I Do (Original Mix) 02:08 Stepha Schweiger - When I Was A Bird 02:05 Möwe - Bad Intentions 02:01 Shaun Feat. Conor Maynard - Way Back Home 01:58 Chris Avedon - The Letter 01:55 Mount & Illian - Fool 01:48 4tunes - Helen 01:40 Blank & Jones - California Sunset 01:37 Shaun Frank & Takis Feat. Shells - Don't Say I Love You 01:33 Schiller - Der Tag...du Bist Erwacht (Mit Jette Von Roth) 01:31 Above & Beyond - Quieter Is Louder (Original Mix) 01:29 Leony - Faded Love (Noøn Remix) 01:25 Lenny Ibizarre - The Rain 01:22 Alok Feat. John Martin - Wherever You Go 01:19 State Of Sound - Wake Up Where You Are 01:16 Vize & Leony - Dolly Song (Devil's Cup) 01:13 Dj Antoine Feat. Chanin & Jona Xx - Dancing In Tulum 01:08 Riccardo Eberspacher - Sunetul De Seara 01:06 Cyrillic Feat. Lara - Zero Gravitation 01:02 Robert Manos - Silver 00:58 First Aid Kit - My Silver Lining 00:56 Vinai - Hide Away 00:49 The Last Atlant - Twin Of The Sun 00:46 Unclubbed, Zoe Durrant - Need To Feel Loved (Original Mix) 00:42 Gibbs - Waiting For Lonely 00:38 Lstn - Sky & Sand 00:34 Ilo - Soleil D'hiver 00:27 Beyhude - Alabora 00:22 Flamingo Star - Lost In Music 00:16 Blank & Jones - Coh 00:10 Armen Miran - Nani Jan 00:07 Sagi Rei - Rhythm Is A Dancer 00:01 Sans Souci - Venice

#Antenne Vorarlberg Chillout Lounge #Chillout #Lounge #Downtempo #Ambient #Trance #Deep House #2023 #August 2023

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melbournenewsvine · 2 years

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In the belly with the bib

“If you were a British TV presenter, who would you choose to make a piece on recycled fishing nets?” asks Alan Gibson of Cherrybrook. “According to a package that aired on ABC News on Tuesday, the reporter who recorded the party was none other than Jonah Fisher.” “There may be two Seppo Rankis (C8) in the world, but I think my daughter is the only Myf Saboisky,” Raglan’s Robyn Lewis competes. David Grant of Ballina adds, “Then there is the authoritarian controversy over Shakespeare’s plays and the persuasive theory that they were not, in fact, written by William Shakespeare, but written by someone of the same name.” Port Macquarie’s Jock Brodie also continues to play the name game: “To all the commuters who received unwanted caricatures from me with the comment, ‘If I keep this until I’m famous, it could be worth millions’,” I’m sorry to mention in C8 doesn’t seem to have led to Significant increase in value. I am sorry you have been waiting so long.” “Having worked with Julian Neylan (C8) for many years, I can vouch for the fact that our second president’s back looked eerily similar to him, as Robert Silvestrini of Fairfield West attests.” The only notable difference is that Julian has held his position for much longer than the Prime Minister said. “. Andy and Kirsty Spatt of Kingston (Tass) “were driving on the east coast of Tasmania last week, and we encountered a sign saying ‘Way River’ on a bridge underneath with a handwritten sign saying ‘Cuz it’s bigger than Creek’.” The bridge seems to be a target for those who speak the words. In 2013, Barbara Curtis of Manley told us that the modification to the Wye Creek Bridge read “Because it’s not a river!” And in 2016, Westleigh’s John Ellis reported that he said “because it’s smaller than a river”. With C8 crunch avoiding (yes, you can stop writing now) and plovers explained, we’re changing breeds. Rhonda Ellis from Lismore says: “Two butchers have colonized the street here, bombing passers-by. Is this common?” “The CBD reminded us that Theresa May once claimed the most naughty thing she ever did was walk through a farmer’s wheat field. If she confessed to this heinous crime more than once, would that make her guilty of the grain?” asks Norman Jessup of Ebbing. [email protected] No attachments please. included Name, suburb and daytime telephone Source link Originally published at Melbourne News Vine

#Melbourne News Vine

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mtvswatches · 4 years

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Wynonna Earp 3x05 Jolene

Click here for previous recaps!

Stray thoughts

1) Okay, so I got it 100% right. Mama Gibson was trying to protect Waverly.

A demon has been stalking your sister ever since she was a baby. By the time she was six, I knew that it wanted to torture her and kill her. And I knew that it would win. I was trying to exorcise it when the barn caught fire. And instead, it became bound to me. It has been torturing me ever since for what I'd done. It broke me. That is what you see. (…) You let Waverly come and visit me. She touched me and she broke the bind. The demon escaped.

2) If Jolene is this demon that has been trying to murder Waverly since she was a baby, why is it wasting time baking cupcakes and pretending to be family?

Is she bidding her time for something…? And again, what is Waverly? Why would a demon want to murder her since the moment she was born?

3) So this Jolene is keeping everyone under her spell by feeding them some super tasty pastries, but it seems they’re not working that effectively on Doc. What are her pastries laced with? Will it be like in Buffy’s Ted, where they were laced with ecstasy or something to keep everyone mellow, jolly and compliant? Or will this be a more supernatural, demonic type of drug? Anyway, Doc does get through to Wynonna and tells her how he went to hell and apparently acquired super hellish hearing there and was able to hear the demon in Mama Gibson’s therapy tapes, which gives some credit to her story.

4) “Sometimes dream can be like that…?” Really, Waverly? Three seasons and you come up with this explanation for the supernatural? I've raised you better than that!

5) Me:

6) So, Revenants got nothing on Jolene. And I wonder, how did Bobo play into this whole thing? His name needs to be brought up, right? I mean, he promised to protect Waverly because of what Wynonna did when she time travelled, but still, if he was protecting Waverly that whole time, he must have run into this demon once or twice, right?

7) Why is Jolene letting them go, when Michelle clearly said she will try the binding spell again…? What’s this gal’s goal here? She can’t be here just to bake pastries and overshare everyone’s intimate secrets, right?

JOLENE: I mean, does she really need a mortal bartender with half a lung and a probable mood disorder dragging her down?

The look of disappointment on his face, though.

9) So this is the moment that Waverly chose to ask her mom about her real dad? Right before they perform a demon-binding spell? Seems about right. And we learned exactly two things about him: A) his name was Julian, and B) he was someone better – whatever that means. So… if he was someone “better”, then he wasn’t a revenant, right? Does this mean Waverly is half something else? Something good? Like an angel, maybe? Or a fairy? Men can be fairies, too, it’s 2020.

10) Some answers, at last. Jolene can’t physically harm Waverly herself, that’s probably why she bound herself to Michelle and had her attempt to murder Waverly, repeatedly. And that’s why she’s allowing them to do the binding spell again, right?

And Jolene is in serious need of a facial and a dentist’s appointment…

11) So, Jolene tricked all the Earps into believing the demon was this loser revenant – who I think was actually trying to warn them against her? – and she is now gaslighting Waverly and turning everyone against her?

12) I get that she is a demon, but does she have to be such a duplicitous bitch, going behind everyone’s back and telling everyone’s secrets? Because I feel she does that because it’s fun, I don’t see how it helps her with her plan. And now Wynonna found out Kate is Doc’s former wife…

13) I KNEW IT!

I knew he needed to be brought back for this episode! And he’s demanding to see Waverly! Let’s hope he delivers some answers!

At least, he let Doc know what Bulshar is after – the ring that Nicole hid oh so perfectly well in the woods.

14) Oh, fucking Jolene got Wynonna to call Waverly half-sister, that’s crossing a line!

15) !!!

16) !!!!

Is this Slapgiving or what?!

Jolene is basically Yoko-factoring everyone and it’s equally fun and annoying. And I guess she got Wynonna and Michelle right where she wanted them, in jail, where they can’t help Waverly. On the bright side, Nicole didn’t give them the treats Jolene sent them, which should clear up their minds.

17) And now Nicole is yelling at Waverly and making her feel like shit, and she’s being super mean, but… some of the things she says feel like she’s been holding them back for a long time, you know? But I don’t like seeing them like this, angry and crying and screaming at each other. This whole glamour had better not affect their real relationship.

18) Kate reads Jolene’s fortune, and she warns her that she needs to pay her debt and that “he” is coming. Is this “he” Bulshar?

19) All this debacle led to Waverly surmising that, given the fact that the demon appeared when she was born, she might be the demon herself… Is this how Jolene will get her to try to kill herself, since she can’t harm Waverly?

20) Is this bitch really coming onto Nicole?????? And the thing that got her to show her true intentions was the fact that Nicole rejected her? OMG! And she got burnt by Bulshar’s ring, which mysteriously reappared in Waverly’s room, somehow?

21) It’s fitting that Wynonna open up to her mom about giving up her daughter in order to protect her since it really feels like history keeps repeating itself. Michelle assures her that it was the right choice, and while Wynonna is not convinced and I think nothing anyone could ever say will make her feel any less guilty, it must give her some reprieve to know that her mom made the same call when confronted with a similar conundrum.

22) Finally, Michelle and Wynonna come out of their pastry-filled stupor and realize that they haven’t killed the demon and that Waverly is still in danger. But Jolene has already gotten to her, and she’s still playing this mean-girl mind-games…

23) “The real baby was special…” but SPECIAL HOW?! Jolene keeps making Waverly believe that she’s evil, that she’s a demon, that her father was a demon, but I know it’s the opposite of all of that…

If I got it right, Jolene was born at the same time that our special, pure Waverly was – as an evil twin. They’re bound in some sense, and it seems Jolene can only be free if Waverly dies, that’s why she’s been trying to kill her since the day she was born. But why would one of the twins know this and not the other? Anyway, I need to know what the non-human half of Waverly is! She’s special and good, but supernaturally speaking, what is she? An angel? I can’t think of any other good, special supernatural beings...

24) Jolene almost got her to kill herself, but Waverly remembered…

And I really love how their sisterly love is always the core of this show.

I also love that she didn’t need any rescuing, she overcame Jolene all on her own.

25) So… Michelle was about to kill Jolene or whatever, and then…

The murder trees got her and she said “the girl was for you”, and then she mentioned Bulshar, so…? Does this mean that Bulshar needs Waverly dead? And are these the same murder trees that we saw in the previous episode? So are they working for Bulshar?

26) Now, this? This is how I like my Waverly and Nicole.

27) I knew he wouldn’t let me down…

DOC: I have come with something you desire. Something I will never relinquish. And I will never stop fighting for them. Whatever it takes, I will do. Even this. I am Doc Holliday. I do not fear the void. I spit into the void. So it seems, Bulshar, we do have an accord. I may be going to hell... But I will drag you with me.

He’s an idiot, but he didn’t let me down.

28) HA! I KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!

Finally, some proper answers!!!

29) A very fun and tense episode with a HUGE revelation nearly three season coming. I’m really interested to see what this will mean for Waverly’s arc, you know? She’s half angel, so this must have some supernatural implications for her apart from revenants and Bulshar and Jolene wanting to murder her. Do angels have any powers in this universe? Can a half angel inherit some of those? I’m VERY excited about this!

I also feel like I need to make a point about how I feel when I get some of predictions right with this show, which has happened a couple of times. I have to say it’s satisfying because it doesn’t feel like the show is being obvious or tropey or too on the nose about the storylines. On the contrary, they make a great job of keeping you guessing. But once they do reveal what they were keeping hidden, it always, always makes sense. So when I get a prediction right, I feel satisfied because it’s the show doing the storytelling right - instead of playing predictable tropes, you know? Anywho, super excited about the next episode! And I really want to finish season 3 so that I can start watching season 4 live!

30) Hope you enjoyed my recap, and, as usual, if you’ve got this far, thank you for reading! If you enjoy my recaps and my blog, please consider supporting it on ko-fi. Thanks!

#Wynonna Earp #Waverly Earp #Nicole Haught #Doc Holliday #Wynonna Earp 3x05 #Jolene #WE 3x05 #recap #WE recap #mine

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wikitopx · 5 years

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Finding the perfect name for your newborn baby may take some time and careful consideration, but it can also be very interesting.

In fact, it's one of the first and biggest decisions you have to make as a new parent. Are you looking for a son to speak of a family tradition or celebrate a cultural tradition? Whatever your approach, you'll find lots of great options on the following list of the 1,000 most popular boys, according to Social Security Administration (SSA). Take a look to help you narrow down your favorites list (or inspire new ones) and enjoy the experience of finding your favorite name for your new son.

[toc]

1. Top 1,000 Baby Boy Names

Liam

Noah

William

James

Oliver

Benjamin

Elijah

Lucas

Mason

Logan

Alexander

Ethan

Jacob

Michael

Daniel

Henry

Jackson

Sebastian

Aiden

Matthew

Samuel

David

Joseph

Carter

Owen

Wyatt

John

Jack

Luke

Jayden

Dylan

Grayson

Levi

Isaac

Gabriel

Julian

Mateo

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Sincere

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Markus

2. Top 10 beautiful Middles names for baby Boys

Ace

Abe

Beck

Blake

Dean

Grant

Hugh

James

Charles

George

More ideals for you: Top 1000 baby Girl names

From : https://wikitopx.com/name-meanings/top-1000-baby-boy-names-711929.html

#Wikitopx #Wikitopx - Feed

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bigskydreaming · 5 years

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There’s just...there’s just so much I need to know!

Are all the Academy X kids back? DJ? Kidogo? Loa? Wallflower? Blindfold? OMG IS TAG BACK, SHOW ME JULIAN REUNITING WITH HIS BFF, DEAD FOR YEARS AND NOW BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE.

There’s just...imagine, an entire class of mutant teenagers who were all tragically killed and now are resurrected into this new world that’s so different from the one they last saw, like everything’s changed in the blink of an eye. What’s that even LIKE? How do they feel about owing their return and resurrection to one of their own former classmates, who’s now part of this group of five mutants revered on Krakoa with idol-like status as the ones who like...defeated death for the mutant race? How do all the kids who died on M-Day like Hydro, never even having time to know what happened, feel about learning about the Decimation and why they died in the first place? How do the kids who died on the bus like DJ feel, trying to reconnect with their classmates like Julian and Cessily and Santos who have been through SO MUCH since they last saw them, literally lived through wars and the threat of extinction and are so changed now by experiences they can’t ever (hopefully won’t ever) be able to relate to?

Is Jay Guthrie back? What’s it like for Sam and Paige and the rest of their siblings to suddenly have him back? What does Sooraya feel about this? How do she and Jay interact now? How does the every mutant is automatically a citizen of Krakoa thing work....all the Guthrie kids are mutants, but their mom Lucinda isn’t...is she allowed to come and go, according to Krakoa law? There must be exceptions made for some humans to live on Krakoa, surely, given that Corsair is part of one of the Dawn of X line-ups....who makes the distinction and how?

Speaking of the Summers, what’s up with Gabe’s resurrection? How does that work? Does he remember everything, and his past crimes are forgiven on the basis of the amnesty law, so long as he plays nice? Or did Xavier take advantage of being the man who puts all the mutant minds back in their shiny new bodies and conveniently rearrange a few memories regarding why Gabe hates him so much, and now Gabe gets along with everyone just fine?

OMG ARE PETRA AND SWAY BACK AND IF NOT WHY NOT.

What about Kevin Ford aka Wither? Selene was one of the mutant villains granted amnesty when she came to Krakoa, does that mean her former pawns are granted the same resurrection treatment as any other mutant, and if so, how does Kevin feel about being resurrected by Josh....the very person who killed him in the first place?

Oooh, and Clarice....not to mention Jono. What’s it like for some of the more heroic descendants of Clan Akkaba to now be living on the same island as their long distant villainous ancestor, Apocalypse himself?

Speaking of Apocalypse, anyone else catch that bit of gossip from Bar Sinister about how gladly Apocalypse would trade in any of his later Horsemen for his original four....with Hickman having made a big deal about alluding to some long ago war Apocalypse and his original Horsemen waged on Krakoa against some other dimensional foes.....with those Horsemen dying or imprisoning themselves to stop them? Who wants to bet that was to set up a storyline where like, maybe part of Apocalypse’s conditions for working with Xavier and Magneto on all of this was to have his original Horsemen resurrected as well somehow? Like SOMETHING’S going to happen there.

Oooh ooh ooh......what about the fact that ALL OF LOGAN’S 13378427842 dead mutant children are now potentially alive again? CLAN SNIKT? ADRIAN CORBO? WON’T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF JIMMY?

And and and and and they better fucking bring back Chris Bradley and I will literally pledge my firstborn if somebody writes in a scene where Bobby Drake gets to see his little buddy alive and well again, sans Legacy Virus. Look, it doesn’t matter that I’m probably never going to have a firstborn, its the thought that counts, shh, its allowed.

What about Magneto’s original Acolytes, the ones who died when Asteroid M crashed? Chrome, Delgado and Anne-Marie, etc? What might their reactions be upon say, running into Traitor McBetrayal, Fabian Cortez?

IS SIENA BLAZE BACK OMG PLZ LET SIENA BE BACK I WILL....crap, already pledged my firstborn. Ugh, second is the best?

SPEAKING OF....I forget what launched this tangential thought but Mikhail Rasputin anyone? HIS BABY SISTER IS ONE OF THE FOUR WAR CAPTAINS OF KRAKOA, LIKE...TALK ABOUT *SCREEECH* WAIT, SAY WHAT? REVELATIONS TO WAKE UP TO.

Just how long are they gonna tease the whole ‘no but really there’s ANOTHER Summers brother’ plotline this time?

OMG are Emplate, the M twins and Monet all supposed to play happy family in a shared environment, holy shit could you imagine the epic staredowns everytime Marius and Monet run into each other in like Krakoa’s town square or the market or something and Jubilee just stage whispers “Awkwaaaaard.”

Holy shit, how are Ev and Angelo going to react to coming back to life and discovering that Jubes is now a MOM???

What about depowered mutants we haven’t seen get their powers back yet, are they all repowered now thanks to Hope? Is Dallas Gibson on Krakoa, shadow powers intact? What about Shola and Freakshow and Wicked, aka the only interesting characters Claremont has invented in 30 years, no, Lifeguard and Slipstream DO NOT COUNT.

WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THE RETURN OF THE 2099 UNIVERSE IN A COUPLE MONTHS, LIKE HOW ARE THE X-MEN 2099 and X-NATION GONNA LINE UP WITH ALL OF THIS?

And will we get Twilight and Clarion and December back, and finally some kind of answer on whether December is a descendant of Bobby or Emma or both?

Is Leon Nunez, the REAL mutant behind Ink’s powers, a resident of Krakoa because the amnesty law got him out of jail and did he take the power back from that LOSER and did Ink get his stupid ass kicked to the curb because everyone was like lol nobody even likes you and you’re not even a mutant, go be an Avenger ITS WHERE YOU BELONG?

Probably not, but look a guy can dream.

What’s St. John gonna think about this new twink running around using his name, HE’S the only real flamer in town! Or is he just not gonna care, and retire to spend his time resuming his career as a romance novelist? (THIS IS CANON, I DID NOT MAKE THIS UP).

Most importantly, WHAT THE HELL IS THE PREMISE OF THE MARAUDERS BOOK AND WILL I LIKE IT AND WILL BOBBY BE WRITTEN WELL AND SINCE IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE HELLFIRE CLUB AND EMMA’S A KEY PART OF THE BOOK WILL WE GET CHRISTIAN THERE TOO AND WITH SIMON AS PART OF THE MARAUDERS LINEUP WILL I FINALLY GET THE CHRISTIAN/BOBBY/FIRE-GUY-EVEN-IF-SIMON-IS-A-SUBPAR-SUBSTITUTE-FOR-JOHNNY LOVE TRIANGLE I NEED AND DESERVE?

OMG and Daken’s on Krakoa too, oh shit, is Bobby gonna finally get to be the hot girl? So many gays, so little time...whoops, Bobby can make clones of himself too.....oh shit did I make it weird, WHO CARES, BOBBY HAS POTENTIAL LOVE INTERESTS NOW, PLURAL, NOT SINGULAR, HUZZAAAAAAAAH.

And also all the other stuff is still interesting too. But like. Bobby boyfriend. Make it happen.

#look I SAID I HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS

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daydreamer0078 · 5 years

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16 Most Anticipated Movies in 2020 that Must Watch

There are special movies coming in 2020. We have to watch them without missing them. It's exciting that so many special movies releasing in 2020 that include birds of prey, do little, quiet place 2, black widow and other movies. These movies are producing by the major studios and releasing in 2020. If you're a movie lover, you shouldn't miss them. I don't think you don't miss them. As a movie lover, you are gonna watch all of them because the movies that are gonna release have a great expectations. The following list are the most anticipated movies which are gonna release in 2020. Do Little

About Movie: Dolittle is an American action fantasy film directed by Stephen Gaghan from Gaghan's script and Thomas Shepherd's plot. The film is based on Hugh Lofting's character Doctor Dolittle, and primarily based on Doctor Dolittle's Voyages. Robert Downey Jr. appears as the title character in live-action performances along with Antonio Banderas and Michael Sheen; the voice cast features Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, Octavia Spencer, Tom Holland, Craig Robinson, Ralph Fiennes, Selena Gomez and Marion Cotillard. Dolittle is scheduled to be released on January 17, 2020, in the United States. Plot: A doctor finds he can speak to animals Birds of Prey

About Movie: Birds of Prey: And One Harley Quinn's Fantabulous Emancipation is an American superhero film based on Birds of Prey's DC Comics team. The film, directed by Cathy Yan and written by Christina Hodson, is intended to be the eighth film in the DC Extended Universe and a follow-up spin-off to the 2016 film Suicide Squad. Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ali Wong, Ella Jay Basco, and Ewan McGregor. Birds of Prey is the first R-rated DCEU film. On February 7, 2020, Warner Bros is scheduled to release Birds of Prey in the United States. Plot: Harley Quinn meets Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya after breaking with the Joker to save a young girl from a lord of bad crime. A Quiet Place: Part II

About Movie: A Quiet Place: Part II is the sequel to A Quiet Place (2018) of an upcoming American horror film. The sequel film, directed and written by John Krasinski, stars Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe. The cast is also joined by Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou. After the first film's box office success. Krasinski wrote the film by August 2018 and was hired to direct in February 2019. From June 2019 to September 2019, production took place in Western New York. On March 20, 2020, Paramount Pictures plans to release A Quiet Place: Part II at theaters. Plot: The Abbott family is now facing the outside world's horror after the events at home. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize the creatures that are not the only threats that lie beyond the path of the sand. The New Mutants

About Movie: The New Mutants is a group of new teenaged mutant superheroes-in-training distributed by Marvel Comics. They were the main characters of three successive series of comic books that were X-Men franchise spin-offs. Chris Claremont and artist Bob McLeod created the first team of characters from New Mutants. They first appeared in The New Mutants 1982, part of the Marvel Graphic Novel series, followed by their own cover from 1983 to 1991. A new group of young mutants is introduced in the second New Mutants in 2003. It was relaunched in 2004 as New X-Men: Academy X, after which the core squad was collectively called the "Young Mutants." The surviving members were incorporated into one junior team, the New X-Men, after the "M-Day" crossover event at the end of 2005. The third series of New Mutants was released in May 2009, putting together most of the original team. A film will be released on 3 April 2020 about the New Mutants. Plot: Five young mutants, just discovering their abilities while held in a secret facility against their will, fight to escape their past sins and save themselves. No Time to Die

About Movie: No Time to Die is an spy film and the twenty-fifth installment to be produced by Eon Productions in the James Bond film franchise. This features Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond in his fifth outing. It is written by Cary Joji Fukunaga, who also co-wrote the script with Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. With Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch and Ana de Armas joining the cast, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, Jeffrey Wright, Léa Seydoux and Christoph Waltz take over from previous films. It will be the first film in the series to be internationally distributed by Universal Pictures.The film is scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom on April 2, 2020, and in the United States on April 10, 2020. Plot: Bond has left active service. His peace is short-lived when his old CIA friend Felix Leiter turns up asking for assistance, leading Bond to the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology. Black Widow

About Movie: Black Widow is a forthcoming American superhero film based on the same name's Marvel Comics character. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film is directed by Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson, Cate Shortland, and stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff, alongside David Harbour, Florence Pugh, O-T Fagbenle, and Rachel Weisz. Black Widow is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on May 1, 2020. Plot: Not yet revealed , but the film took place between the events Civil War and Infinity War. Fast & Furious 9

About Movie: Fast & Furious 9 is an film directed by Justin Lin and penned by Daniel Casey on American violence. It will be the ninth installment in the Fast & Furious franchise, a sequel to 2017's The Fate of the Furious. The film will feature stars like Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges "Ludacris," Nathalie Emmanuel, John Cena, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, and Michael Rooker. Fast & Furious 9 is scheduled to be released by Universal Pictures in the U.S. on May 22, 2020. Plot: Not yet revealed. Wonder Woman 1984

About Movie: Wonder Woman 1984 is an American superhero film based on the character DC Comics Wonder Woman, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It's a sequel to the Wonder Woman in 2017. Patty Jenkins directs the film from the screenplay she wrote with Geoff Johns and David Callaham, From Johns and Jenkins's narrative. Together with Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Robin Wright, and Connie Nielsen, it stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman will be released by Warner Bros in the United States in 1984. From June 5, 2020 Plot: Not yet revealed. Top Gun: Maverick

About Movie: Top Gun: Maverick is an American adventure drama movie directed by Joseph Kosinski, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Tom Cruise, and David Ellison, composed by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie. It is the sequel to Top Gun (1986) and Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, and Val Kilmer stars. From the first film, Cruise and Kilmer take over their roles. Top Gun: Maverick is scheduled to be released by Paramount Pictures in the U.S. on June 26, 2020. Plot: Pete Mitchell is where he belongs after more than thirty years of service as one of the best aviators in the Navy, pushing the envelope as a daring test pilot and dodging the rise of rank that would ground him. Free Guy

About Movie: Free Guy is an American science fiction action comedy movie directed by Shawn Levy, Matt Lieberman's plot, and Lieberman and Zak Penn's screenplay in 2020. The movie stars Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Lil Rel Howery, and Taika Waititi. Free Guy will be released by 20th Century Fox on July 3, 2020. Plot: A bank teller discovers that within a brutal, open-world video game, he's actually an NPC. Ghostbusters: Afterlife

About Movie: Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a future supernatural American comedy movie directed by Jason Reitman and written by Reitman and Gil Kenan. It stars Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Logan Kim, and Celeste O'Connor, while from the original films Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts take over their roles. It's a reference to the franchise of Ghostbusters. Ghostbusters: Paramount Pictures, by Sony Pictures Releasing, is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 10, 2020. Plot: When a single mother and her two children arrive in a small town, they start to discover their connection with the original Ghostbusters and their grandfather left behind the secret legacy. Tenet

About Movie: Tenet is an action thriller movie produced by Nolan and Emma Thomas, written and directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Dimple Kapadia, Elizabeth Debicki, Michael Caine, and Kenneth Branagh. Warner Bros is scheduled to release Tenet on July 17, 2020. Plot: An epic action revolving around spying, time travel and evolution around the world. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

About Movie: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is a supernatural American horror film written by David Leslie Johnson's Michael Chaves from a screenplay. The film is the Conjuring Universe's eighth chapter. Together with Sterling Jerins, Julian Hilliard, Sarah Catherine Hook, Charlene Amoia and Ruairi O'Connor, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga will also take on their roles as paranormal investigators and authors, Ed and Lorraine Warren. The project is being co-produced by James Wan and Peter Safran. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is expected to be released on September 11, 2020 in the United States and will be distributed by Warner Bros. and New Cinema Line. Plot: Not yet revealed. Venom 2

About Movie: Venom 2 is an upcoming American superhero movie based on the character of Marvel Comics Venom, produced in partnership with Marvel by Columbia Pictures. It is planned to be the third installment of Sony's Marvel Universe and the successor to Venom (2018), released by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film is directed by Andy Serkis from a script by Kelly Marcel and, along with Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Reid Scott, and Naomie Harris, stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock / Venom. The release of Venom 2 in the United States is scheduled for October 2, 2020. Plot: Not yet revealed. The Eternals

About Movie: The Eternals is a potential American superhero movie based on the same name's Marvel Comics race. Produced by Marvel Studios and produced by Motion Pictures at Walt Disney Studios. The film is directed by Matthew and Ryan Firpo's Chloé Zhao, and features an ensemble cast including Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Lia McHugh, Don Lee, Barry Keoghan, Gemma Chan, and Kit Harington. The Eternals are scheduled to be released in the United States on November 6, 2020. Plot: The Eternals ' saga, a race of immortal beings that lived on Earth and shaped their history and civilizations. Godzilla vs. Kong

About Movie: Godzilla vs. Kong is Adam Wingard's new American monster movie, produced by Terry Rossio. The movie is also the 36th film in the Godzilla series, the 12th film in the King Kong franchise, and the fourth Godzilla film to be made exclusively by a Hollywood studio. The film stars are Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eiza González, Jessica Henwick, Julian Dennison, Kyle Chandler, Zhang Ziyi, and Demián Bichir. Godzilla vs. Kong is expected to be released on November 20, 2020. Plot: As the gigantic Kong meets the unstoppable Godzilla, the world watches to see which one of them will become King of the Monsters. You might be interested in these articles, Have a look at them. MARVEL PHASE 5 MOVIES AND SHOWS LIST HUGE MARVEL PHASE 5 LEAK – MCU Deadpool will Join with Avengers Soon – MCU Best Hollywood Movies of 2019 that You Must See! Read the full article

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euphoriclusts · 9 months

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closed starter for @barkskins ( continued from here )

friends definitely didn't look at friends the way they looked at one another. yet the other was so pure, so soft and so kind - he hadn't dared cross any lines, too terrified of the outcome. he hadn't ever felt this way for someone before. so attracted, fond and deathly protective. it was a new feeling - but one he could say he was happy to divulge in again and again. "i would," he counters softly, shaking his head over the supposed comparisons the other man had received in the past. he shifts to face him better, "unless it's like - one of those elves from lord of the rings. like legolas - they're hot." he teases, but there's a clear earnest in his words, eyes sparkling with utter fondness. "i suppose those people are either blind or jealous. or just don't have any taste." he noted the dimple, all too tempted to stroke his thumb against it. "that's okay, you'd be with me - we'd make it as comfortable and safe as we possibly could do."

#speaks: julian gibson.#feat: julian & jasper.#barkskins #absolutely perfect ! thank u so much for replying <3

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justgenlockthings · 6 years

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gen:VIEW Episode 2, “There’s Always Tomorrow”

Rooster Teeth knows how to make a premiere that packs a punch when it comes to their serialized dramas (yes, I’m including Red vs. Blue in that category). But it’s the non-premiere episodes that generally give you a better idea of if the show’s gonna be good or not.

Or maybe you’re someone like TheFloofArtist and you were predisposed to hate the show long before you even saw it and so found literally every possible reason to hate it from the 2nd episode and dramatically “dropped it” despite the fact that if you hated the show so much you were shitting on it without having seen a single episode your opinion was never gonna be considered valid.

(Why do grown men throw hissy fits about TV shows?)

Ahem...so. Episode 2 of gen:LOCK...

Let’s Get Down To Business

Where episode 1 was about establishing the relationship between Chase and Miranda, this episode seems to be about establishing the gen:LOCK program itself: how it works and who’s gonna be in it. For that reason, at least for the first half, it’s very expository, but not in a way that ever feels boring. Honestly, the longer episode lengths means the amount of time they spend standing around and talking doesn’t feel like vital time wasted, unlike RWBY which has often made that terrible mistake. This is information we need to get a basic understanding of how this program works, and we also get a chance to hear Dr. Weller passionately talking about his life’s work. Jesus christ, David Tennant gives such a good performance. He really sells the good guy mad scientist voice you expect from Dr. Weller.

I wasn’t entirely sold on Michael B. Jordan as a voice actor the previous episode, but even if at certain points it was clear we were watching a scene that hadn’t been initially animated to his voice, this episode convinced me things were gonna be fine. I loved his performance in the scene of Julian in the tank chatting with Migas: the sort of bittersweetness of the reunion between the two after all that had happened to them, but they were still glad to finally see each other again. Miles Luna deserves some praise too for helping sell the fact that this is a reunion. After all, even though we caught a brief moment of them interacting and joking around in Episode 1, we didn’t really have a chance to establish they were close friends. This scene does well to convince us that yes, they were friends, and they are relieved to see each other again.

Chase and Miranda’s situation was very well-handled in this episode. It was always going to be painful for Miranda to find out Chase was still alive, and even though it’s perfectly logical that Chase wasn’t able to reach out to her in the intervening years, it still isn’t something she can just brush over. She didn’t immediately jump at the chance to see him in-person, and actively avoided him for a day. It would have been a major mistake for her to be the first one who went to visit him. I love this whole situation with Miranda: the way the marketing was going you kind of expected just a bland character defined by her relationship with Chase, and, well, I guess what she does in this episode is sort of defined by the relationship, but it’s done in a way that’s actually interesting, where you actually care about how she feels about all this. Dakota Fanning does a great job conveying the hurt Miranda feels seeing someone she loved after so long who she’d given up for dead. I think she might easily be the third best voice actor we’ve heard so far, behind Monica Rial and David Tennant.

Here’s another case where one of my few pre-show expectations got subverted. From the character teasers I’d sort of expected us to get a depiction of the formation of the gen:LOCK program from the start: presumably that path would have followed Chase and Yasamin’s initial training and the early mech designs we saw in the early posters and the first two teasers. Of course, this was before I had known what they were planning with Chase’s crash, a path in the story that I could not have possibly predicted. And now I’m realizing why they didn’t do that: 1) it would have been too similar to RWBY and probably have made for a very slow show otherwise, and 2) they wanted to get right into the giant mechs fighting things. Sure, it sort of robs us of seeing some cool stuff about what it was like for Chase to join the program, but I figure we’ll get that depicted in flashbacks or in the comics.

One of the accusations regarding Kazu Iida was that having him speak Japanese while everyone else was speaking English would create “The Lopez Effect.” For those unaware, Lopez is a robot on Rooster Teeth’s show Red vs. Blue who speaks “Spanish” (really sentences run through Google Translate) that is translated for the audience via subtitles but no one else can understand. Now, for what the complain actually entails, I think “Lopez effect” is a bad term for it because Lopez’s situation is played for laughs while in gen:LOCK everyone understands Iida and doesn’t bat an eye. The complaint is more that it creates a tonal dissonance in what’s designed as a dramatic show: while everyone’s speaking English Kazu’s saying all his lines in Japanese with subtitles. Now, I can understand why that could all sound a little weird, but the thing is the way they set things up in the episode I really don’t think Iida speaking English is gonna be as distracting as one might think: they set it up where the characters can understand what he’s saying thanks to the augmented reality gear everyone seems equipped with, so that already established a method of communication, and I just didn’t give any thought to the fact he’s speaking Japanese for the rest of the episode. I would honestly be more bothered if he just spoke English all the time.

The other accusation is that the fact that he is the only character who speaks a foreign language was they’d have an excuse to get the voice of Spike Spiegel, which apparently is bad because it’s “weeb-baiting.” I’m sorry, I didn’t realize they were trying to draw audiences in with who they were casting...

As far as the new gen:LOCK recruits go, we didn’t get too much information about them, and this is probably the only issue I have with this episode. Still, there was a lot going on here, so I can forgive not learning everything about them in their first appearance. And the thing is, the sequence with the imposter Sinclair (bravo to Blaine Gibson for being able to flip a coin––heheh––from friendly recruit Sinclair to Evil!Sinclair) offered us a good glimpse into who they are as fighters. Especially in recent years, Rooster Teeth fights are a chance to really get an idea for the character (and for that I wholeheartedly thank Monty Oum) and how they handle dangerous situations. Yasamin is clearly someone who can jump into a fight and hold her own without hesitation, Iida is someone who will jump right into a fight, Valentina will keep her distance but can still be quite deadly, and Cammie is a scared little bean...who with a little encouragement can still be helpful.

Now, the Sinclair reveal was a slight bit predictable if you picked up the hints in Character Reveal Teaser 4 (which I hadn’t, and in retrospect was blatantly obvious). The fact that it was predictable was the source of derision by some of the more gen:CRIT crowd, but honestly? I don’t see predictability as a sign of whether something’s good or not. Things can be predictable and still be fun to watch, so long as it’s delivered in an entertaining manner. And we got a pretty awesome fight sequence out of it.

I’ve seen a few people say that the jokes in this show feel forced. I’m inclined to disagree. The type of humor Gray and Evan are employing in the writing is more grounded than the kind you see in RWBY or Red vs. Blue or Camp Camp: it’s designed to feel more natural to the conversations these characters are having, while also not taking attention away from the more serious aspects of the story. Most of Rooster Teeth’s core group (more recent additions less-so) know how to create an engaging story based in serious tones, but they never really stray from their comedy roots––Day 5, their most dramatic venture to date, was a lot funnier than the concept would’ve implied because Josh and Chris knew where to inject humor when it would be desperately needed. This episode isn’t very different: the drama of Chase basically coming back from the dead gets natural moments of levity from his and Migas brief Siege mention and Dr. Weller being disappointed that he couldn’t participate in the reveal; the tension between Chase and Miranda gets a moment where Miranda refuses to hear out Migas on visiting Chase, a moment that can draw laughs while also being realistic to her and Chase’s actual situation; Chase popping up behind Fake!Sinclair and saying “Boo,” which...actually that was more a legit joke, but I laughed really hard. What I mean to say is gen:LOCK is not trying to be a comedy, but Rooster Teeth knows how and when to make its audience laugh.

(save for Red vs. Blue Season 16 of course...)

Conclusions

Another solid episode of gen:LOCK, and a little more interesting one than “The Pilot” because it delves into the meatier stuff that this series is going to follow. Stellar vocal performances by the cast give us a sense of the relationships that need to be picked up in the four years since the war began, and some amazing fighting shows us gen:LOCK means business as an action series.

My only concern is that the way this episode is formatted it doesn’t quite stand on its own in the way “The Pilot” did, but the fact that it was released alongside “The Pilot” worked in its favor, since both episodes give us a good ground to establish what this show is looking to do, and hopefully further episodes will follow on that.

I’ve said enough about people who were predisposed to hate the show commenting on this episode, but I wanna say this also: people. We are two episodes in. The show premiered less than a week ago. There isn’t a whole lot of content to draw from to know where it’s going. Be a little more patient.

#gen:lock #gen:lock spoilers #gen:lock analysis #gen:lock reviews #gen:VIEW #reviews #analysis

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jennmoslek36 · 6 years

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IT HAS BEEN about a year now since my involvement with the Dozier School For Boys began taking over my world. Kicking off the whirlwind was my need to get my hands on the school’s student ledgers. I won’t rehash the entire adventure but what I will say is that it took many frustrating nights online, several emails to the Archivist, the potential of an $600+ bill to get digital copies & finally an 8 hour round trip before I’d actually have what I wanted…Well at least a quarter of what I wanted!

HAVING ABSOLUTELY NO clue what I was looking for, I spent the next several weeks trying to organize what I had. Almost immediately number of very distinct patterns began jumping out at me. The same sentencing judges over & over again, the SAME sentence length OR lack there of & a crap load of blank spaces; Specifically under the “WHEN/HOW RELEASED” columns. One would expect that any institution handling children would be required to keep detailed & accurate records of ALL of its charges, especially when it comes to their last known whereabouts BUT that would make too much sense, now wouldn’t it…

THE INFO THAT I had gotten was only from the latest volume of the ledgers & didn’t even make a dent in the number of boys that had been shoved through the doors to be reformed. I knew there were hundreds OR even thousands of names in those books. I maybe had a few hundred at the most. By now, I had gotten used to what I like to call the “Hurry Up & Stop” method of researching. Basically I’d need specific info, finally get said info ONLY to start looking it over & promptly figure out that I needed additional material OR even worse, I’d need something entirely different altogether. In this case, I had just assumed that I’d eventually be making another trip to the Archives; That is until I ended up becoming involved with Bob Straley & taking over his website…And right there on one of the site pages was a link to the detailed, handwritten notes that WHB Mr. Andrew Puel had spent hours putting together.

Mr. Andrew Puel At The State Archives…Sitting In The EXACT Same Spot That I Did When I Was There!

NOT IT!!

WHEN I SAW that link, I was beyond thrilled! I was finally going to have something reliable to validate what I had come up with! I had spoken with Andrew at Bob Straley’s memorial service & knew that any research he had done would be the best & most accurate info that I could possibly get. When the page loaded, it definitely did NOT show what I had been hoping for; In all actuality, it showed nothing but this:

ODDLY THE INFO was missing! I started clicking on some of the other older links on the website & sure enough, there were quite a few that led to nowhere. I don’t know why it gone OR where it went, only that it’s not there. I tried not to get to aggravated, thinking that there had to be a hard copy among the thousands of documents that I have. I spent the next several weeks going through EVERY page, folder, digital file, etc. & found nothing. Bob kept everything, so to say I was puzzled that he wouldn’t have a copy of something so important was a huge understatement. I did another look through, literally taking out every piece of paper, one by one; Still nothing.

Well Damn….

AN EVENING IN GAINESVILLE

ON A FRIDAY in late February, I made the 3 hour trip to Gaineville. With me was a small black bag filled with what I believed to be the most important material related to the Arthur G Dozier School for Boys. I pulled up to a beautiful home, tucked back in a quiet sub division that was surrounded by forest. Standing outside was a familiar face, Mr. Bryant Middleton. The “Whitehouse Boy” greeted me with a smile & a brief hug before inviting me inside to meet his wife. Both graciously spent several hours telling their personal story of Dozier & how the WHB’s Organization was founded. They were both lovely people & I was grateful that they had been so willing to meet with me & be as open as they were. When we finally moved into the dining room to look over the things that I had brought, I began pulling things out. I yanked a folder out that had been wedged inside of my over full bag & a stack of papers fell out. The stack was stapled together & folded in half. I picked it up to see what it was & as I unfolded it, my jaw hit the floor!

OH…MY…GOD…It was a hard copy of the list of missing boys! The same list that I had just spent weeks trying to find! The stuff inside of that bag was the stuff that I pulled out & reviewed quite frequently & there’s absolutely NO way that I would missed that thick stack of ledger pages! I slid the stack across the table, explaining to Bryant why I was a bit stunned at finding them. He thought it was strange as well. I’m not going to get into the specifics of my time with the Middletons in this post, although I will say that I’m very fortunate to have met with them. They’re great people & they continue to work toward keeping the future from repeating the past.

WHERE COULD THEY BE?

OF COURSE THERE is minimal info on the boys on this list. What is known is that most were listed as escaped but never recovered. A lot lacked permanent homes OR guardians, so there wouldn’t have been any concerned parents wondering about the whereabouts of their lost boy. It should also be noted that the last place they were seen was the Dozier School for Boys in Marianna. That leaves so many unanswered questions; Could ALL 185 boys on that list have actually successfully escaped & moved on to a better life? Even if that did happen, would it be possible that NOT 1 single child ever be heard from again? I suppose it could be possible for some BUT for All 185? I seriously have my doubts & given the history of Dozier, I’d say that’s highly unlikely. Especially considering the significant proof of other burial sites on the school’s 1200+ acres.Whether or not they continued life after Dozier OR their lives were taken at the school, they each deserve to be recognized. I’ll let them speak for themselves….

☆☆☆☆☆☆

JOSEPH WILK – 17 JAME HENRY COLSON SMITH – 16 BEHARD STEPHENS – 15 JOHNNIE J. RICHARDSON – 17 AB DURDEN – 16 WILLIAM RICHARD WHITE – 16 MONROE ROGERS – 16 NOWLA (SONNY) VENOS – 16 BERNARD WILLIAMS – 15 WILLIAM NICOLAS BURNETT – 15 FRED RUSH – 16 HORACE MECHOM – 16 J.W. HARRILL, JR. – 14 EDWARD MATTHEW MITCHELL – 17 LARRY DAVIS – 14. ALFONSO DEWEY DAVIS – 16 JAMES ARTHUR HARELL – 13 CARROL PITTMAN – 15 CARL HUBBARD REWLS – 14 RICHARD PEUDRY TYLER – 15 HAROLD OLDS – 14 LYNVILLE RAY – 16 LAIRD WILDES (age unknown) ALFRED SMITH GOODSON – 16 QUINCY LEWIS – 16

☆☆☆☆☆☆

ZANE HOPKINS – 12 ROBERT WALKER – 13 WILLIE FRANKLIN FARROW – 13 EUGENE JOHNS – 14 GABE BELL – 15 WILLIAM DEWARS – 15 LELAND LLOYD BRADY – 16 JASPER ALLEN HOLDER – 15 WILLIAM JOHNSON – 16 GEORGE HENRY ABBEY – 16 HARRY L. SAULS – 15 BEN BUNDRICK – 15 LOUIS VALOIS COUTURE – 16 ROBERT GILBERT ALBRITTON – 16 LAUDRIC BASKIN – 17 JAME HENRY COLSON SMITH – 16 JOHN JOSEPH COOGAN, JR – 16 ARINAUDO MACHIN, JR – 16 JULIAN GREEN – 15 CARL UNDERHILL – 16 WILLIAM DANIEL HATCHER – 17 DWIGHT SPRINGER – 14 JASON EDWARD LOGAN – 15 PAUL HERSHEY, JR – 17 CLARENCE C. RAULERSON – 16

☆☆☆☆☆☆

EVERETT BRADDOCK – 15 HAROLD EUGENE NORMAN – 16 RICHARD RUSSEL TODD – 14 EDWARD POOLE – 14 BILLY RAY BURNS – 16 MARCO GUTIERREZ – 14 WALTER C. GREEN – 16 LEON MANNING – 16 LEONARD JAMES NELSON – 16 GODSON WHITTAKER – 15 ROBERT GORDON – 15 ROBERT LAURIN GODDARD – 15 KENNETH LEE YORK – 17 TRUBEE BYRD – 17 ROWANE HOLLIDAY – 16 BOBBY WHITEHEAD – 15 WILLIAM EDWARD LEGGETT – 16 ROBERT HELGRAN – 13 OSCAR EUGENE MCCURDY – 16 WILLIAM RIVERA EMANUEL, JR – 16 JOHN LENNARD NAVE – 16 JACKIE CREWS – 16 ERNEST WOODARD – 16 ARTHUR KENT PATTERSON (aka William S. Johnson) – 14 DAVID EVANS HARRIS – 16

☆☆☆☆☆☆

JOHN HARRIMAN – 16 GB IRWIN – 14 HOWARD MCCALL – 17 OSCAR LEE CALDWELL – 14 JD THOMAS – 13 GEORGE F. CLAY – 13 WILLIS BUNYAN – 16 JAMES CAMPBELL – 15 BERTRAM THOMPSON – 16 WILLIE JAMES MURPHY – 17 SANDY JONES – 15 RALPH HALL – 16 MELVIN FALSON – 13 HERBERT LEE COVINGTON – 14 LUKE BENJAMIN – 16 TOMMIE L. WOOTEN – 15 WALTER ADAMS – 15 DAVID JONES (aka Cockran) – 15 EDWARD BROWN – 14 EDWARD DEMERRITT – 16 WILLIAM JENKINS – 13 MATEO BENARD COLUMBUS – 14 WILLIE C. MITCHELL – 13 CLARENCE MORTON, JR – 15 JOSEPH JOHNSON – 16

☆☆☆☆☆☆

CURTIS WILSON – 10 EUGENE FULLER – 16 THOMAS BOWERS – 15 LEON DUNBAR – 16 DAVID EAGLETON – 14 HENRY JUNIOR JOHNSON – 14 EDWARD FOSTER – 15 GEORGE EDWARD THOMAS – 17 ODIS SINGLETON – 16 JAMES WILEY BRYANT – 14 CURTIS DOWNING – 15 WALTER LEE NIXON – 15 JOHN TYLER – 16 ELMORE JOHNSON – 15 HENRY MELVIN JONES – 16 DOCK SMITH – 15 ROBERT LEE KING – 16 WILLARD LAMAR SHELTON – 16 ROBERT HAYS – 16 CHAS W. CHAMBERS – 16 RUSSEL HUTTON – 15 HOWARD CAYWOOD – 15 BOBBY HAYES – 16 BILLY CAUDELL – 16 WALTER R. HAYES – 17

☆☆☆☆☆☆

ARTHUR KENT PITTEBON(?) – (age unknown) WILLIAM P. NUNES – 16 EDWIN T. FINNIE – 15 MILTON LEDBETTER – (age unknown) LEROY SMITH (aka Leroy Gregory) – 17 JOE RODRIGUEZ – 17 BENARD MIXON – 15 ROBERT WESLEY DAVIS – 16 PAUL DAVID HUGES – 12 ROY JOHNSON – 13 LENARD JAMES LOTT – 16 JERRY LLOYD – 16 GABRIEL THURMAN – 16 ROBERT LEE BOSTIC – 14 GEORGE HILL – 13 JOHN ALBURY – 14 NATHANIEL TURNER – 15 LEO COLLIER – 17 TEEVESTER JAMES – 15 FLOYD RILEY, JR – 17 GEORGE NELSON – 15 NORMAN MCAULEY – 15 LYLE MACK PAULK – 16 EDWARD GIBSON – 14 WILLIAM EDWARD CORTEZ – 16

☆☆☆☆☆☆

ROBERT CHRISTMAN – 16 HUBERT BERRYMAN – 15 CHARLES LACGUEY – 16 CHARLES EDWARD KIDDY – 15 JOHN CHARLES CLANCEY – 15 DANNY LEE BOWMAN – 16 HOWARD GEORGE FAGG – (age unknown)

ROBERT ALTON SINGLETARY – 17 ELLIS MARLOWE HASKIN – 16 JAMES PHILLIP SLAWSON – 16 JAMES JOHNS – 17 BENARD JACKSON – 14 ARLISS BLACKMON – 15 BENJAMIN UDEL – 13 NATHANIEL BOWLES – 16 ROLAHO LYLES – 16 CLARENCE BOBBY BROWN – 15 WILLIE BRADFORD – 16 BILLY JACKSON – 13 RICHARD GILLYARD – 14 LEONARD WHITEHEAD – 15 FREDERICK NATHANIEL HARREL – 16 HENRY MCLENDON – 17 SAMOLE DARBY – 17 WILLIE LEE DOUGLAS – 15

☆☆☆☆☆☆

MOZELL BRADLEY, JR – 16 J.C. STEPHENS – 15 CHARLES BROWN – 15 GRANT BERNARD KEMP – 13 RONNIE FRANKIE ROSE – 16 JOE EDWARD ALLEN – 15 VICTOR STEPHEN GRICE – 16 TOMMY COOK (Mathias) – 15 JERRY COOK – 16 JOHNNY LEON WRIGHT – 16

IT’S AN ENTIRELY different feeling you get when you’re able to put names to the children you’ve been speaking of….

♤Please Consider Helping In The Fight For Justice By Signing The 1st Petition: https://www.change.org/p/jenn-moslek-re-investigation-of-the-arthur-g-dozier-school-for-boys♤

☆ IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW SUFFERED ABUSE, PASSED AWAY, WENT MISSING OR WITNESSED ANY WRONGDOINGS WHILE AT “THE FLORIDA INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS” AKA “THE ARTHUR G. DOZIER SCHOOL FOR BOYS” OR THE OKEECHOBEE SCHOOL FOR BOYS, PLEASE REACH OUT VIA HERE AT findingflorida.blog OR ANY OF THE CONTACT INFO LISTED BELOW!!☆

Want More “Finding Florida?” BE SURE TO “SUBSCRIBE”!

FOR PRIVATE CONTACT SEND EMAILS TO: [email protected]

FOR ALL DOZIER RELATED INFO:

http://thewhitehouseboysonline.com

AND

http://www.whitehouseboys2007.com

FOR FULL PHOTO GALLERIES & ADDITIONAL LOCATION INFO FOLLOW ME ON FB AT: @GRAVEAdventuresFL

THE LOST BOYS OF DOZIER: Have You Seen Me? IT HAS BEEN about a year now since my involvement with the Dozier School For Boys began taking over my world.

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shadowron · 6 years

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The Lonely Decker

(Dwarf Decker Julian Strouther from Dreamchipper in his Monopoly Man Costume)

Now.

As I’ve noted before: the decker was the first archetype I ever played in Shadowrun, and has always remained my go-to character. I ranked them 2nd best of all 1st edition archetypes, only being beat out by the rigger. So it pains me to say this:

Deckers are kind of boring.

Not that they aren’t useful. It’s just that, and I don’t even think this was really fixed in future editions, every decker you make is basically the same. Buy the best deck you can, buy the best progs you can, max out computer skills. Voila.

Want to play a combat-type? Former Company Man, Gang Member, Merc, Ork Mercenary, Street Samurai, Tribesman.

Want to play a magician? Burned-out Mage, Former Wage Mage, Shaman, Street Mage, Street Shaman.

Lots of variety there.

Even if you wanted to play a more social type: Detective, Rocker.

What’s left?

Well, admittedly, the Rigger. Given that the decker and rigger are both defined by the equipment they use, there is still much more room for uniqueness being a rigger than a decker. Third edition included separately the vehicle rigger and drone rigger, but there’s nothing stopping a custom-built rigger from specializing like this in 1st edition. Even for a vehicle rigger: which vehicle? Optimized for speed, for combat, or for transport? Ditto for the drone rigger. And this is just speaking of 1st edition, pre-Rigger Black Book.

As for the decker, even Virtual Realities didn’t address this flaw – while it included more detailed rules for building your own deck, everyone still made the exact same deck: the best you could possibly build following the rules.

There are two decker archetypes in 1st edition: Decker and Elven Decker. But, as I’ve already addressed in an earlier article, being an elf doesn’t really give you an advantage. Yes, you get +1 Quickness, but your starting Reaction is still limited to 6, and that’s what counts in the Matrix. The other races have penalties to Quickness or Intelligence, and so unless you want to start with a handicap, you want to play a human decker.

Early adventures tried to include more variants. Dreamchipper had a Dwarf Decker as a sample NPC. DNA/DOA had a (sigh) mage/decker. Horrible idea. “He lives for the rush”, which loads at 2400 baud since he’s using fragging tortoise mode because he doesn’t have a datajack. I guess the rush comes from getting your ass kicked in both Astral Space and the Matrix.

(Mage/Decker Andrew Shalene from DNA/DOA before his twelve-hour Matrix run getting past the first SAN)

Searching for Inspiration

The next step would be to say, okay, in what ways could you make different deckers unique?

Now, if anyone comes at me with Otaku/Technomancers… Just no.

On the record? Just interested in 1st edition rules here. Off the record? I hate the entire concept. HATE. H@T3.

They tried to make cyberspace work more like magic, but frag that, don’t just make a lame mirror-image. Do it like Mage: The Ascension, and make the “Matrix” just another metaplane (and yes – I played a Virtual Adept). Or keep the techno-mysticism and ditch the magical element altogether, but then it would be a more blatant ripoff of Count Zero by Gibson.

Shadowrun was first published in 1989, I started playing in 1990. I had not read any cyberpunk literature at that point, and wasn’t even really that much into sci-fi. Had not read any Asimov at that point, was Team Star Wars over Star Trek. This was before The Lawnmower Man (1992), Hackers (1995), and of course, The Matrix (1999), which:

1. You couldn’t even be mad at for co-opting the word “Matrix” from Shadowrun given how much blatant theft Shadowrun engaged in.

2. Why did they never publish a table-top RPG?

Not that there was any lack of computer “hackers” in movies before that, with Wargames (1983), Revenge of the Nerds (1984), and Weird Science (1985) in successive years of my impressionable youth. As 1990s computer nerds go, I was about a 6/10. I grew up on the Apple II and learned the basics of programming by high school, was a frequent visitor to dial-up BBSs and chatlines on the family PC.

Don’t mean to brag.

Back to the issue at hand: what are the interesting decker variants?

Aligning with the “cinematic hacking” aspect of Shadowrun, there really isn’t much. There are systems you want to get into, and the IC doesn’t want to let you in. Your two options are:

1. Sneak past it, or

2. Crash it.

That gives you only two specialties: are you a Thief, or are you a Fighter?

If you’re the only decker – most likely – then you must be a little bit of both. Pick locks and hide in shadows until you need to whip out the broadsword. Thief maxes out Masking and Sensors utilities, Fighter maxes out Combat and Defense utilities. If you’re not the only decker, then it makes more sense to specialize. Even then, the D&D analogy starts to break down – the Thief can’t “sneak” the Fighter past the IC using Deception or Sleaze progs, as their use is individual to the persona. Fighter could slow/crash the IC, allowing the Thief to pass, but then it risks triggering alarms. No point in the Fighter waiting outside the system and “guarding the gate”, as security deckers are prone to enter from within the system they are guarding.

You could argue that, if your entire campaign was built around deckers, then there would be room for a proliferation of decker species, and you’d be correct, except then you’re really talking about a different type of game entirely. Like if you had taken the Shadowbeat sourcebook and decided to run a *shudder* Rocker-only campaign.

Stuck with the lonely decker

So what is there to do?

Rather than varying what deckers do inside the Matrix, you vary what they do outside. The beauty of the classless system is that you can, apart from magicians, add as much as little of an archetype as you like.

Speaking of archetypes, what would it take to get one of the other, non-decker, archetypes to work as a decker? After all – a good starting nuyen rolls gives you the chance to buy a deck. A Radio Shack CD-100 with Rating 1 Bod, Evasion, Masking, Sensors, Analyze, Attack, and Sleaze is 9800 ¥. Is this the worse deck imaginable? Absolutely, but it is a deck. The character can at least attempt to do something in the Matrix.

To whom do you give this deck? Only two of the other archetypes have a computer skill and a datajack: Rigger and Former Company Man. Of those, the Rigger is the better choice, with a slightly higher Computer skill (3 > 2), and a slightly more in-game motivation for decking (they’re the tech rat).

Now, the only other archetype with a Computer skill is the Detective (at 4), but he has no datajack. Which means that, if you really want to take advantage of this backup wannabe decker, you going to have to…

That’s right. I’m going to say it.

TIME TO BUY A FRAGGIN TORTOISE!

I realize I slammed an NPC mage/decker above – because that idea is just stupid. Detective Decker is slightly less stupid, because he has skills that can be applied elsewhere. Because of the limitations of tortoise mode:

· -1d6 to Reaction

· -1 to all program ratings

· Locked in value of 3 for Persona programs

They’re, yeah, going to suck a bit. But, the advantages of tortoise mode:

· Immunity to black IC

· Locked in value of 3 for Persona programs, so you don’t have to buy them

· Costs a tenth as much as a regular deck.

It’s this last one Detective Decker will take advantage of. Buying higher rating progs to counter the -1 penalty is okay when that Radio Shack CD-100 Tortoise only costs 620 ¥. Less than an Armor Jacket! May as well splurge on the Allegiance Alpha Tortoise for 1320 ¥. Less than an HK 227! Roll well and you may just be taking home that Sony CTY-360 Tortoise (11,100 ¥) you’ve had your eye on all these years.

You deserve it.

Multiclassing

In college, I found myself in the lucky position of finding a group of friends who had Shadowrun as their common RPG – and only because my friend Jimmy had never played D&D. That’s right – had played Shadowrun but not D&D. I had no idea such people existed. Love you, Jimmy.

We also used a rotating GM system to ensure everybody got a chance to play, which works well for Shadowrun, with each run being nicely encapsulated. Led to some interesting inconsistencies with karma and money distribution, but was fun nonetheless. It was in this campaign that Josh’s merc commented “Generic Assault Cannon? That sounds like something I should have.” And Warren’s street samurai trying to argue he could tuck and roll through a window with an assembled sniper rifle strapped across his back.

He did roll *really* well on Athletics, as I recall.

I had a decker/rigger named Pandora. She, like a lot characters of mine, was a blatant filling of party gaps, but one that made sense. Since both decker and rigger are based upon equipment, you just need to start at max Tech level and choose your purchases wisely. Focus similarly in skills: Computer and one Vehicle skill.

Third edition Shadowrun, with its total rewriting of the archetypes, included what most deckers were leaning towards becoming anyway: Combat Deckers. When you were waiting for the one-on-one time with the GM so that you could fulfill the obligatory Matrix portions of the run, you had to do something, and it sure as frag isn’t casting spells, so might as well shoot a gun.

#shadowrun #tabletop rpgs

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nyullm2020 · 4 years

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A deep dive into two of my favorite classes at NYU

Hi all! I have had some questions from readers about what classes are like at NYU.

I thought I might procrastinate a little bit on my readings for my next class, and write up a post going a little more in-depth on two of the classes I have enjoyed the most while at NYU - one that was held during the Fall 2020 semester (Mass Media Law), and one from this current semester, Spring 2021 (Advanced Trial Simulation). For me, these classes are both representative of the incredibly diverse range of classes at NYU taught by adjunct professors, the close relationship NYU has with the broader legal community in New York City, and the practical orientation/style of many of the law school classes.

Mass Media Law

This was taught by the wonderful Prof. David McCraw, the Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel (and lead newsroom lawyer) of The New York Times - who teaches in alternating semesters at NYU Law and Harvard Law. We examined how the First Amendment, in combination with tort law, statutes, and common-law principles, shaped the rights and limitations for media publishers. We covered topics like defamation/libel, protection of confidential sources, prior restraints on publication, invasion of privacy by publication, criminal liability for publishing classified information, legal limits on newsgathering, and access to information.

Advanced Trial Simulation

ATS is designed to give students practical trial experience. At the outset of the class, the professors taught us basic trial skills (rules of evidence, do’s and don’ts of opening statements, closing arguments, and witness examination, etc) in a lecture format.

The class was then divided into trial teams of four students each—with two plaintiff’s counsel and two defense counsel. The semester then had 4 simulated trials with different fact patterns - e.g. I had a wrongful death suit based on an allegedly defective drug. Students either had to deliver an opening statement or closing argument, and were required to run one direct examination of a witness and one cross-examination of an opposing witness (the witnesses were played by pre-law students from NYU’s undergrad programs, and you had to prepare them). Pre-law students also act as a jury and deliberate on a verdict, and then, unlike in real life, the ‘lawyers’ and the rest of the class are able to view the deliberations and hear the jury’s thought processes.

Similarities

There are a few similarities between these classes:

Credits: Both classes are 2 credits, meaning they each have 2 teaching hours (in 1 class) per week. This means they are both technically seminars, and aren’t on the same grading curve as the 4-credit core or substantive classes.

Adjunct Professors: They were also both taught at night because both were taught by incredible adjunct professors with full-time day jobs outside NYU. Mass Media Law was taught by the wonderful Prof. David McCraw, the Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel (and lead newsroom lawyer) of The New York Times - who teaches in alternating semesters at NYU Law and Harvard Law - while Advanced Trial Simulation is co-taught by Cravath, Swain & Moore Chairman and leading trial attorney Evan Chesler, and the also-brilliant Cravath litigation partner David Marriott.

No expensive textbooks required: For Mass Media Law, we had about 6 case extracts to read before class that we could download from the NYU Classes portal. For Advanced Trial Simulation, there was just a small course pack to read, that contained no cases - just the mock fact patterns, witness outlines, exhibits, and depositions we would use in our simulations.

Differences

However, the classes differed in a few key ways:

In-person vs. Online: Mass Media Law was taught in a hybrid model - so while most students chose to attend online, I attended in-person each Tuesday night and was taught by Professor McCraw in person. He drove in from Connecticut every week! Advanced Trial Simulation is solely online.

Style of the Class (Lecture-Style vs. Simulation): Mass Media Law was taught in a somewhat traditional lecture-style, case-based model (with lots of slides that brought the cases to life, and a very engaging lecturing style from the professor!). Towards the end of semester, we had very interesting visiting lecturers come and speak to us - more on that below. In contrast, Advanced Trial Simulation dedicated the first 4 lectures to teaching us about the most critical rules of evidence for trial lawyers, and strategy/dos and don’ts for opening statements, direct examinations, cross-examinations, and closing statements (with video clips and other slides), followed by mock trials for the rest of the semester run by the students, with the professors acting as judges.

Manner of Assessment: Mass Media Law was assessed via an exam at the end of the semester, with a boost for class participation, whereas Trial Simulation was assessed on the basis of performance in a mock trial that ran over 2 weeks for each trial, with a boost for class participation.

Overall Thoughts

I’ve found both classes to be really helpful and fascinating. Advanced Trial Simulation enabled me to immerse myself in trial strategy with my co-counsel, and I loved practically applying the lessons I learned in Evidence in Fall 2020 (e.g. impeaching a witness for inconsistent statements; objecting on the basis of hearsay). Hearing Professor Chesler and Professor Marriott’s tips based on their own stellar trial practice is an incredible opportunity.

Mass Media Law is probably my favorite class overall. Professor McCraw was so kind and engaging, and took the time to send us wrap-ups of the key takeaways from each class, and primers on the cases we would discuss next class. He cold-called, but you knew which case you would be called upon to discuss, so it wasn’t intimidating. He has also stayed in touch with me, and even put me in touch with people he knew in a city that I’m looking at for job opportunities.

The speakers we had in that class were also hard to beat, and included people like:

Ted Boutros - a leading media and entertainment litigation partner at Gibson Dunn, who spoke to us about his work acting for journalists who had had their White House press passes confiscated during the Trump Administration - Brian Karem of Playboy and Jim Acosta of CNN;

Mike Schmidt - the Times journalist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who wrote #MeToo stories uncovering the sexual misconduct of Bill O’Reilly and Harvey Weinstein; and

Susanne Craig - the Times investigative journalist who covered all of the reporting on Trump’s taxes.

We discussed topics ranging from:

In the context of the tort of intrusions to privacy and the First Amendment - The artist Arne Svenson’s art exhibition, ‘The Neighbors’ - photos taken of unsuspecting people in a building next to his in NYC.

Julian Assange’s indictment:

And Section 230 and the proposals to amend or repeal it:

Let me know if you have any questions about either of these classes - happy to discuss further!

#nyu #llm #gradstudent #lawschool #massmedialaw #mock trial #trialstrategy #newyorktimes

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stereogeekspodcast · 4 years

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[Transcript] Season 1, Episode 8. We’ve Been Busy With… More Christmas Films, The Three-Body Problem, Chaos Walking, and More

It's the final Stereo Geeks episode of 2020! So, what have we been busy with? Ron caught up with The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two. And, continuing with the Christmas theme, we also checked out The Christmas Setup and Dashing in December.

We also chilled with some audiobooks. Mon finally got her hands on The Three-Body Problem, while Ron read the Chaos Walking book series.

We end the episode with a look at queer romance novel Red, White, and Royal Blue.

Listen to the episode on Anchor.

Read more about the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre here.

[Snowflake by GeriArt by Pixabay plays]

Ron: Welcome to the final Stereo Geeks episode of 2020. We continue with our Christmas special in what we've been busy with.

Mon: I'm Mon.

Ron: I’m Ron. We will be discussing spoilers for all the movies and books that we are talking about during this episode. So, if you haven't watched them or read them, please check them out and return to our episode.

So, since we’ve been catching up with Christmas movies, I decided to watch The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two. This is a Netflix movie. I watched the first part a couple of years ago on Christmas Day. I thought, eh, whatever, I’m not going to enjoy this. But, actually it was really sweet and really captured the magic of Christmas.

It’s about a pair of siblings; the younger child, obviously, was the one who believed in Christmas. Her older brother, not so much. And now we take off in the second part and they've both already met Santa Claus, and they believe in the Christmas spirit.

But things have changed a lot since the first film when we met the siblings. They had just lost their father, and they were really struggling to celebrate Christmas without him. Now, in this film. It's been a couple of years later, and they're going to get a new dad. Their mother has met this very nice man, played by Tyrese Gibson, and it seems like certain things are going to be going ahead. But the little girl, she just can't get into it. And she needs Santa to come and bring some Christmas spirit to her life.

But, Belsnickel, a former elf turned human is here to rob Christmas of its joy. Can Santa and Mrs Claus. young Kate and her soon-to-be stepbrother Jack, save the day?

I, sadly, did not enjoy this movie. I really wanted to, and the production values are so much better than in the first film; like, we go to the North Pole and when they're in the Christmas Village, we see all these elves and everything we only got a little glimpse of in the first film. So, those bits I really liked. It was very beautiful, and it really felt like, it’s very magical and stuff.

But, the movie itself. No. It turned into a generic action film with Santa Claus in it.

Mon: That sounds terrible.

Ron: Yeah, I really wanted to capture that feeling from the first film like how you're feeling a bit down and you just want something to reignite that love for Christmas in you, especially when you're a little older. This one just doesn't do that. Like, I like action. That's fun. But this strayed so far away from the Christmas part of it that I just couldn't get into it.

Even the characters. It felt like they were manufacturing their disappointment in everything. Like, Kate is upset that they’re spending Christmas in a tropical city. So, they're like on the beach and stuff. And you're like, Okay, so what? ‘No, Christmas has to be white, and Christmas has to have snow in it’. No, it doesn't. It's so weird. And so, yeah, it just seemed like they were doing this for no reason at all.

And Bob the new dad. He seems really nice. I'm like, why doesn't Kate like him? And he's making this huge effort to be really nice and sweet and getting to know her and all. And I'm just like, you're not even trying. And I realise that Kate is young, but not that young that she should be throwing tantrums for no reason.

So yeah, it was strange. But Kurt Russell as Santa Claus is amazing. I don't know why. When I watched the first one, I was like, there is no way in hell this is gonna work. But he was great. And he's like, really enjoying himself being Santa.

Goldie Hawn as Mrs Claus, which is really fun, because they're together in real life. So, we got like this cameo from her in the first film and you're like, ‘ah, yay, and now you get to see her a bit more. She's very sweet, but I don't know. Like, I've seen Goldie Hawn in so much stuff but this one is not her best work. Whereas Kurt Russell is totally into it.

Julian Dennison as Belsnickel. Now, Julian Dennison is a really incredible young actor. We’ve seen him in Hunt for the Wilderpeople, we’ve seen him in Deadpool 2. I'm beginning to feel a lot like this boy is getting stereotyped.

Mon: Already?

Ron: Yeah. The character of Belsnickel is kind of a lot like his character in Deadpool 2, in the sense that he was betrayed by his parents and he wants to fight back, and he's really a good person at heart but he's doing bad things because he just wants revenge. And I really think that this is not fair because there's a lot more than he can do. I mean we've seen it in Hunt for the Wilderpeople. So, it's just really frustrating to see him being stereotyped in this particular kind of role.

Also, apart from Jack and his father Bob, there aren't really any other characters of color, so for the main villain to be of Maori descent is really irritating.

So yeah, despite the production values being pretty cool and there being some moments where I quite enjoyed the mythos that they've created, I really didn't enjoy this film that much.

The central family themselves, they didn't really work for me, I think in the first one, there was a good foil between the older brother and the little sister, because he was like ‘Santa Claus doesn't exist. Christmas doesn't exist. Why are we doing all this?’ And the little girl’s like no, she's a true believer and she believes in Christmas, and that worked really well together. The brother has like a teensy tiny role in this one.

So, it's all very magical in that sense, but the conflict is so manufactured, and even the happy ending, like, yeah, it's great and stuff but it just could have been done better. It's one of those sequels that feels like a sequel—bigger, better, but not.

I was sadly disappointed. I really, really wanted to enjoy this film. So, I'm sad.

Mon: Oh, that's so sad. Well, that sort of continues in the same vein for the next film.

I was kinda excited when I heard about The Christmas Setup. Apparently, it's a rare occurrence that Lifetime has queer couples in the lead. And The Christmas Setup has gay men finding true love.

So, played by Ben Lewis, Hugo is this lawyer who's been trying to become partner for three years now. Finally, just before the Christmas break, he asks one more time, and the boss kind of goes, we're not too sure you're ready for it. So, he's kind of crushed, but he has something to look forward to. He and his best friend Madelyne, who was played by Ellen Wong, they're off to his home, where they meet his mom Fran Drescher’s Kate.

She is this vivacious, Christmas-loving person—like the house cannot have enough lights, cannot have enough Christmas trees. It's just Christmas everywhere you look. And Kate, unbeknownst to Hugo, has set him up with the other gay dude in their small town, which is Patrick, played by Blake Lee.

Patrick is a couple of years older than Hugo and they went to school together. Patrick was already out in high school, but he was the most popular kid. Hugo, on the other hand, was still in the closet. He didn't come out till he was in college. And so when Patrick meets Hugo, he doesn't actually know that he's gay. He finds out later on.

And it's obvious that Hugo is kind of interested in Patrick, especially once he finds out that Patrick is not down in the dumps selling Christmas trees and needing a tip. In fact, Patrick has already retired, he made this popular app, which even Maddie knows about. And yeah, now he's giving back to the community, he's working with his dad and sending people trees and helping around town.

So anyway, this being a Christmas, romantic film, they find each other, they need to figure out whether they can be together. And in the end, there's a happy ending… If you can call it that.

Wow, I just was so disappointed in this film. I was kinda really excited, like I really was. I know Ben Lewis only from Arrow, he plays the adult version of Oliver Queen’s son. Hugo is pretty much the same as William. I didn't see any difference—like it was like if you transport him from one place to the other.

Ron: Yeah, I could totally see William going through the same thing when he goes back to Star City.

Mon: Exactly. Right? And I wanted to like this character. I really liked Ellen Wong’s Maddie.

Ron: Yeah, she was really nice.

Mon: She was really cool. She bring some natural vivacity which fit with the fact that Hugo is kind of staid from time to time. He's too restrained. And then of course, Fran Drescher, is of course like over the top. Though I thought that she was pretty believable.

Ron: Yeah, she was. She was like this really fun, cool mom who's just up in everything, so yeah.

Mon: Exactly. But the central relationship, while it worked for a bit, after a while it just fell away. Because I felt like they tried to make it seem like this idyllic happy ending. But I just feel like Hugo made the wrong decision because he was pressured into making that decision.

Ron: Throughout the film, I felt like Hugo was being pressured to do things that he didn't want to do. Like, even with the public speaking, he doesn't want to go up on stage and talk. Everybody’s like ‘no, no, go up and talk’. He doesn't want to go up and sing, it was like ‘no no, go up and sing’. Like why are you being pushed to do all these things? Just leave him be.

Mon: Yeah. And he gets this great opportunity which he's been vying for, for years. And in quintessential rom-com style, he sort of decides that love is better than opportunity, which I just can't get behind.

Ron: I didn't think it made sense in this film. Why does he have to give up the opportunity to be with Patrick? Patrick literally has everything right now, he's retired, he sold his app for a ton of money, he can do whatever he wants.

Mon: He can go wherever he wants as well, so why on earth is he pressuring Hugo?

Ron: Yeah, especially that we see them agreeing that it's going to be fine and everything’s going to be okay if it's long distance and then Hugo goes up on stage and sings this song and then suddenly there's like this weird switch that goes off and Patrick is like ‘no, I can't’. Like what? Where did this come from? What do you mean you can't? Like you were literally just saying; what changed in three minutes?

Mon: Yeah, I definitely don't agree with this story at all. I mean, it doesn't capture the Christmas spirit for me, because in the end these guys really don't know each other that well. And you want to say it's all true love and all that, but what exactly is Hugo gonna do in his hometown?

Ron: Is this a relationship that's gonna last? Or is this just a convenient relationship that's happened? I mean, yes, I get that Hugo’s mom was trying to set them up and they already have that experience from being in school together. But are there no other gay around? Why is Patrick Hugo’s only choice? Why is Hugo Patrick's only choice?

That's what pulled me up a bit shot because I was like, there has to be other reasons why these two are together. But if it's not there in the film, then how are we supposed to believe it?

And the thing is that we know that there is some kind of queer community here because Patrick talks about how there's a queer club for youth. There's a whole drag circuit happening; they didn't have that when they were growing up, so he's really happy that things have changed so much. So that means that they have other options. Why are these two together?

Mon: I agree with you. I was just so underwhelmed by it all and really frustrated because if you want to do something different, you want to make a queer film, but you're gonna go down the same road, take the same tropes, then you're not doing anything special.

Ron: Yeah, because then it seems to me like this was a straight film with gay characters in it. And also, why don't we see any other gay people?

Mon: Yeah, there's a hint that somebody in the past may have been in a queer relationship and then what? That kind of validity is required in a story where they're in a small town which isn't accepting them, but no one bats an eyelid. So, what is the point of that? It was like a red herring for the audience. Where does this go? Does this validate anything? No. It has nothing to do with it. I felt like there were two disparate stories which they just put together and said ‘hey we've made something different now. Please applaud us’.

Ron: Like, the ending as well. I actually ended up feeling a bit confused because I was like, hang on. So is he taking the new job, or is he not. And it's just kind of the way it ends, you're like, oh, I guess he's not, but it's not explicit.

I feel like the last act completely fell away. It had no clue what it was doing. They tried to wrap it all up quickly. Everything that had been happening up until that point, just forget about it—pretend it didn't happen because, obviously, it doesn't happen for the characters.

Mon: Even the central premise that this is a Christmas setup. You wouldn't know it, unless you'd seen the name of the film. Because it doesn't really come across as a setup at all.

Ron: I think it would have made more sense for it to be a Christmas setup, had the mother's intentions been a bit more clear. Like, why does she like Patrick for her son? We don't know, we don't even see them interacting. He's bringing a tree for her. That's it. So what is the connection there?

Mon: And what I felt is that set up for the setup was not built up. In the first scene had we realized that Hugo is really lacking in love, okay he's broken up with somebody, but that's okay, That's fine. It happens a lot of times, but it's not like he's feeling this grave loss, or, you know, he's just feeling so lonely. Hence this idea has sprung in Kate’s mind that, ‘oh there’s this guy’.

Maybe Kate’s had some interactions with Patrick which has made her think, yes, ‘he seems really nice. I would love to set him up with my son’. But none of that comes across. Hugo just wants to be home, he wants to get away from work, he doesn't want to think about the pressures of work—the fact that his promotion is not coming—and he wants to hang out with his best friend; he wants to hang out with his mom. And then there's the setup.

Ron: I honestly felt like for the majority of the film, Hugo's story revolved more around his job than his love life. And I thought that this romance that was happening between him and Patrick was just a consequence of them being in this place that they’re both comfortable in during a magical time of the year. But the last act makes it seem like the job was not that important, whereas finding a partner was. It ended up actually being rather jarring as a viewer, if you'd seen the whole thing, because Hugo's final decision just doesn't track with what he'd been fighting so much for from the beginning. And the thing is, I would have understood his decision had we seen him being absolutely and completely miserable at his job. He's not. He really believes in what he's doing. And he really wants to move up in this company. And he's really excited when he gets that call, right?

I'm wondering whether it was that interaction that they have on the roof where Patrick is like ‘lawyers suck’. And he was like, ‘I'm a lawyer’. Do you think that is the part of the reason why he changed his mind? I don't know.

Mon: You’re still trying to do some mental gymnastics to make it all fit and work, but it none of it does. Because at the end of the day, Hugo's magical return home for those few weeks is really dictated by the fact that he's back with his mom, he's hanging out with his best friend, he meets a cute guy, and he solves a mystery. And he saves something that he really loves. Those are great, but this isn't a long-term thing. So, if you take those elements away, what happens? Does Hugo still enjoy being back in his hometown? What is he going to do there? Like does his hometown need a hotshot lawyer? It probably doesn't, but he's worked so hard to get to a great position and he's throwing it all away.

Ron: Yeah, also is Patrick a worthy person to throw it away for?

Mon: That’s what I felt like. Patrick is a really selfish person because he's retired, he has basically nothing to do. So, he's latched on to Hugo—and that's how it came across to me—he's latched on to Hugo, who's a really sweet guy, who's a very smart guy. And that's it. So, he's like ‘no, I won't let you go’. It just seemed to me like it was a very manipulative kind of move by him.

The moment they sort of made an agreement, he just reneges and he makes Hugo feel guilty about it. I don't get it. And then everybody keeps telling Hugo that ‘you belong here’. If Hugo himself doesn't feel like that, then why are we telling him?

And the one person who really should have been telling him ‘you belong here and you stay here’ is his mom. But Kate, on the other hand, she is so happy for him. You can see in every interaction, especially after the cat is out of the bag that he's going away to London. She's the one who's still encouraging him to go and be the best version of himself. Everybody else is like ‘no stay here’. Why?

Ron: I haven't watched too many rom-coms, but in the few that I have seen, this always is the kind of gimmick that they use to keep a character in a place. Like everybody will come and tell them, ‘no you belong here’ or ‘you belong with that person’. I need to see that.

Mon: And we need to feel that, as an audience. We need to really root for them to be here, which we don't know.

Ron: Unfortunately I'm going to choose the job over the guy, sorry.

Mon: How old is Hugo? He's like, early 30s and he's being made partner in a gigantic law firm? Like, to hell with you, Patrick.

Ron: And in New York, like this is a big deal!

Mon: And, he’s being sent to London to expand his horizons. Come on, he’s going to be running the London office, and you give that all up for…Patrick.

Ron: Who you’ve only known for, like, one Christmas week. That's it. No, no.

You know what, I was with this film till the last act. Till that point I was like, oh it’s so sweet, look at how they're getting along. Oh, what's gonna happen? And then the last act happened. I was just like, what, why? It didn't work for me.

Mon: No, I agree with you, It was not a Christmas film.

Ron: I know we’ve talked about the entire film but, going back to the beginning what was with the double entendres?

Mon: Oh, I forgot about them!

Ron: That was so weird, right?

Mon: Yeah, it was really awkward and uncomfortable.

Ron: Yeah, and unnecessary.

Mon: Especially, there was this scene when Patrick has just brought the tree in. And they were framing it in such a way that I felt like they were trying to insinuate something. Hugo’s down on the ground on all fours, trying to fix a tree and Patrick is up top, trying to fix a branch. And I kept trying to think, are they trying to frame it in a particular position to say something? Because we've been so conditioned by all the double entendres up until then, that I thought that they were trying to say something or insinuate something, But it didn't make any sense. I'm guessing it was just an overlong scene where it was just badly made.

Ron: Yeah, it didn't make sense.

Also, despite the fact that Ben Lewis and Blake Lee are married in real life, I could not feel the chemistry on screen.

Mon: No, I agree. I was actually really surprised when you told me that, I was like okay, no.

Ron: They looked comfortable with each other, but yeah that chemistry just didn't come through at all.

Well, moving on to yet another Christmas film.

So, Dashing in December, sees Peter Porte’s Wyatt Burwall return to his ranch to be with his mum during Christmas. His mum, Deb, played by Andie MacDowell, is kind of struggling with the ranch. It's huge. It takes up a lot of money. And it's not really bringing anything in. Wyatt has not been back in years. So, Deb is obviously excited to see him.

But there's a little bit of tension about the ranch and what to do about it, their future, and the future of the horses that they have. And into the mix, we have Juan Pablo Di Pace’s Heath Ramos. Heath has been working on the ranch for a while, and Deb is really fond of him. He's super helpful and kind of almost a stand-in for Wyatt for her.

And we also have Caroline Harris' Blake, who is an old friend of Wyatt’s. And later on, we meet, Carlos Sanz’s Carlos, the former ranch hand, who may or may not be a little bit more important to Deb.

So, [laughing] this movie was an experience in many ways. Considering I had never heard of queer Christmas movies before, this is the fourth queer Christmas film we've seen this year. Each one has been a rollercoaster, in its own way. This was probably the strangest one.

Aside from the fact that the ranch setting is really out there for a queer movie. The characters are really strangely written. And I don't know what they were going for with this. And that ending. Yes, that’s another ending that I'm just not sure about.

Mon: So, Wyatt as a character is generally unlikable. I think they were going with the Scrooge personality for this guy. He's very grumpy at this office party that he's at just before he leaves for the ranch. He has this big project, and he has to take work to the ranch because he needs to finish this deal. And it takes a while—I would say two-thirds of the film—before we realize that his promotion, the project and selling the ranch are all interlinked. So, that goes to show you how good the writing is. #sarcasm

And Wyatt is so invested in selling the ranch because he's paying for it, he's paying the taxes. And obviously, it's not making any money. So, his idea is to basically get it off his mother's hands and sell it to his client.

He goes about convincing his mother in such a terrible fashion. He basically, at the first dinner that he's there, shoves this portfolio of numbers at her. And on the opposite side is Heath, who loves this ranch, he has a magical connection to it from his childhood. And he's obviously really invested in taking care of the horses, taking care of the ranch, taking care of Deb. He does not want to let it go. He also doesn't know how invested Wyatt is in this ranch because he doesn't know about the financial situation. So, Heath basically spends his entire time pushing back against this idea of selling the ranch.

And then there's Wyatt, well, it's his ranch, so he can do whatever he wants. Wyatt is looking at Heath as the ranch employee. Deb is looking at Heath as her son, maybe future son in law. And Heath is just wrapped up in the whole ranch situation. And, among all this, we are supposed to be invested in a love story. Suffice to say it does not go well.

This was so hard to watch, because Wyatt is the worst character ever. I hated this guy. Like, every time he seemed to take a turn where you would end up liking him, he would just do something really horrible. He is a nasty creature.

Ron: There's nothing good about Wyatt. There's no redeeming quality about this man. He is so self-absorbed; he does not see anybody else's point of view. And he's very ‘white savior’. Like, my dude, do you think about the words that come out of your mouth before you speak them?

Mon: And he attacks everyone! So, there’s this dinner scene, which is basically Wyatt’s way of making a special evening for Heath, and somehow Wyatt is the one who ruins it completely.

Ron: That is a complete and utter disaster. And it's all Wyatt’s fault. After that scene, I was like, everybody should wash their hands off this man. Even Deb is disappointed in her son.

Mon: But somehow, the very next scene sees Blake consoling Wyatt, and somehow it's all about Wyatt’s man-pain and not about all the horrible things he just said to the three most important people in his life. I'm just like, what? What is with this writing?

Ron: I have no idea. We’ve got to talk about the fact that Heath is originally from Colombia. There's kind of a weird imbalance because he's also an employee, and Wyatt kind of seems to imply that he can do stuff for Heath to make his life easier. And I'm just like, you do realize that sounds a little bit weird, right? You can give him a job, so he can continue working for you? Aren't you trying to have a relationship? What? It's just that entire scene was so yeurgh.

Mon: One thing I’ll say is, I'm glad Heath stood up for himself. But it's all underdone by the fact that we have to have a happy ending at the end, and it just doesn't work. This entire film was cringe.

Ron: I don't know what they were planning to do with this. They weren’t even trying. Okay, the setting is a bit strange. Why does the family have to have a ranch? I don't get it. It is just so weird because Heath is living on the ranch, but he doesn't have enough space for a Christmas tree and then the water stops working at one point and he has to go and have a shower in the in the main house. I'm just like, this is very upstairs, downstairs. And that's never addressed. So that makes it very uncomfortable for me.

But then his Colombian background is kind of brought in a couple of times but not very much. And, of course, his father ran off with a younger woman. Because let's just throw stereotypes in there for no reason. And why does Heath like Wyatt at all? They have a few conversations which are okay, but there's nothing nice about Wyatt. He's constantly throwing his weight around. He's constantly being condescending. There's nothing nice about him.

Mon: His first interaction with his mom when he arrives; he complains about every single thing. Oh my god! I'm surprised that his mother didn't actually hit him. And she's this long-suffering woman.

Ron: It's the only in that dinner scene later on, where she really looks disappointed, but I'm not sure why she hadn’t thrown him out of the house a long time ago. He's not nice.

Mon: The problem with this film is the structure. We start off with the fact that he's just freshly off a breakup. We also see that he has a lot of work to do. But then we're thrown immediately into, he wants to sell the ranch. But none of that is connected. Structurally, the film doesn't make sense.

Ron: We see him actually working on his whatever he's doing once. And I'm like, all this while, what were you doing? Weren’t you supposed to be bringing work home or something? So yeah, it was really confusing to watch and then, much later on when you see that everything's connected, why didn’t you tell us that sooner?

Mon: Again, the setup for the actual premise is completely hidden, so we're not invested. If you're going to make the character nasty or mean or Scrooge-like, then there has to be a reason why you expect us to be invested in him. And it would make sense if you see him looking at these property taxes and being like, oh my god, how am I gonna do this? And pushing to get more work and a senior position, knowing that, yes, I'll get more money so that I can keep this going. You know if you have that connection, you can sympathize and empathize with this character. Because the ranch is all he has and it’s connected to his father. But we don't get that.

Ron: We know from the beginning that Wyatt hasn’t come home for Christmas in ages. But you only learn why that is much later on. And it’s some kind of sappy reason about why he couldn't live up to his father's expectations, even though his father's been dead for 15 years or something. And I’m just like, what?

Mon: This is a problem with a lot of writing. They forget that there are real reasons why people can't be home for Christmas. Like they have jobs, they work in retail, they work in whatever. They need to finish a project, so you can't do it. That's a realistic but unfortunate reality. Had they included that in, it would have made Wyatt a more sympathetic character, but they don't do any of that.

Ron: I don't even know what Wyatt’s job is! What does he do?

Mon: I agree with you. I didn't get it either.

Ron: I don't get it. He has clients. Okay, what?

Mon: I feel like the creative brief for this film was: we want two gay guys in cowboy hats dancing in one scene. And they made the entire movie around that.

Ron: The same problem that we had with The Christmas Setup, we're having the same problem with Dashing in December. What is the connection between Wyatt and Heath? Literally the only thing they have in common is that they’re both gay.

Mon: There's this scene, right, where Heath’s like, oh you're gay? And Wyatt already knows he’s gay, that means Deb told Wyatt about Heath, but she didn't tell Heath about Wyatt. Which doesn't make sense to me, because isn’t that playing favorites?

Ron: And also, we learn later on that she was trying to set them up. So then why, would you not tell him? Why would you want to spring that on him?

Mon: And that also means that Deb doesn’t talk about Wyatt when he's away. Heath’s been here for at least a few years now. How have they not talking about him and his previous relationships? The guy apparently has a revolving door of relationships.

Ron: It's only after they start getting together that Heath finds out about all these endless relationships and he doesn't want to be just another person in that. Why is all this information coming so much later? Look at the time span. It's what, one week, maybe less? And we’re supposed to believe that these two have fallen in love and they want to be together forever? Like, dude, you literally have no other options in this place. That's why you like this guy.

Mon: I agree with you.

Ron: There are all these weird stereotypes that keep coming in. Like, of course the poor person of color will not have had any relationships, even though he's been out for a while. In the 21st century, how are we seeing this?

Mon: Yeah, I was really disappointed in this. It was structurally a mess. I didn't care about many of the characters, I definitely hated Wyatt, who is our protagonist, and it played out in this series of tropes and disconnected events. It just didn't work for me.

Ron: In the beginning, why do they keep saying the years so specifically?

Mon: Right? I noticed that as well. Every other dialogue was like ‘he's been gone five years’, ‘he joined three years ago’, so and so died 15 years ago’. What is this? History?

Ron: There were so many years thrown at us? I was like, how many years has Wyatt not been here? How many years has he been working with them? When did Deb go see him? I don't know! Way too much information. Nobody needs to know all this. It literally felt like, when you're writing your first draft, you end up being very specific and then after that, you revise it and stuff and realise that nobody needs to know this information. It's like that that stage was missed.

Mon: Calling it the first draft feels authentic, because that's exactly how this film felt.

Ron: There were certain scenes that felt like they’d made alternate versions. And I don't know why it felt to me but it really did. Especially that scene after the dinner with the projector, and Blake is telling Wyatt that everything is going to be okay. This feels very much like they shot something else which didn't work so they put this in because they’d already shot it. And it really just me out of the experience of watching the movie. And then in the end for Heath to be with Wyatt is just so stupid.

Mon: Everybody gets their little romantic happy ending. But I felt this was a bad choice. At one point, Wyatt even tells his mother that Heath can do better than him. But Heath doesn't. I just don't understand.

Ron: We are told that apparently there aren’t many gay people in this particular area. But that doesn't mean that there are no gay people anywhere else. If Heath really wants to have a relationship with somebody then he can go somewhere else. His only choice shouldn't have to be Wyatt. I think that's my main problem with the two films that we're talking about today. It's like the gay characters literally have no other choice but each other. And that feels tokenistic.

We were talking about this in our previous episode about new Christmas films that we've been catching up with. And we had the same problem with The Christmas House, where the gay couple over there, who were at least a bit more settled, and actually fit, were the only gay characters. But is with happy season which he lost his spot. Whereas with The Happiest Season, which we’d also spoken about in the previous episode, you got a feeling that there were other gay people around, that there was a gay community. We saw the gay bar that they went to.

Whereas with The Christmas Setup, they talk about it, but we never see it. So, it feels very much like they don't have a choice, but that's not how these romantic stories should go. The whole point is for you to see that there are lots of people around in the world, and you find the one among those people. In a straight story, that's what would happen. But these stories, they don't give us that choice and that's really not fair.

Mon: What bothers me is that if you're going to say that in this small town, there are no other gay people, there's not much choice, then this being a Christmas movie, the Christmas miracle shouldn't be that these two people are now settling for each other. It should be that they’ve finally found each other. And that means you need to make them both likable, which you did not.

Ron: What kind of name is Heath for a Colombian? It’s literally like they couldn't think of any name so they just came up with whatever they wanted. It really feels like this movie was phoned in.

Mon: That's a really good way of putting it. It does feel like this movie was phoned in.

Ron: But also, I find it really funny that with Tyrese Gibson, Fran Drescher, Andie Macdowell, all the people we watched growing up, are now the parents of these protagonists!

Mon: I guess that tells you something.

Ron: I was really hoping for something fun.

Mon: That's the key ingredient that is missing from these films, the fun factor. It's not enjoyable. Because you're so wrapped up in everything that's wrong with these people because they are not great people.

Ron: And it's drama for drama sake.

Mon: You're so right.

Ron: I don't want to be too negative in the sense that, at least we're getting queer content. But come on, we can do so much better than this. Three out of the four Christmas films that we've spoken about over the last two episodes have had couples who are newish, hoping to have a life together, and all them feel toxic.

Mon: Well said, you’re right. And that worries me because is that the case of all romantic films? You and I, not being experts in the romance category, makes me worry that this is the norm and you and I just don't know it.

Ron: Eww. I really hope not. What kind of message is that sending out? I'm hoping that this is just the beginning, and next year we're going to get all sorts of queer films that will be much more holistic and joyful and actually magical and not like these.

Mon: Here’s hoping.

Mon: Shifting away from anything Christmas, we are going to be talking about some books that we've been listening to. Yes, listening to, because we love audiobooks. And listening to audiobooks frees up time to do other stuff. Because in today's day and age, you need time.

One of the books that has been on my list for a really, really long time is the Three-Body Problem, written by Liu Cixin and translated by his brother, Ken Liu. This book series is a sci-fi and it's apparently being adapted for a TV series. I've been meaning to read this series for quite some time and I finally got it from my library. I read the first part, which is called Remembrance of Earth’s Past.

I like to think of myself as a sci-fi fan. I love sci fi films. I have very little patience with many sci fi books because they don’t try too hard. With this book, I came away really confused. The science fiction elements of it, they're all grounded in real science. Whether it’s actually real, don't ask me. I don't have a scientific background. But it's very much about formulae and stuff like that. They don't just say ‘quantum’ in front of everything.

But I don't know if it's the translation or if it is the intent of the author to make this book about characters who almost always come across as caricatures. It feels like he wrote this book with his tongue firmly in his cheek. But at the same time, not. I just don't know how I feel about this book. I am invested in this story but not in the characters. The characters are so flat, they just don't have any dimension to them.

The funniest thing is, the one character who's pretty much dead inside because she's seen stuff. She, to me, came across as the most multi-dimensional. And she's surrounded by all these male characters who just keep talking. But there's just nothing about them that brings them to life. I think the writer was more invested in creating these labs, this world, rather than creating his characters.

The biggest problem for me with this book was that it starts off with this rather grueling, brutal scene of this almost realistic occurrence. You can imagine a world where there is civil war or unrest, it could lead to an event like this, and is witnessed by this young person, and it affects her.

But then it goes bonkers. Then it becomes all this science stuff. And then there are aliens involved. And I am just like, do I like this book? Or am I just confused? And this book is award-winning; people love it. You definitely know how much they love it because now it's becoming a TV series. How are they going to convert any part of this particular book? I don't know about the two sequels. But this book is so much more about the machines that are working, the information that the machines are giving you. There’s so little of the characters that unless this TV show is going to be all spectacle, and no people, I don't know what they're planning to do.

And I kept feeling like there was supposed to be a political undercurrent. And there is, but it sort of got drowned out, especially in the last act by this weird, insane war that is coming or has come or will come. What even is this? Suffice to say that the concepts of this book worked in small doses. And then not so much. Like the main title of this book is actually a game, but the game has ramifications that go beyond just being a game. Again, there are these little bits which are so much more fascinating. But every time you get invested in it, that's it, the author pulls out.

I just don't know. I think that if you're interested in science and scientific, science-y language, and people doing science. This may scratch that itch, but at the same time it's so convoluted and confused, that you may come across as not being 100% invested in this world. I do wonder if the two sequels do draw you in more but before I can get to that I need a huge break.

Ron: Well, unlike you, the book series that I was listening to, I have no doubts how I feel about it. And that is: I absolutely despise it.

Mon: Oh, wow.

Ron: So, I had no idea of what Chaos Walking is. But they're making a movie out of it. And Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley from Spider-Man and Star Wars are going to be in it, so I thought, I'm gonna go check out the books.

The first book, The Knife of Never Letting Go, I quite liked the concepts. The main character Todd Hewitt is an idiot. I have no interest in this character. He is bland. He is uninteresting. He is very monotone and one-dimensional. He literally just gets to the end on the strengths of other characters. There is one female character in this book who has a fairly large role, but yeah, she's nothing more than damsel in distress and she does not speak for most of the book.

But the world that it's set in and some of the reactions that people have to being there, those I didn’t mind. I like the world-building. It’s just the character brought it down quite a bit. I also found the religious elements really jarring. I get that human beings need some religion and stuff. Why do we automatically have to assume that they're going to be Christians? I'm not sure how that works? It didn't feel like an universal experience was being captured in this book.

But then I got to the next two books and wow did it fall away. The second book was nothing short of a disaster. The Ask and the Answer tries to expand what we know of the world and actually ends up making it so much worse. The female character that we met in the first book, Viola, finally gets her own point of view. But her entire inner life surrounds Todd. Which makes absolutely no sense, because in the prequel to the first book, she lost her parents when she crash-landed on this planet. But somehow, all her inner thoughts are about this boy she just met and who is a loser. I'm so confused.

But then it gets worse. We learn that there is this native species who have been happily living on this world. And the humans that have arrived are basically colonising it. And they have enslaved the native race. Okay, fine. Are you trying to make a statement about what has really been happening with colonisation? Well, maybe the author wasn't reading the same history books I was. Because, my God, I don't know what he was thinking. There is a scene in this book that is so similar to the Jallianwala Bagh incident. And I was just like, you know what, only somebody who has not read this as part of their history would write this scene into his book and do it entirely from the colonisers’ point of view. And we are supposed to sympathize with Todd, who is so sad that these poor natives have been killed in front of him. Oh god, this book is so bad.

The third book is slightly Better than the second. We get a third point of view along with Todd and Viola’s, we got somebody from the massacre who has survived. But of course, he's angry and vengeful and does not care about anything else but trying to kill people. He still manages to be the most interesting part of the entire book, and also appears to be queer, it's hard to tell with this book. But nothing happens in this third book, Monsters of Men. It's so repetitive that there were times when I was actually wondering to myself if I was listening to the same chapters over and over again. Nothing happens. This book could have been one third the length, because so little happens in it. And it keeps trying to tell us that this connection between Todd and Viola is so strong that they’re ready to wage war for each other. And I'm like, really, for this guy?

What is frustrating was that Viola’s inner life is still, in the third book, concerned primarily with Todd, who still does nothing to deserve it. In fact, the longer you read this series, the more horrendous Todd becomes because not only is he self-absorbed and completely clueless about what is happening around him, even though it's happening right in front of his face. But he's so dumb! Like, my dude, what do you think is happening. People are fighting and you're siding with the person who's strongest because that's keeping you protected? And somehow that's supposed to making a good guy. Please don't ask me what this author was thinking, because I can't understand it.

And what’s frustrating is that from the start of the series to the end of the series. Todd has had no growth, but everybody keeps telling us that he has. He has grown so much, he has learned so much. Look at all the stuff that he's doing. He's not doing anything. He just keeps screaming all the time. It is such a disaster of a series. And I'm so annoyed that books like this that are so othering for anybody who's not a white dude or a white woman is the kind of book that's going to be made into a movie, which would probably be a huge blockbuster.

Mon: Well, one can hope not considering the production delays. I'm hoping it's an absolute disaster. And Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland completely washed their hands off it.

Ron: I have no hope for this. I'm just annoyed that something like this is actually even being optioned for film.

Mon: I agree with you. It sounds terrible.

Ron: The first book, I didn't mind the concepts in it, it was interesting. But the thing is that, the moment you start doing the race stuff, and you don't know what you're doing, it becomes obvious. And the second book, like literally that that scene was so reminiscent of Jallianwala Bagh, I was just like, do you not know what is happening in the world, what has happened in the world before it? How can you write this stuff, do you know the context that you're writing about? And to write it from Todd's point of view is just disgusting. Please refer to the show notes for a link.

Mon: Right. Going on to something a little bit lighter, but not sure if it's any better. Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. I heard about this book on NPR’s ‘Pop Culture Happy Hour’. I have a habit of reading books on recommendation which gives me a wide, diverse variety of books to read. But a lot of times I don't like them. I wouldn't say I didn't like this book. What's this book about and why did I pick it up? This book is about the FSOTUS, the first son of the United States, Alex Claremont-Diaz, he’s a go getter and he has his eyes on the prize.

Currently, it is a very, very stressful time for his family. They are in the midst of a re-election campaign. And there is another senator who is champing at the bit to grab the big seat. Alex is very smart. He's very intelligent. He has an equally intelligent and smart sister, and his best friend. Everything's going well when they are invited to the royal wedding. And an incident takes place between Alex and his nemesis, the prince of England.

So, to save this PR scandal, Alex and Prince Henry, yes, that's his name in the book, they are told that they have to hang out together so that nobody thinks that England and the United States are at war, because of these two brats. Anyway, turns out the two of them have more in common than they expected. And then socio-political stuff will get in the way of their new found friendship. Or is it more?

This book was an experience. It is so much high drama, and set in a world that is completely removed from anything that we can imagine. We’re talking about people who literally live in Buckingham Palace and the White House.

Ron: Yeah, you're not gonna meet them on the street.

Mon: Exactly. And it’s so far fetched that you could either be completely invested in this world, or you're like, this is ridiculous. This book was like reading a Bollywood film. Everything is overdramatic, everything is high stakes, like every single move they make is the end of the world.

Ron: Oh my gosh.

Mon: A lot of it is told in text messages and emails. Which I guess works more when you're reading it, less when you're listening to it. I would say that the rest of it, because it's so dialogue heavy, it does feel like you're listening to a play when you're listening to the audiobook. That’s quite good. But my biggest issue with this book and why I couldn't be invested in it was because it really came across as fanfiction.

Ron: Oh no.

Mon: I don't know if that was the author's intent. But why on earth did the younger prince have to be called Prince Henry. Why did he have to have sandy hair and have gone to the army and this and that? And I'm like, really? This is like complete and utter fanfiction. I just wish that they had chosen anything different about this prince, because that completely ruined the experience for me, and I just cringed every time he comes on the page.

What I did like is that this is very new age. There are people of different sexualities, different genders. So that was really nice. There's a lot of interplay and banter between different kinds of characters. So that was fun. It's very interactive; the world is very different. I just finished the drama had been dialed down. It’s really dramatic. With everything, the world is ending. I get it, you are FSOTUS and he is the prince of England. Maybe you guys should have talked about it a little bit more.

I was surprised at how R-rated this book is. I thought this was just a YA book, but maybe this passes for YA, I don't know.

Ron: Did the NPR people mention that?

Mon: They did not. I feel like they only read the first few chapters and then they recommended it.

Ron: Oh no!

Mon: Yeah, stuff gets really hot and heavy later on. There's going to be a huge audience who actually loves this book. And I wouldn't be surprised if they are vocal about it. I would actually also not be surprised if it was optioned for a film because it is very visual, in the sense that it's so dialogue heavy, the characters really come alive. And considering the political space that we’re all in and how political we all feel this might be the kind of book which lends itself to a movie for varied audiences. I just don't think romance novels are for me.

Ron: But you gave it a shot.

Mon: I know reading different kinds of things, broadening my horizons. I guess romance is one thing that I will constantly find myself dabbling in and be like, not really.

Ron: It's just not the genre that speaks to us.

Mon: Yeah, that's true. If it's fun, I guess it's okay. But this was not fun because of all the drama. I get it, they're high stakes. It's just, tone it down.

Ron: Did you find that there was anything that you could actually resonate with despite the fact that it's about the FSOTUS and the prince of England?

Mon: Absolutely not. Also, they drink too much. I don't understand. Everybody's always drunk. Stop already.

Ron: But then what is the appeal of this kind of story, if you can't see yourself in it at all? Is it just aspirational then?

Mon: I think so. It's a little bit of a magical Prince Charming kind of book. So, I guess you could call it a Disney fairytale, but for a more representative audience. So, this is not all bad. It's just not for me.

Ron: That's interesting.

Mon: I think that there's not been that much queer content, so people will be hungry for more. And we'll get some good stuff. We've got some bad stuff. And we'll get some stuff which is for particular audiences and not for others. So yeah, I think this is gonna be exciting for some groups.

Ron: Well, it's great to see that we have the kind of career content we do. Just, we need to see who's behind the scenes, because it's not coming across as well as it should.

Mon: Yeah, I think it needs to be a bit more fresh. Because we are so inured to the stereotypes that we've already seen, and the tropes that we've already been faced with in so much pop culture, that just placing queer characters in those same tropes and stereotypes doesn't work. We've all grown out of that, we need more. And there's so many stories to tell.

So, like this book, Red, White and Royal Blue is it's a different take on the regular romance novel. But at the same time, it has its own issues. Every property does have issues and I'm not saying that we need to hold queer properties at higher standard. I'm just saying, we need to move beyond being safe. You can't get a pat on the back just because you put queer characters in your movie or in your book. You need to do more, you need to be more realistic or more fun.

Ron: And it needs to be more representative of the real queer experience and not just queer stories transplanted into state stories.

Mon: Agreed.

Ron: What have you been busy with? Let us know.

Ron: You can find us on Twitter @Stereo_Geeks. Or send us an email [email protected]

Ron: We hope you enjoyed this episode. And see you next week!

Mon: The Stereo Geeks logo was created using Canva. The music for our podcast comes courtesy Audionautix.

[Snowflake by GeriArt by Pixabay plays]

Transcription by Otter.ai and Mon and Ron.

#stereo geeks #chaos walking #christmas #christmas setup #dashing in december #three-body problem #podcast

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everythingmusicandfilm · 7 years

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Oscars 2018

I can’t believe it has been a whole year since La La Land was best picture for a whole two minutes. Yes, it’s that time again, oscar season. Although I am most excited to see Tom Holland in a suit, I am also eager to see who takes home the golden statues. Every year I try my best to watch the oscar nominated films and this year was no different. Before I get into my picks for the oscars, a little reminder that these are my own personal opinions. I do not claim to be a film expert or anything, this is just who I think should win for each category!

Writing

Adapted Screenplay

“Call Me By Your Name” James Ivory

“The Disaster Artists” Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber

“Logan” Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green

“Molly’s Game” Aaron Sorkin

“Mudbound” Virgil Williams and Dee Rees

As much as I LOVED Logan and think it is without a doubt the best wolverine film we have seen, Call Me By Your Name is my pick here. The story addresses a romantic relationship between an unlikely pair, a 30 year old man and a 17 year old boy. As we live in a time where a racist and misogynistic male is president of the free world, this film offers us an escape to remember that love is important. Elio’s father’s speech as he explains that he accepts that Elio is gay, is a moving and inspiring monologue. The story provides a beautiful representation of homosexuality and reminds the world of the importance of love, especially in a time of struggle and pain.

Original Screenplay

“The Big Sick” Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani

“Get Out” Jordan Peele

“Lady Bird” Greta Gerwig

“The Shape of Water” Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” Martin McDonagh

Get Out offers a surprisingly unique storyline that successfully combines elements of psychological horror with dark humour. I have never been a huge horror film fan, however I really enjoyed this film and was constantly engaged. The film had me hooked right until the end. It addresses a particular side of racism as it is set in the post-obama era. It connects historical themes of slavery with the contemporary nature of white people being envious of black people. The story line is captivating and innovative and hence why I think it should win best original screenplay.

Technical

Cinematography

“Blade Runner 2049” Roger Deakins

“Darkest Hour” Bruno Delbonnel

“Dunkirk” Hoyte van Hoytema

“Mudbound” Rachel Morrison

“The Shape of Water” Dan Laustsen

Without a doubt. Every single frame in Blade Runner 2049 is a piece of art. The cinematography in Dunkirk of course is spectacular and captivating and don’t even get me started on the lighting in The Shape of Water, however Blade Runner 2049 is so visually stunning that the light almost feels alive. Roger Deakins paints a picture almost frighteningly realistic as the audience faces the realities of human nature. The cinematography highlights the importance of the visual in science fiction films and is a refreshingly unique and powerful aspect that makes Blade Runner 2049 so incredible.

Visual Effects

“Blade Runner 2049” John Nelson, Paul Lambert, Richard R. Hoover and Gerd Nefzer

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner and Dan Sudick

“Kong: Skull Island” Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, ScottBenza and Mike Meinardus

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Chris Corbould and Neal Scanlan

“War for the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Joel Whist

Even though I am obsessed with the visuals in Blade Runner 2049, I think it is about time that Planet of the Apes is recognised for the stunning visual effects. Weta Digital has once again proved themselves to be one of the best in the business as they bring these apes to life. Their performance capture technology is so innovative that it captures the smallest details of Andy Serkis’s facial expressions and manages to translate it onto the ever realistic ape. The first two Planet of the Apes films were snubbed by the academy and I really believe that it should win this year.

Production Design

“Beauty and the Beast” Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer

“Blade Runner 2049” Dennis Gassner and Alessandra Querzola

“Darkest Hour” Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer

“Dunkirk” Nathan Crowley and Gary Fettis

“The Shape of Water” Paul D. Austerberry, Jeffrey A. Melvin and Shane Vieau

Austerberry, Melvin and Vieau successfully manage to create an entire world in The Shape of Water. The sets, props and lighting all come together to create a magical film. Elisa’s theatre apartment is so beautifully detailed that it took almost 3500 colour samples to create. Each of the sets are inspired and shaped by water from the rusted down walls to the pipes in the lab. So much thought and detail has been put into the design of this film and that is why it is one of the most beautiful films.

Film Editing

“Baby Driver,” Jonathan Amos and Paul Machliss

“Dunkirk,” Lee Smith

“I, Tonya,” Tatiana S. Riegel

“The Shape of Water,” Sidney Wolinsky

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Jon Gregory

It doesn’t take an expert to recognise the amazing editing skills being portrayed in Baby Driver. The entire film is cut to musical cues, which meant that it had to be edited on set. The editing successfully falls to the beat of the music without the audience even realising. The editing is thorough and naturally allows the film to flow the way it does. The pacing and editing of the film is what makes it so unique so I really hope it takes home the oscar on Sunday.

Makeup and Hairstyling

“Darkest Hour,” Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick

“Victoria and Abdul,” Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard

“Wonder,” Arjen Tuiten

Gary Oldman is completely unrecognisable as Winston Churchill in the Darkest Hour. The transformation is shocking and although Oldman’s performance definitely contributes to the amazing portrayal of Churchill, the makeup and hairstyling is what makes it oscar worthy.

Costume Design

“Beauty and the Beast,” Jacqueline Durran

“Darkest Hour,” Jacqueline Durran

“Phantom Thread,” Mark Bridges

“The Shape of Water,” Luis Sequeira

“Victoria and Abdul,” Consolata Boyle

As the film is a story about a fashion designer in the 1950s Couture World of London, it is no surprise that the costumes in the film are stunning. Each piece is so detailed and intrinsic, it is easy to see the hard work that went into making them. Although I feel like any one of these films could take home the oscar as this was a relatively hard category to pick one favourite. Phantom Thread however has become known for its costume design and this could be what edges it out slightly from the other nominees.

Sound

Original Score

“Dunkirk,” Hans Zimmer

“Phantom Thread,” Jonny Greenwood

“The Shape of Water,” Alexandre Desplat

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” John Williams

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Carter Burwell

Although personally Call Me By Your Name should win best original score, The Shape of Water is a very close second. The delicate, beautiful piano pieces add to the stunning elements of the film. The score transports us to this other world as we follow Elisa’s story. The music is what successfully balances the science fiction side of the film with the sad story of Elisa wanting to be heard for once. Because Elisa is mute I often feel that the music in the film speaks for her as it reflects how she feels. I believe that the sound is one of the most important elements of filmmaking and if you have a successful score then you will have a successful film, and this is definitely the case with The Shape of Water.

Original Song

“Mighty River” from “Mudbound,” Mary J. Blige

“Mystery of Love” from “Call Me by Your Name,” Sufjan Stevens

“Remember Me” from “Coco,” Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

“Stand Up for Something” from “Marshall,” Diane Warren and Common

“This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman,” Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

This is a particular tough category as “Mystery of Love” from Call Me By Your Name is a gorgeous piano piece that makes me feel like I am in Italy during the summer and “This is Me” from The Greatest Showman brought tears to my eyes. However “Remember Me” from Coco is an emotional and inspiring piece of music that represents the entire film. Pixar is not often recognised for the music in their films and think that should change this year with this song.

Sound Editing

“Baby Driver,” Julian Slater

“Blade Runner 2049,” Mark Mangini and Theo Green

“Dunkirk,” Alex Gibson, Richard King

“The Shape of Water,” Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Ren Klyce and Matthew Wood

The difference between sound editing and sound mixing is that sound editing is about what you hear, sound mixing is about how you hear it. Screw the 70mm screen, I think Dunkirk should win best sound editing because it is the sound that makes the war film so immersive. The sound editing in Dunkirk is so precise and captivating that the audience has no idea they are being manipulated. The constant ticking, the ocean waves and the ascending pitch creates an increasing intensity that unites the three different storylines. The war film that shows no blood is still so intense and captivating because of the sound editing.

Sound Mixing

“Baby Driver,” Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater and Tim Cavagin

“Blade Runner 2049,” Mac Ruth, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hephill

“Dunkirk,” Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker and Gary A. Rizzo

“The Shape of Water,” Glen Gauthier, Christian Cooke and Brad Zoern

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Stuart Wilson, Ren Klyce, David Parker and Michael Semanick

Sound mixing however deserves to go to Baby Driver. The entire film is choreographed to the sound yet it does not feel anything like a musical. This is because the sound mixers successfully managed to have the action cut to the sound while still allowing the film to not feel so choreographed. The diegetic and non-diegetic sound perfectly mix together to make a film based around music, to not be anything close to a musical. Every sound from the placement of a cup to the chewing of gum is synched in time with the music. So much work went into this film to ensure that the sound would drive the story and that is exactly what it does.

Acting

Best Supporting Actor

Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”

Woody Harrelson, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”

Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”

Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

SAM ROCKWELL 100% !!!!! I was absolutely blown away by his performance in Three Billboards. Rockwell plays a problematic character of a racist cop who’s only answer is violence. While there is criticism of the film trying to get the audience to sympathise for his character at the end, there is no doubt that Rockwell’s performance is inspiring. Dixon is such a complicated character with so many different sides and we see Rockwell successfully show us all of them in this film. Everyone is always talking about Frances in this film but I believe that the best acting performance came from Rockwell.

Best Supporting Actress

Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”

Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”

Lesley Manville, “Phantom Thread”

Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”

Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”

Although Allison Janney is picked to be the favourite and I did admire her performance, Laurie Metcalf in Lady Bird is the winner for me. Metcalf has a way with words that really brings out her performance. She understands the importance of a mother’s role in her daughter’s life as she delivers an inspiring performance.

Best Lead Actor

Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”

Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”

Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”

Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”

Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

Another tough pick as Daniel Kaluuya delivered an amazing performance in Get Out, Daniel Day-Lewis and Denzel Washington were as incredible as ever and Gary Oldman in the Darkest Hour is possibly his best performance yet, however Timothee Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name is my favourite performance of all. This was the first time I had seen Chalamet in a film, and he blew me away. He is so young yet his performance is so inspiring, it is what makes the relationship between his character and Armie Hammer’s character work so well. Although I think Gary Oldman will probably win on the night, I think Chalamet deserves it the most.

Best Lead Actress

Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”

Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”

Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”

Meryl Streep, “The Post”

Every single one of these lovely ladies deserves best lead actress however if I had to choose one it would have to be Frances McDormand. Her performance represents the pain and suffering of a world where so much sexual harassment is happening and nothing is being done about it. The audience is moved to tears as we follow her struggle of finding justice for her daughter. Frances truly leads the film to success and this is what a lead actress does. Her passionate monologues are just as empowering as to what she doesn’t say and this is why she deserves best lead actress.

Best Director and Best Picture

Best Director

“Dunkirk,” Christopher Nolan

“Get Out,” Jordan Peele

“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig

“Phantom Thread,” Paul Thomas Anderson

“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro

Is it possible to have all five directors win? Because that would be my pick. Jordan Peele delivers what has been called ‘the film of the year’ with Get Out. Greta Gerwig is the only female to be nominated and hence I think she should win solely for that reason, also because Lady Bird is the stunning, coming of age film that we have all been waiting for. Paul Thomas Anderson somehow manages to make emotions visual with his lovely film Phantom Thread and Guillermo del Toro who is an extremely close second delivers my favourite picture The Shape of Water. However I think it is about time that Nolan finally received the oscar for best director. There is no doubt that Christopher Nolan is a mastermind when it comes to filmmaking. Each and every one of his films are incredible pieces of work. Dunkirk however is the unconventional war film that I never thought I needed. There is no blood and guts in this film and the simple long takes and minimal dialogue makes it seem rather minimalistic. However the film still has so much depth and impact. Nolan chose to strip the film down and focus on what is important, the framing and the sound to create an immersive epic film. His choices in the film reflect his genius mind and clearly show that he is indeed the best director.

Best Picture

“Call Me by Your Name” Luca Guadagnino

“Darkest Hour” Joe Wright

“Dunkirk” Christopher Nolan

“Get Out” Jordan Peele

“Lady Bird” Greta Gerwig

“Phantom Thread” Paul Thomas Anderson

“The Post” Steven Spielberg

“The Shape of Water” Guillermo del Toro

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” Michael McDonagh

I think this is the hardest year ever to pick a film for best picture. There have been so many amazing films this year. I chose The Shape of Water however because it is the only film that exceeds in all areas of filmmaking. The score as I have already explained drives the narrative of the film and contributes to the beautiful aesthetic. The production design transports us to another world. The cinematography and in particular the lighting is so beautiful it perfectly reflects the nature of being underwater. The story is unique and innovative as we are able to look past the weirdness of a woman sleeping with a fish to realise the true meaning of a mute girl wanting to be heard. Sally Hawkins plays a difficult part in making this story focus on the beautiful hidden meaning rather than on the science fiction aspect, and she does this very successfully. Guillermo del Toro manages to bring all these elements together to create a unique and stunning film that has everyone talking. I never thought a film about a romance between a girl and a fish could be so beautiful and that is why it is my pick for best picture.

#oscars #film #the shape of water #call me by your name #dunkirk #get out #phantom thread #lady bird #three billboards #darkest hour #timothee chalamet #gary oldman #christopher nolan #frances mcdormand #sam rockwell #baby driver

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