#Danny helps Jason find an outlet

[duskyashe]

NaNoWriMo Day #3

[masterlist] [part two] [part three]

Prompt found here

Warnings: Brief description of body dysmorphia, brief description of a panic attack, use of Zalgo text, please proceed with your mental health in mind (⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

=============‹«⟨•·∆·•⟩»›=============

The pit rage was bad tonight. He wasn't sure what triggered it, it hadn't been this bad since he nearly killed the Replacement, and that… that scared him. He'd worked long and hard to get control of his pit fueled outbursts after that incident. The memory of Timbers' fear was usually enough to knock him out of the rage, but for some reason, this time it wasn't enough.

It wasn't enough to chase out the rampant thoughts endlessly screaming in his head, this isn't right this isn't right I'm not right I̵'̴m̴ ̷n̴ơ̴̇̊̏͜ṯ̷͉̞̫̋̔̏ ̷̠̀̍͐ȑ̸̝̥̙̈́͠i̷̬͙̋̅́̚g̷̙̍͂h̶̡͙̀ẗ̸̮͝ n̷̨̼̤͇̖͇̱͂̍́̌̿ö̵͕̰̼͙̥̆͜t̵̢̛̥̤̓̅̄̌ ̶̖͉͎̓r̶͇̫̜͉̙͑̓ͅȉ̸̬͌g̸̹̪̍͋͊́͝h̴̰̞̥̦͖̜̩̎t̵̢͈̙͋̄̈́̌͘͝ ̶̰̖̜̪̳̦̽̓̕͝͝ͅn̶͕̺̯̣̜͠o̸͇͇̾̽͆͛́͋͝t̸̳̠̠̊ ŗ̴̡̬̘̬̜̗͈͎̠̎̅͐͊̓̚͘ḭ̸̡̧̛̘̠̘̯̏͒̑͝g̷̳͈̩͔̜͈̰̯̱̓̓̇́̀͒̇̓̔͘ͅh̶̡̧̡̡̪̹̒͌̀̇̀̒̌̑̕͝͝t̵͓̺͗́͌͊̀̊̄͊͂ ̸̧̥̦̺̯̪̱̤̖̭́̽̒̎͒͛̓̓͛̚ṇ̸̛͍͔͎̹͉̹͌͐̀̊̿͆̈́̕ò̵̱͌̍̋̑̀t̴̡̡̮̞̠̳̫͔̗̘̀͛̏͌̐̅͋́͝ͅ ŗ̴̨̡̗͔͓͈̦̜̘͍̪͔̜͔̓̓̈̄͛̓̈́̇̽͂̔̀̾͠ͅi̶̢̧̮̟̰̘̬̩̦̦̫̞̹̭̙̖͚̒͐͗̿̉͂̿̏̈́̀́͘͘͝g̶̢̡̬͎̬̫̩̱̫̤̤̮̫̯̹̅̋̈́̑̆̒̒͐̔͐̓͠h̴̛̩̟̽̍̌͌͋̉̆̔̈́̀͋̏̎͋̈̈̚͘̕͝͠ẗ̸̡̨̢̢͈̤̹̜̝͔̜͇͉̻̦͇͎̥́̀̍̃̌̃͛̀͐͊̐̾͗͊̽̈̋̚̕͜—he wanted to scream, but all that came out was a strangled gasp and an increasingly pervasive feeling of wrongness.

He couldn't explain it, couldn't begin to describe why everything about himself just felt wrong, why his guns both helped and made it ten times worse. He was spiraling out of control and he knew it, but he refused to put that look of fear on some kid's face tonight, which meant locking himself up in his current safehouse instead of going on patrol and trying to keep the overall destruction to a minimum.

It certainly wasn't ideal, but going anywhere tonight was an even worse idea. I'm not gonna become another kid's biggest nightmare, not again not again not again not right ̷n̴ơ̴̇̊̏͜ṯ̷͉̞̫̋̔̏ ̷̠̀̍͐ȑ̸̝̥̙̈́͠i̷̬͙̋̅́̚g̷̙̍͂h̶̡͙̀ẗ̸̮͝ n̷̨̼̤͇̖͇̱͂̍́̌̿ö̵͕̰̼͙̥̆͜t̵̢̛̥̤̓̅̄̌ ̶̖͉͎̓r̶͇̫̜͉̙͑̓ͅȉ̸̬͌g̸̹̪̍͋͊́͝h̴̰̞̥̦͖̜̩̎t̵̢͈̙͋̄̈́̌͘͝ ̶̰̖̜̪̳̦̽̓̕͝͝ͅn̶͕̺̯̣̜͠o̸͇͇̾̽͆͛́͋͝t̸̳̠̠̊—

"Chirp?" Everything froze. The raging pit stilled, his racing thoughts stopped, his frantic rocking halted. What—? "Chirrup." Feelings, emotions, things he didn't know he was missing but felt so impossibly right came surging to the forefront at that soft sound and Jason found himself flirting with whiplash, trying to find the source of it. Where—? There. Standing hesitantly in the doorway of his room, a black haired, blue eyed boy stood staring at him in concern. The kid shifted on his feet slightly now that Jason's full attention was on him, but instead of tensing and running, the kid relaxed and shuffled forward a little. "Cheep? Chirreep?"

Jason pulled in a shuddering breath and, following some unknown instinct, responded. "Chirp. Chirrup. Cheet." Tears streamed down his cheeks as, finally, something in his chest he hadn't even realized was tense started relaxing. It wasn't perfect, but it was so much better than even his best days at controlling the pit rage.

Shakily, he reached a hand out to the kid, a sob tearing its way out of his throat. He… he needed something, he wasn't sure what, but the kid had something to do with it. Thankfully, that seemed to be just what the kid was waiting for, as he darted over and knelt down within easy reach, but without touching him. He looked like he wanted to hug him, but wasn't sure if that'd be appreciated, which, y'know, fair, but with the kid so close, Jason realized that he wanted that hug, badly. Since the kid didn't seem to want to push his luck, though, it looked like it was up to Jason.

Slowly, telegraphing his movements so the kid could see what he was doing and decide if it was actually something he was okay with, Jason put his arm around the kid's shoulder and, after a short pause when the kid briefly tensed before he just melted into the touch, he drew the kid into a massive hug. Again, the kid tensed just ever so slightly at the sensation, but he quickly melted into it, and soon enough he was returning it with just as much fervor as Jason was putting into it. Soon enough, Jason wasn't the only one crying, and the two of them were cheeping and chirping at one another between sobs.

He honestly lost track of time, sitting there wrapped around the shivering and sobbing kid, but by the time both of their tears had started to dry and their breathing had calmed down, Jason was both more emotionally rung out than he'd been in a long time, but also more at peace than he'd ever been in his life. The directionless rage, which had been a constant burning inferno in the back of his mind since his dip in the pits, was the calmest it had ever been. His thoughts were settled, there wasn't an overwhelming sense of wrongness anymore, and he could feel things in a way he hadn't realized he needed in order to feel grounded, to feel safe. And it was all thanks to the kid, who—who had fallen asleep in his arms, sleepy chirps and whistles falling from his lips every so often, his eyes red and swollen from crying so much, and a fist full of Jason's shirt.

As relaxed as the kid was in sleep, that hand held onto Jason's ratty Wonder Woman t-shirt like a safety line. "Looks like you're not gonna let me go any time soon, huh, kid?" Jason whispered, running a hand through unruly black hair. The kid nuzzled further into Jason's chest as the sensation, letting out a happy little trill before trailing off back into his sleepy whistles. Jason smirked slightly at the sight and decided to just get comfy where he was. "Yeah, me neither. You ain't getting rid of me now, kiddo." He may not know where the kid came from or how he managed to get into his safehouse without tripping any of his alarms, but they could talk about that in the morning. For now, Jason was going to enjoy not having to consistently fight his own thoughts and emotions.

The kid didn't seem to have a good home life, or even just a place to call home, going off his clothes, which were a dirty mix of too big and much too small, and the size of the bags under his eyes spoke to how much sleep he'd had recently, or rather the lack thereof. The kid practically screamed runaway, and Gotham wasn't known for being kind to street kids. He'd have to confirm his suspicions in the morning, but he was willing to bet the kid was running from something big if he was willing to risk slumming it on these streets. Something flared in his chest, which made him tense in wariness, too used to flare-ups of pit madness, but this was different. It didn't feel like pit madness at all, didn't feel mindless or aimless, rather, it felt protective in origin. Like he'd do anything to keep the kid tucked into his chest safe; it felt like there was more to it than that, but what that more was, was anyone's guess.

Later, he firmly told himself as he shook his head. He took a deep breath and ran his hand through the kid's hair again, his smirk growing into a small smile as another little trill escaped. He'd worry about what happened tonight later. Right now, he was just going to rest and relax. Jason paused, though, tensing slightly as he noticed something. He… was he purring? As soon as he realized it, the slight rumbling in his chest stopped. Huh. Apparently he could purr, now, too, in addition to the chirps he and the kid had exchanged earlier.

A sudden, sharp, "Chirrrrup!" startled him and kick-started Jason's purr. A sleep dazed eye glared up at him for a second before the kid relaxed back into sleep, nuzzling pointedly at the spot his purr seemed to originate from, making Jason bite back a fond chuckle. The kid knew what he wanted and how to get it, that was for sure. He sighed and relaxed again, shifting a bit into a more comfortable position for both of them. The kid was right, though, the purring was a nice touch. Jason let out a jaw cracking yawn and settled down. With how they were clinging to each other, he'd easily notice if the kid woke up before him. He'd get his answers in the morning. For now? He was going to sleep.

=============‹«⟨•·∆·•⟩»›=============

Okay, so for this one, I originally was going to add a second scene from Danny's POV, but my brain wasn't cooperating in any way, shape, or form after I finished Jason's POV, so I ended up just ending it here. It's more balanced in the hurt/comfort aspect than I wanted, but I also needed Jason's pain to feel real, and this was the result! I'm not really complaining, I just wanted more comfort ¯⁠\⁠_⁠༼⁠ ⁠ಥ⁠ ⁠‿⁠ ⁠ಥ⁠ ⁠༽⁠_⁠/⁠¯ but yeah! This one will probably end up with a sequel at some point (maybe some time this month, maybe sometime in December, who knows) cuz I really want to write Danny's POV of this, especially the morning after and going forward. So don't give up hope!

I just wanted to thank everyone who's been liking and reblogging my previous two prompt fills! You guys are too sweet, honestly (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)

Also, if anyone feels like I missed a needed warning, please let me know! I sometimes miss them in my excitement to share my writings with the world...

[tourettesdog]

DPxDC Prompt where Jazz has known grief for a while now. The soulmark on her left arm has been faded and blackened for over a year. She’s had time to mourn, but nothing can scrub the reminder from Jazz’s arm or erase the choking memory of air escaping her lungs when it faded.

She never even got to meet them.

When Danny dies in the portal, Jazz thinks she might just be destined to a life of loss. Danny is still here, he’s still alive in some way, but Jazz can’t help but wonder what Danny’s own soulmate has gone through. Her brother’s soulmark is still there too, but it’s sickly green and scarred over by the fern-like patterns of his deathscar. She can only imagine a mark to match her own on his soulmate.

Danny hopes his soulmate will move on. Jazz tries not to think about it and she does her best not to press the issue, letting him grieve in his own way.

Fate is a strange thing, however, and their world is turned on its head when Jazz’s soulmark begins to blaze the same, sickly green as Danny’s.

Jazz becomes obsessed with finding out how, while Danny dares to wonder if he gave up too soon.

-

Tim hasn’t had a good night’s rest since his soulmark bled green. He’s done research, exhausted every outlet he has, but he can find no history of a mark like his.

He can only assume his soulmate is dead. Survival does not coexist with the excruciating pain he felt coursing through his veins, so much so that he thought he would die alongside them. The mark taunts him more than anything.

Though when Jason Todd resurfaces, clawing his way back into Gotham in the same way he clawed himself from the grave, Tim’s eyes are drawn to the sickly green mark on his forearm.

[I kind of went buckwild with this idea and wrote several different branching ideas attached to it, so they go under the readmore.]

Mental image of Jason just being in one hell of a funk, and Tim awkwardly approaching him like "Look, I know we have our issues but there was a day I felt like my entire body was on fire and being torn to pieces. My mark's been this sickly green since... I'm pretty sure they're gone. Like I don't know how they wouldn't be, even though it's still there-- in a way. So like, I get it."

-

I imagine something going wrong in Amity-- bad reveal-- and Jazz and Danny have to upend their lives over it. Jazz was trying to find out what her returned soulmark might mean within the ghost zone, following whatever information she could-- but now they have to leave everything behind and it feels like grieving again.

Danny's still trying not to get his hopes up that his partner's mark would have returned just cause Jazz's has. But he's frustrated, and now feels guilty that his slipup led to them having to leave their home.

Jazz keeps telling Danny it's not his fault, that they mightve never found anything out anyway, but it still eats at him.

They move to Gotham cause it's got enough ambient ectoplasm to help Danny.

But then Danny notices something ghostly about Red Hood and starts getting close to him. He doesnt bring up ghost's right away, but tries to slowly broach the topic. Eventually Red Hood shows Danny his odd soulmark and Danny just about passes out from the adrenaline rush of seeing Jazz's mark in that familiar sickly green.

Danny doesn't know how to approach the situation without compromising either of their identities.

He even shows Jason his own mark. Jason can't quite make it out with the deathscar through it. It kinda looks like the crow Tim has, but it could also be any kind of bird and Tim usually hides his. Birds are common-- he should know.

Seeing as Phantom's called himself a ghost, and it might not even be the same mark, Jason doesn't think it's a good idea to tell Tim and give him some false hope. (Though the coincidence of another strange green mark has his mind lingering on it). Phantom's said it himself that he's been dead for awhile and he's sure his soulmate has moved on.

-

But Danny can't stop looking for a man with Red Hood's build and Jazz's mark.

And the more Jason hangs around Phantom and gets hints that they're very alike (and that Phantom is more alive than he lets on), he starts trying to figure out how he can get another glance at Tim's (usually-covered) soulmark to see if they're as similar as he thinks. (For shenanigans too, maybe Jason doesn't even know that Tim's mark is green now; maybe he's only ever seen a photo of it from before he started covering it).

-

Bonus points if Jazz somehow becomes friends with Tim Jazz being like "Oh hey my friend Tim invited us over for dinner, wanna come?"

For one hell of a chaotic, maximum fuckery reveal:

Everyone's in long sleeves/jackets for one reason or another (temperature or comfort) at dinner Danny feels Jason's ghostly bullshit right away though and will not stop Staring at him. Jason can't feel it back since his senses aren't as strong and Danny's much more muted while he's human. Danny's trying to subtly spill shit on Jason or in some other way try to see his mark. It backfires on Danny and his mark gets shown instead Cue Tim freaking out and Danny, in his infinite wisdom, blurting out about Jason's mark

Then when they all realize they just accidentally all had their identities outed, AND now have to discuss the reality of two of them being halfdead/having died

- Alternative identity shenanigans:

Tim and Jazz being friends and he sees sees her  mark and just gets thrown through the emotional ringer. But he doesn't think he can come out and tell Jazz about Jason because her finding out he died and somehow came back could have some serious ramifications and risk their identities.

But he also thinks Jason deserves some happiness and Jazz is a great person who Jason would get along with easily.

And Tim just can't stop thinking of his own mark now, for the first time in a long time. It just consumes his thoughts, and he eventually decides to introduce Jason to Jazz.

But Danny tags along and he and Jason immediately recognize each other's ghostly bullshit and Tim's plan of slowly introducing the two gets immediately sidelined

OR

Tim shows Jazz his own mark, trying to gauge what her reaction will be if he lets her know they have the same situation going on with their marks-- only for Jazz to just like almost wrench his arm out of his socket to get a better look at it because she'd never forget Danny's mark, nevermind the color.

- Another scenario (cause I wasn't lying when I said I went Buckwild):

Danny tries to lay low in Gotham, but his obsession eventually has him sticking his neck out.

The bats are suspicious of Phantom and want answers. Jason is out of the loop a bit and independently starts befriending Phantom after Danny catches whiff of his ectoplasm

The bats eventually catch Danny with some acquired Fenton tech. The tech is more harmful than the bats expected and in his mad scramble to escape Danny's sleeve gets torn and Tim gets a glimpse of a familiar mark in that mess of green lichtenbergs. It's a sight that haunts him, marred by ectoplasm dripping from Phantom's wide-eyed face and down his shoulder.

Tim keeps trying to find Phantom to talk to him and apologize but he's gone off radar.

Jason's heard about what happened but keeps quiet about what he knows when Phantom still comes to him to talk. He can tell Phantom is more hesitant to be around him, but is glad he's still willing to meet him.

But Jason does want to actually see the soulmark for himself. So he starts talking about his own and they show each other theirs

And while Danny likes being friends with Red Hood, he is aware he has connections to the bats and that getting too close to him could put him in danger. But he sees Jazz's mark on him and feels physically ill because how can he deny telling Jazz about it just because he's afraid?

And Jason could tell Phantom about Tim's mark, but how can he tell him after what happened between the bats and Phantom, and when it would compromise their identities?

Jazz, throughout all of this, has been stressed out worrying about how to keep her little brother safe and make sure the bats never hurt him again, while she keeps unknowingly befriending the bats, starting with her coworker Babs.

Nevermind Tim just thinking his soulmate is a full on ghost in this situation.

[phantom-dc]

Dad Hood - part 15

‘So you need a spell? What kind, mate? I’m in a rush, so let’s get this over with.’

Constantine was annoyed. He hated dealing with Batman. The guy was a control freak, and magic doesn’t work by his rules. Constantine always felt like he had to over-explain everything just to keep the man from messing with things he really shouldn’t. Not only that, Zatanna had put a spell on him, either as a prank or as a way to help him quit. All his cigarette’s kept turning into lollipops. God, he needed a smoke.

‘We need a spell to find out where a child came from. So far we have found nothing, which is why we called you.’

Batman was annoyed. He hated dealing with Constantine. The wizard always acted like he was a toddler with a fork and an outlet. B was certain if he studied magic like Constantine he would figure it out, but he was too busy keeping Gotham safe for that.

‘Alright, let’s get this over with. At least we’ll be square afterwards. Where’s the little bugger?’

Constantine looked around. He saw Red Hood sitting at a table next to a little boy. Cute little kid, black hair and blue eyes. No wonder Batsy was so keen to help. But there was a strange energy around them…

‘The child is Red Hood’s son. We need to find out where he lived before he came to Gotham.’

Ah, so that’s why the kid felt like Death. Red Hood reeked of it and being his kid it’s no wonder the kid also felt like that. Sitting next to the kid, Constantine took out a cigarette out of habit, but it morphed into a lollipop in his hands. Cursing a bit, Constantine started setting up a simple spell. That should narrow down where the kid lived down to the city. Batsy can figure out the rest.

‘Mr. Con-man? Can I trade for your lollipop?’

Constantine blinked. Did the kid really called him Con-man? Seeing Red Hood smirk, John decided that the kid probably just couldn’t pronounce Constantine yet. Seeing the kid hold a juice-box, and not liking lollipops either way, John accepted.

‘Sure kid, deal. Now, this sigil should go here, and then this one-’

Suddenly John felt a warmth in his chest. He knew that warmth, but why now? Looking around, he saw the kid, enjoying the pop and still keeping his juice. Batman asked him what’s wrong.

‘…Nothing mate. I’m almost done. Just need to put this last sigil here and… done. Hey kid, could you put your hand right here for a moment?’

When Danny put his hand on the spell, the light formed into an Earth. A bright spot appeared in Illinois. Searching that spot on the Bat-computer, Tim found a place called Amity Park.

‘Ah, bollocks.’

‘Something wrong, Constantine?’

‘Ah, no. Nothing wrong, Batsy. I just need to go. I’ve got a… previous arrangement. I’ll see myself out!’

Constantine magicked himself back to his House of Mystery. He got a bottle of scotch and collapsed on the couch. Of course the kid was form Amity Park. Where else had Batsy gotten a kid that traded Constantine’s Soul contracts for Goddamn candy? How'd the kid even get those?

Back in the Batcave Bruce was confused. Why had Constantine fled? Danny didn’t do anything? He hoped that they would find their answers in Amity Park.

The next day, the family was taking a private plane. Bruce thought it would be best if the group went as civilians. The city wasn’t very suited to grapples and such, though they did have their suits in a hidden compartment in the plane. You can never be too sure, after all. Besides, the Waynes were in need of a vacation. That’s what rich people did after all. Danny was looking through the window, trying to see if he recognized anything yet.

‘Hey Danny, have you ever flown before?’

‘Of course, Uncle Dick! I fly all the time!’

At this, Danny floated up to the ceiling. Jason quickly grabbed him and put Danny on his lap. Can’t have him phasing outside.

‘Dick meant in a plane, kiddo. We know you can fly on your own. Have you ever flown in a plane before?’

‘Yeah! I did once with my mom! But the pilot jumped out of the plane and left me and mom to crash! He was dead too!’

Hoping to distract from that worrying statement, Duke asked Danny if he liked living in Amity, or if he didn’t remember.

‘I’m starting too. I do like it! It used to be really difficult, but not anymore! Now that everybody know that I’m dead, I don’t have to do my homework as much, and my parents don’t hunt me anymore, and my bullies don’t hit me either! But don’t tell anyone! It’s a secret, we don’t want the government to come and cut me open. So don’t tell the Guys in White, please!’

Bruce wrote down a memo to investigate these ‘guys in white’. Before he could ask Danny a bit more about it, the seatbelt lights came on. They had arrived in Amity Park.

First - Previous - Next - AO3

[aboutcaseyaffleck]

Casey Affleck Gets Philosophical About Life, Time & The Whole Damn Thing

“Time,” reflects Casey Affleck, “is something I have been thinking about lately. It is ironic how the older you get, the better you are at being patient. With less time left, people become better at waiting. But this year, I feel much older and a lot less patient. I guess you’ve got to accept that time is never wasted? That doing is no different than not doing? That you can’t kill time no matter what you do, and that no matter what you do you can’t prevent the opposite from happening either? I don’t know. It’s a double-edged sword.”

It’s a Wednesday afternoon in early January, and Affleck and I are doing the Zoom thing, ostensibly to discuss his two new movies, the recently released indie Our Friend and the upcoming 19th-century period drama The World to Come. Yet our virtual tête-à-tête has become far more interesting, jumping wildly from his love of trains and travel to weightier topics like family, the future and the search for something more, something meaningful.

“I like the idea that time is an illusion. That past, present and future are all happening at once. I like it even though I can’t totally get my head around it. But either way, the me in the mirror gets older every day.”

Like most of us, he’s not only had plenty of time on his hands in recent months, housebound in L.A., but he’s tried to use his downtime wisely. “I tried to use this year of quarantine constructively,” the 45-year-old Oscar winner says. “I tried to see it as a winter season for shutting down and restoring something inside, but I just couldn’t. I’m not that evolved, I guess. I didn’t take up a new hobby or learn an instrument or get better at ‘self-care.’ If anything, I let my better habits and routines fall off. It was all I could do to keep my head above water and help buoy my friends and children when I could.”

As a guy with two teenagers at home — Indiana, 16, and Atticus, 13 — it hasn’t been easy, but he’s doing his best. He tried taking his sons on their annual camping road trip over the summer, but it was short-lived. Instead, he’s been focusing on making a happy home. “My kids don’t get to see their friends a lot, so I’m doing a lot more stuff with them, coming up with activities for the three of us, which they mostly hate, and I mostly let drop. And then I try again with the same outcome 90 percent of the time.”

While trying to create innovative plans to sustain his boys, he came up with one he thought might do some good, too. In June, he launched Stories from Tomorrow, a social-media initiative focused on creative writing by kids.

“At the beginning of all this last March, the first thing that occurred to me was that the quarantine would have a big impact on young people’s emotional well-being — the disruption they’re going to feel is really going to affect their mental health more than anyone else,” he says. “When I would sit down to write creatively, I felt better. But I couldn’t get my sons to journal or do creative writing much. I didn’t want to twist their arms about it. So I was like, ‘I’ll make a social media platform that inspires young people to write creatively, because it is such a good way of working out difficult feelings. And the way I will do that is have well-known people read the kids’ writing publicly.’ I knew that hearing your own writing read was exciting. I thought it would be really inspiring, that creative writing would be a great outlet for kids stuck at home.”

He enlisted some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Robert Redford, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Jon Hamm, Matthew Broderick, Kyle Chandler and Danny Glover, as well as two current costars, Vanessa Kirby and Jason Segel, and arranged for donations made through the program to go to children’s hunger nonprofit Feeding America and Room to Read, which supports female education. He reached out to schools in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Haiti, hoping to create a global community.

Affleck was excited to make progress, to have done some good, but the initiative didn’t take off as planned. “In the end, an Instagram account for creative writing by tweens just couldn’t possibly compete with the quintillion bytes of daily data generated online. I don’t know. But I tried! And anyway, since then lots of other organizations started doing basically the same thing, and they are more organized than I am, and they have done a better job. So be it.”

Yet, adults have been disrupted, too, including Affleck himself, who is aware that, relatively speaking, he has gotten through mostly unscathed. “Am I happy? I mean, I’m relatively okay. It’s been a hard time to find balance and to keep it. I would say it’s been a hard time in my life, but I know that it’s been harder for other folks. So far we haven’t lost anyone, and we haven’t lost our house. And I rediscovered that when you’re feeling bad, there’s nothing better to do than to try to help other people. Being of service not only helps others but is a great way of getting outside of yourself. Also — and I really believe this — I think this time will be remembered as one when our country made leaps and bounds in the right direction; we are changing and growing and it’s uncomfortable, but we will be much, much better. I wish I could see the next couple hundred years. It’s going to be amazing.”

At the end of the day, it’s family that’s keeping him going. “Having my kids around and being able to spend so much time with them has been amazing. It is the brightest silver lining in all of this. They are what gives me the most joy. They are funny and smart and interesting and interested. They are just the best company ever,” he says. “Anytime I try to parent out some ‘teaching moment,’ I find they are two steps ahead. They help me make sense of stuff just as much I help them, if not more. I don’t have any answers, but batting the questions around, back and forth, is a good way of coping.”

CALEB CASEY MCGUIRE AFFLECK-BOLDT feels he is luckier than most. Although he and many of his peers have gone jobless for a full year, he spent 2019 working hard. He had not one but three films done and dusted prior to the start of the pandemic; the last one wrapped a week before mandatory quarantine. Two of these have back-to-back release dates: the tearjerker indie Our Friend came out in January, and sweeping period drama The World to Come will be released February 12. Thriller Every Breath You Take is slated for later this year. “I am so, so, so glad I spent 2019 working that much. It is what kept us afloat all through 2020,” he says.

The films themselves are radically different, but there are a few common threads. In both of his winter releases, Affleck plays a man who has lost a family member and whose marriage is in shambles. In both, he is a man in pain.

In the LGBTQ masterpiece The World to Come, which revolves around the love that blossoms between two married women on the mid-19th-century American frontier, his character, Dyer, says very little but manages to convey a wealth of emotion with his eyes alone. He may seem stoic, but he is suffering.

“The World to Come is a story about a couple who have lost a baby. They’re dealing with the grief in totally different ways and having a very hard time coming together again,” he explains. “My character wants to heal that by having another, but his wife [played by Katherine Waterson] is coping in a different way. She is severing all emotional attachment to him because it triggers more and more grief. She [only] seems to come alive when she is with their neighbor, a woman on the next farm [played by Vanessa Kirby]. He wants his wife happy, but he also would like her to love him. To me, this is the story of how couples can have their relationship shattered by a sudden loss. And it’s definitely a beautiful story about two women who feel that they have to hide their love and find the courage to love each other anyway.”

Affleck likes layers. He himself has many, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he’s drawn to roles written as fully formed characters, not caricatures. With Dyer, that’s abundantly clear. “Crisis is fun to play, [and Dyer] is in an interesting crisis,” he says. “I think he’s a really good person — a really decent, solid, loving person — which is what I loved so much about playing him and what I love so much about the writing. It’s more interesting when there’s no bad guy, just a conflict of circumstances and feelings that get so complicated that it drives two people apart.”

In Our Friend, a different set of circumstances drives the leads apart. Affleck and Dakota Johnson take on the true story of Matthew and Nicole Teague, whose imperfect marriage was strained by his long absences and her affair, neither of which seem at all important when she’s diagnosed with terminal cancer.

“To me, Our Friend is really a story about how petty grievances between people can divide them and then be forgotten when a gigantic tragedy is dropped in their laps. [Matthew] was wronged, it’s true — his wife cheated on him. On the other hand, he wronged her in a bunch of ways; [they] were just more passive and not quite so salacious. He wasn’t around. Matt got to be a dad and he got to travel the world as a journalist. He left her to take care of the kids. She wanted to have a life too, she had dreams of her own — she wanted to be a singer, she wanted to work — but she didn’t get to do that. She just got to be a mom. She was left holding the bag, and it wasn’t fair.”

He spent a fair amount of time immersing himself in the journalist’s life while filming in Fairhope, Ala., in 2019. (The film’s title is taken from Teague’s award-winning Esquire essay, “The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word.” The friend in question — played by Jason Segel — is a man who puts his life on hold to help the family during their darkest days.) But he did not become Matt Teague, which is an important distinction. “[Director] Gabriella Cowperthwaite asked that we not portray the personality traits of the real people. No accents, no mannerisms. [But] I did steal his style, because I had never seen someone nail the dad look any better than Matt. I say that with affection.”

As for the dreams Nicole gave up for her family, Affleck says, “If you were to ask Matt, I’m sure he would acknowledge that he was neglecting his role. He was neglecting her dreams, and that is a part of marriage, supporting what the other person wants. Like all relationships, it was complicated.”

Like life itself, really. This is why he can identify with both sides. He understands Nicole’s pain about the deference of her dreams as well as Matt’s desire to escape through travel — especially now, when Affleck himself has been completely grounded. Since the age of 17 he’s taken 20 cross-country road trips. His love of driving is secondary only to his enthusiasm for trains: Amtrak is his jam. He even fantasizes about owning his own train car one day.

Immersing himself in each location — whether it’s the sleepy Alabama town of Fairhope or the more exotic locale of Romania, which served as a stand-in for the East Coast of the U.S. in The World to Come — is actually one of the most desirable parts of the acting life, he says. “One of the things I love about working as an actor is that you go to some brand-new place and the community invites you in in a way that they don’t usually if you’re a tourist,” he confides. “You get to see what it’s like to really be there and imagine yourself living there.”

And he has — over the past ten years he’s spent so much time in cities including his hometown of Boston; Vancouver, British Columbia, the location of Light of My Life; Atlanta, where he shot the 2016 action flick Triple 9; Argentina, where he made Gerry; Dallas, for A Ghost Story; Calgary, Alberta, where much of the epic western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was filmed; Our Friend’s Fairhope set; Cincinnati, for The Old Man and the Gun; and Braddock, Pa., where he filmed the 2013 drama Out of the Furnace. “I have loved moving in and settling down and living a character’s life and then moving on. But I feel most at home in places that are struggling to get by. It reminds me of the neighborhood I grew up in. I feel lighter in those places, more relaxed. I feel like myself. I fit in.”

For him, the where is almost as important as the who — immersing himself in the place is imperative to understanding his character. This is part of what makes him such an accomplished actor — he and most of the parts he plays merge. I draw a crappy analogy about how the characters are like a coat, which he very obligingly works with. “You have to build the coat from all of the scraps and pieces of yourself; all these characters are made up of little pieces of me,” he says, noting, “Obviously, sometimes they can’t be. Sometimes I have no connection whatsoever, and those are the jobs I look back on and I either feel nothing for, or worse. But sometimes you have to take the job that is available, like most people in the world. You know? I don’t think my dad wanted to be a janitor. But he did it.”

He’s won an Oscar, a BAFTA, a Critics’ Choice Award, a Golden Globe and an Independent Spirit Award, among others, and appeared in films that run the gamut from box-office juggernauts like the Ocean’s 11 franchise and Tower Heist to indie darlings like brother Ben’s directorial debut Gone Baby Gone and Manchester by the Sea. He has even written and directed, most recently 2019’s Light of My Life, a bizarrely prescient movie about raising children in a pandemic. At this point in his career, he should have his pick of parts. “Not really,” he says. “There are a lot of people out there who have done good work, who are driven, and who have something to share. I have never been someone studios embraced as a ‘movie star,’ never knighted. I have always had to fight for the parts I have gotten. And you know what? That’s fine. Let me fight. It’s how I cut my teeth, and it is how I will keep them sharp. You can’t ask for more than a chance to be in the ring. Also, movies and TV aren’t all I care about. Sometimes I think, ‘Well, jeez, I have to work, and there are two jobs available to me, and the one that isn’t as good is the one that is close to home and I can see the kids, so I guess I am doing that.’ I love movies and really try hard to make them good. I really bust my ass every day when I get the chance to make one. I care more about my family than any movie. It’s not [always] the job I love, but this is the reality of my life. But maybe life will be long enough for a few more chapters.

The forward momentum of his future is an interesting topic. At the moment, he isn’t so much planning for the future as he is exploring it, because Affleck is not someone who likes to live with regret.

“I guess [at the end of the day], regret should be reframed as a reminder to be different,” he observes. And so, with this in mind, he embarked on a personal journey several years ago and decided to go back to college (at the Simon Fraser University in British Columbia). He had completed two years at Columbia University, but he never graduated — his film career kept getting in the way.

“I went back to school because I hadn’t finished, and I wanted to think about new things in a way that school can help you do,” he says. “I couldn’t go in person, so I found a strong online school and got started. You know, I’m 45, and I just thought, ’This is halftime. This is where you hit the locker room and think about how you want the rest of the game to go.’ You know what I mean? Like, ‘Okay, we went out, we played our best, we didn’t know what the other team was going to be like, we made some mistakes, we are in the game, so let’s adjust like this.’ Also, I’m not sure I want to be an actor forever. I had made a small pivot from acting into directing, and into producing more. And I like to direct movies. The most satisfying creative experience I’ve had in a long time was being a director. But ultimately it wasn’t quite enough. So I wanted to go study some of the things I was interested in. I wanted to do more with my life.”

Although he needed general credits to graduate, he found an unexpected passion for juvenile justice along the way, with a particular focus on alternative accountability programs. “I don’t know where this will lead me, or why I am so interested in it, but finding and implementing better systems for addressing harm and conflict among kids, adults too, but mostly young people, is something I care about. And the work that I have done so far has been fascinating and deeply rewarding.”

When I ask if this stems from his own experiences as a troubled kid growing up in Cambridge, Mass., with Christine, a single mom — his parents divorced when he was 9; his father, Timothy, an alcoholic tradesman, checked into a rehab facility in Indio, Calif., when Affleck was just 14 — he muses thoughtfully, “I love my parents and think they both did the very best they could and cared a lot. Period. Did I get into some trouble as a teenager? I got into some trouble when I was a kid, and I struggled a lot through high school with depression and substances, yes. Much of it I didn’t even know wasn’t normal. I don’t know if I was ‘troubled.’ Either way, as an adult, I’ve come to see that, regardless of how I compare to anyone else, I want less conflict in my life. That might be part of the reason why I’ve been so interested in learning about better ways of resolving conflicts, both with children and with grown-ups. It isn’t something they teach in school for some reason. Man, there is a lot they don’t teach you in school, huh? A lot you’ve got to learn on your own.”

And on this journey, mistakes will be made. That’s par for the course, and Affleck is no exception. “I have made so many mistakes, but life is the time for mistakes. I do believe people should hold themselves accountable and repair harm they have caused. That is important to me, and I try hard to do that whenever it is called for: apologize for mistakes and repair them,” he admits.

This is when our conversation, as such conversations are wont to do, comes full circle. Before we say goodbye, Affleck remarks, “You know, I heard Bono talking on Howard Stern’s show, and he said something about Frank Sinatra that was interesting. He said that he heard two versions of Frank singing ‘My Way.’ One version was recorded when Frank was young, and the other version was recorded when Frank was old. Each had the exact same words, same arrangement, same everything. But when Frank was young the line ‘I did it my way’ sounded proud, and when Frank was old it sounded humble. Whatever else time does to a person, I think it also does that.”

[source]

[navpike]

it’s that time of year yet again folks! time for me to round up the lot of everything i wrote this year and throw it at you all like a proud parent! this year i managed to publish 217,613 words across 22 fics, with an untold number more unpublished (some of which belong to an original novel i started at the beginning of the year, and an autobiography i dipped my toes into as well!) let’s dive in! 

(a ** denotes some personal favorites!)

DC FICS:

Time And Again (28303 words) [batfam, bg dickwally, jayroy, superbat]:

Dick Grayson comes to live with Bruce Wayne on a Tuesday afternoon when he’s nine years old. It’s a Tuesday like any other, so Bruce settles the boy in and leaves him in Alfred’s capable hands after dinner and heads out for patrol. Gotham’s underworld does not take a day off, and therefore Batman cannot either. Dick awakes in the middle of the night and Bruce isn’t there. Alfred calms Dick down and sits with him and assures him that Bruce would have been there if he could and Dick believes him. Alfred's words can only maintain that belief for so long. Or, the one where Bruce doesn't tell Dick that he's Batman at first and things spiral out of control until people start communicating like adults.

Gold-Plated (1279 words) [batfam]:

It starts like this. Dick follows Jason into the cave, shouting at his brother’s back, while Jason roughly tugs at the release for his helmet. “I mean, I know you’re not going to stop dealing with all of your problems by shooting at them, but could you at least have the decency to not do that while I’m around? Could you at least pretend you still follow some sort of-” “Shut up!” Jason roars, whipping around to hurl his helmet at Dick’s head.

**Every Fiber of My Being (21376 words) [dickwally, batfam, bg timkon]:

As much as Dick and his siblings have argued, Bruce has never budged on his "Keeping Secrets Policy". There's not a person alive outside of the family that knows the secret identity of any of the Bats. Not even Dick's boyfriend. Dick understands the need for some secrets, knows that keeping their identities safe keeps them and their loved ones safe, but when he takes up the cowl, team dynamics aren't the only things that begin to change.

Tremble, Tremor, Shake (2118 words) [batfam]:

Tim doesn’t answer. He lurches like he’s going to go for the toilet again, but he doesn’t quite make it, instead dry heaving once, twice and then slumping against the wall again. Dick thinks that’s the end of it. He’s wrong. Tim slumps against the wall and immediately starts seizing.

**My Brain Occasionally Malfunctions (2243 words) [batfam]:

Dick was shot in the head. Such a serious injury is not without consequence. In which Dick's gunshot wound causes him to develop epilepsy and Jason has some thoughts on the fact that Dick tried to hide it from them.

Teenagers (1280 words) [dickwally]:

Dick and Wally have just found out that their twins have abilities and Damian's been training the twins behind their backs. Looks like everyone's revealing a secret tonight.

**Sign Your Life Away (23927 words)[timkon, batfam, bg dickwally, batcat, clois]:

The Wayne family is a good one, well known, well off, charitable, likable, politically unaffiliated. So when a treaty with Krypton is hinging on an arranged marriage, the Wayne boys are some of the first they approach. Tim is very, very aware that the name right underneath 'Wayne' on the UN's list is 'Luthor'. He can't allow some poor stranger to be forcibly bound to Luthor for the rest of their lives. So when they ask him, he says yes, before he can stop to think if this is actually a good idea.

MARVEL FICS:

**Project: Light (54526 words) [stucky]:

When Steve and Sam finally track down the Winter Soldier, the last thing they’re expecting is to find Bucky with a girl who’s calling him ‘Dad’. Steve doesn’t quite know how to handle that. The others know how to handle it only marginally better. Or, how to win over children and influence monsters: how Bucky’s surprise daughter helps the Avengers help Bucky find himself again, and how he finds Steve again along the way.

Always So Certain You're Fine (2252 words) [gen]:

They're grieving, sure, but they have a war to win, still, and by some miracle, they do it. Or, the Infinity War fix-it that no one asked for.

Suffer in Silence (6416 words) [thundershield]:

Five times Steve Rogers was in pain, and one time he finally wasn't.

**A Hero, Like Spiderman and Better Hawkeye (4286 words) [gen]:

If pressed to answer how he’d gotten to the top of the Avengers’ list of preferred babysitters/dog watchers, Peter’s not too sure he’d know what to say. In which MJ, Ned and Kate Bishop get roped into helping Peter babysit/dog watch, and things spiral wildly out of hand in a Starbucks.

Unexpecting (1893 words) [thruce, valsif]:

When they find themselves largely alone on Earth, tasked with preserving Asgard’s history and her people and working with Earth’s governments to settle political issues, and it seems like battle in another form, Thor and Brunnhilde find themselves seeking comfort in each other. It is harmless, (mostly) innocent fun, until they find themselves staring down at a little indicator, telling them that Brunnhilde is pregnant. In which Thor, Brunnhilde, Bruce and Sif raise a child together, and grow a little themselves in the process.

**What the Desert Will Let Him (5471 words) [samsteve]:

There’s an itch at the back of Sam's mind, that tells him to stay in DC and he thinks maybe this has something to do with The Voice and why he was thrown ass over tea kettle back into this world when he desperately didn't want to come back. In which Sam dies with his wing-man, but something sends him back to live out the rest of his life, because he's not done. There are people who need him, even if he doesn't know it yet.

**Wake Up Calls (4379 words) [gen, bg stucky]:

Bucky Barnes wakes up in Wakanda, the first time, and the second, and the third and fourth and twenty-eighth and sixty-first... Shuri starts out as an ally, and becomes a friend, and then might as well be his kid sister. Bucky and Shuri's relationship told through a few wake-up calls.

Dead Men Walking (16629 words) [gen]:

They don't always show it, but they've each got their own demons to battle. Peter keeps happening upon these battles. OR a bunch of times that Peter was there for the Avengers in a moment of need, and one time they were all there for him.

LGBTQIA(vengers) (3656 words) [stucky, natpepper]:

Steve Rogers comes out on a Tuesday afternoon. By Wednesday morning, it's hit every major news outlet. Twitter has some opinions, and Pepper Potts is taking no prisoners.

**Impact (6087 words) [winterhawk]:

Clint Barton is not born with wings. He is not a mutant, though he doubts that would have helped his case. He is an ordinary boy, until he, one day, is very suddenly not. Or: the wingfic nobody asked for, in which Clint's wings have brought him nothing but trouble until one day, they suddenly don't.

Perfect Men and Other Crimes (2069 words) [stucky]:

Bucky Barnes knows that he is lucky. He still cannot help but feel decidedly unlucky when he hears the New York Police Department’s new policy on partnering regular cops with enhanced ones. Bucky doesn’t have anything against enhanced individuals. He really doesn’t. But he is still profoundly uncomfortable around people who could snap him like a twig. Detective Steven Grant Rogers is exactly that.

Same Monster (2610 words) [gen, bg thruce]:

After returning to Earth, Bruce goes to visit his cousin when a case brings her to New York City. It doesn't go as planned. Or, the one where Jennifer Walters becomes She-Hulk, Bruce feels guilty, and Thor is a good boyfriend.

HAWAII FIVE-0 FICS

Can't Help DNA (5146 words) [mcdanno]:

The first time that Steve McGarrett and Danny Williams meet, Danny Williams is not holding a weapon. He has his hands in fists and Steve’s skin is singing in that way it does whenever he’s around someone else with the SuperGene. Steve, for his part, is pointing a gun at Danny’s chest and screaming at him which probably isn’t helping the situation, but he’s not going to admit that. He’s shouting, and then Williams is shouting and they eventually get their IDs out without Steve shooting anyone and without Danny’s Gene flaring up. It’s a win in Steve’s book.

Situational Awareness (6461 words) [mcdanno]:

Steve McGarrett has a soulmark from the moment he’s born. He has a mark that his dad covers up when he’s a baby, an ugly black thing in the shape of knuckles splayed across his cheekbone. Danny Williams gets his mark a few months after he’s born. There’s a black smear across the back of his hand and down two fingers and Danny dreams of the day his soulmate will touch him for the first time and set the mark alight with color. Steve McGarrett grows up hating his soulmark, Danny Williams dreams of the day he'll meet his soulmate. Somehow, against all odds, they find each other.

Things Unseen (15206 words) [mcdanno, bg konocat]:

Steve's known almost his whole life that his anchor was going to be one of the Kelly-Kalakaua family, the only ones strong enough to tie him to the Seen when he needed to talk to a spirit. What he did not know was how important a cop from Jersey who doesn't believe in ghosts would end up being. In which Steve and Kono are peak mlm/wlw solidarity, Danny is a wreck, Chin is tired and there are some ghosts.

[easyhairstylesbest]

'Dear Evan Hansen' Movie to Hit Theaters in September

Like so many beloved Broadway shows before it, Dear Evan Hansen is becoming a movie. The hit musical, which won six Tony Awards, will be adapted for film, with Ben Platt reprising his titular role. Ahead, everything we know about the film, including the two Oscar favorite actresses who’ve just joined the cast.

The movie will be based on the hit stage musical.

In November 2018, it was confirmed that Universal Pictures had acquired the film rights to the smash-hit musical from Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul. Dear Evan Hansen tells the story of a high school student who suffers from anxiety and other mental health issues after a classmate’s suicide.

The original Broadway production opened in December 2016 at the Music Box Theatre and has been playing to regularly sold-out crowds ever since. (The production is currently paused, as Broadway is shut down through May 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.) DEH was nominated for nine Tony Awards, winning six including Best Musical, Best Original Score, and acting trophies for Platt as Lead Actor and Rachel Bay Jones as Featured Actress.

The release date has finally been announced.

Universal Pictures officially revealed the movie will debut in theaters on September 24, 2021. There’s no word yet about when the film will be available to stream.

Ben Platt will reprise his Broadway role as Evan Hansen.

Platt gave his final performance in the role of Evan Hansen on Broadway in November 2017, but he’ll play the character again in the film adaptation, Universal Pictures confirmed.

Last September, while promoting his Netflix series The Politician, Platt was vague about returning to the role. “It’s unclear at this point,” he told The New York Times. “It’s being developed and certainly if it comes together in the next year or so, when everyone can forgive me for still playing a teenager, then yeah, I would love to do it.” In March, Platt more definitively told People, “I’d love to go back to it.”

As of September 2020, Platt hadn’t formally committed to returning, nor ruled out his involvement. “Yes and no,” Platt told Deadline when pressed for updates in July. “If COVID allows it, it’s on the docket for everyone and something that I think everyone is really looking to make. We think this is obviously a story that would be really effective to tell on film. But it’s a matter of can we make it happen in time for me to be conceivably young [enough for the role]. If the [COVID] guidelines prove that it’s possible over the next few months, I think it’s definitely a possibility.”

We’re thrilled to hear that possibility is now a reality.

Julianne Moore will play Heidi Hansen.

Oscar winner Moore will play Hansen’s mother Heidi, Deadline reports. This will be one of her first musical roles onscreen, playing the role for which Rachel Bay Jones won a Tony in 2017.

Pascal Le SegretainGetty Images

Amy Adams will play Cynthia Murphy.

Adams and her six Academy Award nominations are headed to the set of Dear Evan Hansen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she’s signed on to play Cynthia Murphy, mother of Zoe and Connor. Adams is no stranger to a musical role—she sang onscreen in Disney’s Enchanted and The Muppets. Plus, she performed live during the 2008 Oscars to sing Enchanted‘s “Happy Working Song.”

Christopher PolkGetty Images

Her character’s husband will be played by Danny Pino of FX’s Mayans M.C., according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Jason MerrittGetty Images

Booksmart‘s Kaitlyn Dever will play Zoe.

Deadline reported that Kaitlyn Dever, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for Netflix’s Unbelievable, is in talks to play Evan’s love interest Zoe Murphy. That’s the female lead in the film and will be Dever’s first major musical role onscreen. The outlet notes that she has previously written and performed songs for the soundtrack of 2018’s Tully, starring Charlize Theron. Dever also co-starred with Platt’s real-life best friend and Merrily co-star Feldstein in last year’s Booksmart. Onstage, Laura Dreyfuss (The Politician) originally played Zoe, who dates Evan over the course of the musical.

Tommaso BoddiGetty Images

One of the actors playing Zoe’s friends in the film will be DeMarius Copes, Deadline reports. He’s an actor best known for starring in Broadway’s Mean Girls and will assume the role of Oliver.

The Hate U Give‘s Amandla Stenberg will play Alana.

Variety reported that Stenberg will play an “expanded” version of Alana in Dear Evan Hansen. Originally played by Broadway newcomer Kristolyn Lloyd, Alana is a high school senior whose inner struggles are hidden by her optimism and social media finesse. The outlet also reports that Stenberg will perform an original song in the movie, which they’ll pen with Paskek and Paul.

Steve GranitzGetty Images

The roles of Jared and Connor have been cast.

According to Deadline, Nik Dodani (Atypical) will play Jared, an “enterprising family friend” of the titular Hansen. He’ll be joined by Colton Ryan (Little Voice) as Connor, the “catalyst” for the musical’s plot and a high school senior struggling with inner turmoil. Ryan is familiar with the world of DEH, as he was an understudy for the roles of Connor, Jared, and Evan Hansen in the original Broadway production.

Dodani will play Jared in DEH.

Gary GershoffGetty Images

Ryan will play Connor in DEH.

Walter McBrideGetty Images

Stephen Chbosky will direct with the creative team from Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen returning.

Most of the creative team involved in the Tony-winning production of DEH is returning for the film adaptation. Music and lyrics will come from Pasek and Paul, inspired by their stage work. Since Dear Evan Hansen‘s success, the musical duo went on to win an Oscar for La La Land‘s “City of Stars” and were nominated for The Greatest Showman‘s “This Is Me.” Pasek and Paul will also executive produce the film, alongside Marc Platt (Ben’s father) and Adam Siegel.

The script will come from Steven Levenson, who wrote the stage musical’s book. Levenson is also penning the scripts for upcoming big-screen musicals including Lin Manuel Miranda’s Tick, Tick…Boom! and a Fiddler on the Roof remake. Filmmaker Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Wonder) will direct the movie. Director Michael Greif (original Broadway productions of Rent and Next to Normal) helmed the stage version.

This content is imported from embed-name. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Savannah Walsh Editorial Fellow Savannah Walsh is an Editorial Fellow at ELLE.com.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

'Dear Evan Hansen' Movie to Hit Theaters in September

[robronspoilers]

Metro: Danny Miller Interview

Speaking about the storyline and how Aaron is feeling about baby-gate right now, Danny pondered: ‘It’s quite confusing for him as Robert is saying that he doesn’t want to have anything to do with the baby and just work on his relationship with Aaron without Rebecca and the baby. At that moment, he is a little bit easier around the issue as he thinks Robert is being honest with him.

‘But because Aaron is more on board with it, it makes it easier for Robert to keep things back from Aaron, which is a big no no as Aaron is really loyal and honest and wants the same in return. So what’s hard is Robert is not being totally up front with him and that’s what is stopping Aaron accepting it as he just doesn’t know what is still to come out.’

One such lie that Aaron is about to discover is that Robert has been sitting on a wad of cash after making a deal with Lawrence – so when Robert presents him with this case of banknotes that they can spend at will, he doesn’t get the reaction that he was hoping for.

Danny shared: ‘This investment from Lawrence is something that Robert never told Aaron about so it’s just another lie that he has told. They got themselves into trouble with Ross and the drugs that could have easily landed Aaron back in prison and Aaron was doing it because he thought Robert was skint. ‘There’s also the fact that Sarah needed treatment a while back and Robert didn’t even mention that he had this money. Aaron is flippant with it – money has never bothered him – so he suggests he throws it in the fire! And Robert still sees it as an opportunity to prove that he still has love there for Aaron.’

When Robert does indeed call Aaron’s bluff, the pair quickly work together to try and rescue as much of the money as they can from the flames – and it bonds them back together again as they make up.

On whether Aaron has forgiven Robert for the night he spent with Rebecca, Danny genuinely believes that Aaron is doing his very best but reckons he could be bottling up a lot more pain about it than he is letting on. He said: ‘It’s not easy for him to forgive Robert. He’s not deliberately throwing it back in his face so in that sense he has forgiven him but there are a couple of sore points that Aaron has with Robert but that’s usually down to his blase attitude about cheating.’

Later, just as things are back on track, they happen to find Rebecca on the side of the road where her car has broken down on the way to her latest scan.

Danny explained: ‘They have just had this conversation about there being no more lies and no-one else in the relationship so, in order to prove himself to Aaron, Robert just drives past when they see Rebecca but Aaron being the moral one in the relationship tells him to go back.

‘The car is knackered so Aaron tells Robert to take her to the hospital. Aaron walks back to the village as he has just had enough and this is another sign that this will keep interrupting his life. He also thinks that it is not really his place to be there – it’s not his baby or relationship – and he doesn’t want to make it awkward.’

While Robert is at the hospital discovering with Rebecca that they are having a son together, Aaron is struggling to cope and calls Ethan for a supply of drugs. Danny said: ‘Aaron has underlying problems and he wants to find a way of dealing with it – the last way he blocked it out was through using spice and he thinks that it will be what will help him which is why he calls Ethan. But there’s a little twist in there and he brings Jason with him. Jason sees an opportunity to further his intimidation and solidify his boss man’s status he has over Aaron.

‘If you look at that beautiful cottage, it’s a real sign of what Jason could have had and Aaron knows that. He is really intimidating as he then wants to attack Aaron around his own house.’

Aaron eventually comes to the realisation that he can’t fall back into the murky world of drugs. But that’s not to say that he isn’t seeking another destructive and painful outlet for what he is suffering with.

Danny told us: ‘Robert almost catches him with the spice and we don’t know where Aaron’s head is at that point. He thinks about smoking it but Jason being in his house has made him not want to live that criminal life and be like him. So he bins it and decides to go back to his other way of dealing with it which, of course, is self harming. It’s a secretive way of keeping his self loathing private as if people saw him drugged up they could have clocked onto it. It’s a release for him.’

Admitting that self harm will always be a part of Aaron’s story, Danny continued: ‘Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to just turn it off so it will always be with him. Even if you punch a wall or something, that is self harm and a way of releasing anger and stress through pain. People really struggle with it and it’s always there. It’s always something that Aaron will deal with and he sees it as his easier way of dealing with things even though it isn’t and it’s dangerous. He thinks turning on himself is better than doing the drugs.’

There is around another six months of Rebecca’s pregnancy situation to deal with and then, beyond that, the baby will have arrived. As Aaron struggles to cope with it now and is driven to the edge, where does he go from here?

Reflecting on the situation, the star sighed: ‘As much as Robert and Aaron are good for each other, they can be really bad for each other. If it wasn’t Rebecca – if it was another person, whether it was a lad or a lass – it wouldn’t hurt as much, this is nothing to do with sexuality but to do with it being Rebecca that Robert chose to confide in and have sex with. There will always be that constant reminder so for me, as Danny, I think he just needs to walk away even though I’m sure the viewers won’t like to hear that. There’s so much to overcome – this week in particular, will it all work out or could it be the end of Robron? It will be a very difficult week for them.’

And there is certainly no prospect of Robron trying to play happy families with Rebecca’s baby. Danny added: ‘I think Aaron would be a great dad – he’s fantastic with Liv and he knows how much kids can struggle so he’d be amazing at guiding them. But not with Rebecca’s baby – I’d have liked for them to have maybe adopted or gone down the line of surrogacy but I can’t ever see Aaron taking a role in that child’s life, unfortunately. There are stronger people than Aaron who maybe could do it but I am not sure he could really cope with that and it wouldn’t be fair on him.’

[donaldflower00-blog]

10 Essential Episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s ‘Parts Unknown’

Over the last five years, Anthony Bourdain brought TV viewers to the most interesting places around the world on his award-winning, game-changing CNN show Parts Unknown. And now, following Bourdain’s death last June, the show is sadly coming to a close. The final season of Parts Unknown will wrap up at Bourdain’s old stomping grounds — the Lower East Side of New York City — this Sunday, November 11, in an episode that will explore the people and places that shaped Bourdain as a young adult.

Parts Unknown had a monumental impact on food and travel TV, most notably because it eschewed coverage of tourist attractions, and focused, instead, on artists, thinkers, and doers around the world, with special attention paid to disenfranchised communities and their hopes for the future. Some episodes were intense, others lighthearted, but the show was always essential viewing.

Here’s a look back at 10 episodes that defined the series, in chronological order:

“Peru”

(Season 1, Episode 7; original air date June 2, 2013): Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert let their bromance blossom on camera throughout the filming of Parts Unknown, and, tragically, they were actually shooting a new episode together when the Kitchen Confidential author died in France over the summer.

The Peru episode from Season 1 sets the tone for future adventures to come: The friends eat amazing meals while discussing the great mysteries of the human experience, all the while pushing each other outside of their respective comfort zones. In this case, Bourdain brings his gentlemanly pal to an ancient erotica museum, while the chef coaxes his sarcastic friend into participating in a ceremonial blessing from a local shaman. Along the way, the friends eat Amazon-inspired cuisine at Amaz, sizzling beef hearts on the streets of Lima, and a rustic hen soup at a market in the mountains.

Bourdain and Ripert actually have a bit of business to accomplish on this trip: They hike up to the Andes to meet farmers who are harvesting the cocoa that’s used in the duo’s gourmet chocolate bars. The friends are clearly inspired by working with the farmers, but this experience only leads to more questions. “Do I wanna be in the chocolate business?” Bourdain remarks at the end. “That’s something I’m gonna have to figure out.”

“Lyon”

(Season 3, Episode 3; original air date April 27, 2014): While visiting France’s second largest city, Bourdain and his pal, New York City chef Daniel Boulud, eat their way through tiny bistros, learn the art of sausage-making from a charcuterie expert, and spend a weekend in the company of a proper culinary legend.

The duo’s visit to Paul Bocuse’s eponymous restaurant, where Bourdain, Boulud, and the late Bocuse dine on the legendary French chef’s greatest creations, is arguably the best food sequence in the entire series. Tony refers to this feast as “the meal of my life,” emphasized by his reactions on camera. Later, Bourdain and his chef friends go duck hunting and enjoy a hearty lunch in Bocuse’s lodge out in the country. The episode ends with another rustic family meal, this time with Boulud’s parents at their home just south of the city.

The Lyon episode shows Tony fully enjoying himself in the company of a great friend, while also offering a concise history of the last century of French cuisine.

Read Eater’s full recap here.

“Iran”

(Season 4, Episode 6; original air date November 2, 2014): Throughout its 12 seasons, Parts Unknown often showed audiences what life was like in places that aren’t often featured on Western television: The Iran episode is arguably the most important one in that regard. “All I can tell you is, the Iran I’ve seen on TV and read about in the papers, it’s a much bigger picture,” Bourdain remarks. “Let’s put it this way: It’s complicated.”

Bourdain is immediately surprised by the warm welcome he receives everywhere he goes, and he’s delighted by the hospitality that his hosts extend toward him, especially in their homes. He visits bustling markets, centuries-old places of worship, and parts of Tehran where the locals unwind. Tony also memorably chats with married journalists Jason Rezaian and Yeganeh Salehi about the local way of life. As noted at the end of the show, Rezaian and Yeganeh were both imprisoned shortly after filming this episode in 2014; Salehi was released after a few months, but Rezaian was kept in an Iranian prison until 2016. Bourdain remained a vocal advocate for Rezaian until his release.

After the TV host died, Rezaian told CNN: “The show actually had nothing to do with us being arrested, and if anything I think our appearance there — with really one of the most beloved television personalities, and people, of our generation — raised awareness in a different kind of way that nothing else could have.”

Read Eater’s full recap here.

“Massachusetts”

(Season 4, Episode 7; original air date November 9, 2014): A large chunk of this episode features Bourdain visiting his old haunts from when he was a young, aimless chef bumming around Provincetown. “[I] pretty much had my first everything on the beach,” he says while standing outside of a boarded-up seaside apartment in P-Town. But the real heart of this episode is its second half, when Tony heads west to learn about the opioid epidemic devastating small towns throughout the state.

Tony meets with an undercover narcotics division cop and one of his anonymous sources, as well as a young woman who has stepped back from the brink of heroin addiction and is constantly looking out for addicts in need of help. Tony knows these struggles all too well: One of the episode’s last scenes shows Bourdain talking to a group of recovering addicts about his own past drug use. “I’ll tell you something really shameful about myself,” Bourdain remarks. “The first time I shot up I looked at myself in the mirror with a big grin.”

Read Eater’s full recap here.

“Hanoi”

(Season 8, Episode 1; original air date September 25, 2016): Bourdain clearly loves the capitol of Vietnam, a city he says “grabs you and doesn’t let you go.”

On this very special episode, Tony gets to introduce President Barack Obama to one of his favorite Hanoi activities: eating the pork and noodle dish bun cha and drinking local beer from the bottle. During their convivial meal at a small noodle shop outfitted with stools and tiny tables, Bourdain and Obama discuss the sensory elements of travel, the dining habits of their children, and whether or not it’s ever acceptable to put ketchup on hot dogs (Obama deems that it’s “not acceptable past the age of eight”).

Elsewhere in the episode, Bourdain eats streetside snails in the Old Quarter, and freshly caught squid aboard a steamer ship. The host also chats with a family in a floating fishing village about how the culture and economy in Vietnam are always changing.

Read Eater’s full recap here.

“Houston”

(Season 8, Episode 5; original air date October 30, 2016): Bourdain enters Houston with a goal of ripping up the white-washed image of the city that often finds its way on TV — the one that leans into cowboy hats, the oil industry, NASA, and football. “Close minded, prejudicial, quick to make assumptions about places different than where we grew up,” Bourdain says in the episode’s intro. “I’m talking about me and people like me who are way too comfortable thinking of Texas as a big space filled with intolerant and variably right-wing white people waddling between the fast-food outlet and the gun store.”

During his stay, Bourdain meets with the owners of the Acapulco Ballroom, a popular quinceañera venue for the local Mexican-American community. He visits high school principal and Vietnamese refugee Jonathan N. Trinh, who oversees a student body that hails from 70 different countries. He hangs out with local hip-hop star Slim Thug and learns about local “slab” car culture. And he ends his trip by visiting the Houston Indian Cricket Club, where the game day snacks involve tandoori chicken and “some spicy, tender, and totally delicious curried goat, and made-to-order potato masala dosas.”

Read Eater’s full recap here.

“Rome”

(Season 8, episode 9; original air date December 4, 2016): In a clear homage to filmmaker Pier Pasolini, the Rome episode showcases the working-class neighborhoods of the Eternal City. “This is about people, often extraordinary ones, living their lives in the Rome you don’t see much in the travel guides or TV shows,” Bourdain says at the start of the show.

It’s here, on camera, that Bourdain meets his future girlfriend, filmmaker/actress/activist Asia Argento. They go to a boxing arena where spaghetti is served to attendees during the match. Argento brings him to her home, where they enjoy a rustic meal with her family. And later, they go ambling among the Brutalist ruins of the Mussolini area. Like many of the best episodes of Parts Unknown, Bourdain seems creatively charged by the people and places he meets along the way.

“Rome is a city where you find the most extraordinary pleasures in the most ordinary things,” Bourdain says while dining in a trattoria, “like this place which I’m not ever going to tell you the name of.”

Read Eater’s full recap here.

“Los Angeles”

(Season 9, Episode 1; original air date April 30, 2017): The first Parts Unknown episode to air during the Trump administration is a passionate celebration of LA’s Latinx community, and the immigrant workers who drive so many of the city’s industries. “Los Angeles, like much of California, used to be part of Mexico,” Bourdain says in the intro. “Now Mexico, or a whole lot of Mexicans, are a vital part of us.”

Bourdain meets with community activist Elisa Sol Garcia, tattoo artist Mister Cartoon, actor Danny Trejo, and MMA fighters Nick and Nate Diaz. Throughout his LA sojourn, the host samples some of the city’s myriad Mexican specialties, from tongue tacos to traditional Oaxacan moles to Ray Garcia’s modern cuisine at Broken Spanish, all the while emphasizing the importance of Latinx chefs in the American food scene.

“I worked in French and Italian restaurants my whole career, but really, if I think about it, they were Mexican restaurants and Ecuadorian restaurants, because the majority of the cooks and the people working with me were from those countries,” Bourdain remarks. “That’s who, you know, picked me up when I fell down; who showed me what to do when I walked in and didn’t know anything and nobody knew my name.”

Read Eater’s full recap here.

“Laos”

(Season 9, Episode 4; original air date May 14, 2017): Although he eats some terrific local delicacies in this episode — including steaming bowls of khao soi and charcoal-grilled squid skewers — the majority of Bourdain’s visit focuses on the tragic story of how Laos became “the most heavily bombed country per capita in the history of the world.”

Tony spends a lot of time in Hmong villages discussing the bomb clean-up from the war, and sees, first-hand, why it’s so difficult to remove the unexploded ordnances. Bourdain also explores the country’s complicated relationship with the United States, and meets the aid workers trying to help the country bounce back. “Here, on one hand, we have Americans dropping bombs that at the time blow this child up, and then there are American doctors to put them back together,” Bourdain says.

Read Eater’s full recap here.

“Kenya”

(Season 12, Episode 1; original air date September 23, 2018): A big part of Bourdain’s appeal on Parts Unknown is that he seemingly lived an enviable life, bouncing around the world, surrounded by fascinating people and delectable things to eat. And the joy of this episode is seeing a bona fide Bourdain fan — fellow CNN host W. Kamau Bell — join him on one of his adventures for the very first time.

Tony is a benevolent traveling companion, imparting various bits of wisdom to Bell on his first trip to Africa, and the United Shades of America host seems thrilled to be rolling with Bourdain and experiencing the local culture for the first time. While sitting atop a mountain on safari, with a drink in hand, Bell turns to Bourdain and says, “The idea that I’m sitting here with you doing this now, knowing where my life and career have come, it’s pretty cool.”

The Kenya episode was the first to air since Bourdain’s death, and the last to feature his full participation. It’s a great way to remember this TV legend, particularly because Bell’s commentary highlights the reason why audiences loved Bourdain so much throughout his career: He kept exploring, never talked down to anyone, and always brought us along for the ride.

Read Eater’s Full recap here.

Eat, Drink, Watch.

Food entertainment news and streaming recommendations every Friday

By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and European users agree to the data transfer policy.

Source: https://www.eater.com/2018/11/10/18079924/anthony-bourdain-parts-unknown-cnn-best-episodes

[flauntpage]

The Outlet Pass: Trae Young is Master of the Impossible Pass

Trae Young's Passing is...

Trae Young’s notorious three-point shot has yet to come around—he takes some exceptionally difficult shots and has made fewer than 30 percent of them—but he might already be one of the best passers in the NBA, top ten in every category worth mentioning with an undeniably positive impact on teammates. Atlanta’s assist rate is 66 percent with Young on the floor and 56.8 percent—a team low—when he’s not. (That disparity equals the gap between being third and 19th in the league right now.)

As Hawks GM Travis Schlenk recently told The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears: “He got a lot of notoriety for his deep shooting in college, which is obviously great. But his court vision at his age, 19 years old, to be able to see the floor like he does, and ability to pass left hand, right hand, off the bounce, hitting the guys down the floor, that is what really stood out.”

Young doesn’t pound the ball or even have to penetrate in order to draw help and find an open man. Guys simply run the floor faster and cut into space harder, knowing he’ll hit them on the money if/when they get open. His kick aheads alone deserve to be nominated by the MacArthur Fellows Program. This brings us to a pair of his passes that, so far, are probably my two favorite of the entire season.

The first came a few days ago against Miami. Young was trapped high on the right wing and appeared to have his whole line of sight blocked, but a quick up-fake lifted Bam Adebayo off his feet and out of position. Young then pivoted middle and, using his left arm, fired a blind cannon at Omari Spellman who was standing in the weak-side corner. The ball must've traveled at least 35 feet before it arrived in Spellman's shot pocket a split second before the defense’s rotation.

Words don’t do this pass justice. It’s something only a prodigy would think of, and immediately makes you fantasize about the realms of Young’s potential that have yet to be realized. He’ll never shoot as well as Steph Curry, but he already has the same range. Mix that with an unselfishly inventive approach to commanding Atlanta’s offense and it’s not insane to think he can lead the league in assists and scoring some day—the former is a borderline guarantee.

The next pass came during a nationally televised game against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks. (For the record, even before Atlanta uses the future pick Dallas gave them to move up on draft night, it appears both teams won that trade!). Young rebounds a missed three, takes two dribbles, then whips a one-handed line drive at Taurean Prince as he streaks up the left sideline. A corner three is essentially created out of thin air!

Film Session: Milwaukee’s Defense May Need to Change

The Milwaukee Bucks have a top-three defense and, whether Giannis Antetokounmpo is on the floor or not, are brick-walling opponents with a game-plan that couldn't be more different from the blitz-happy aggression encouraged by Jason Kidd over the past few seasons. Once upon a time, Milwaukee’s goal was to sew the game with chaos. They'd trap, recover, and scramble all over the court. It was compelling, controversial, and, given Milwaukee’s unprecedented length, theoretically a good fit. The Bucks forced a ton of turnovers and occasionally made Kidd look like he knew what he was doing, but they were inevitably done in by poor communication, missed rotations, and untenable execution. Pure talent and questionable shot selection aside, it was their defensive issues—Milwaukee surrendered a ton of corner threes and layups—that weighed them down.

Milwaukee isn’t playing like that anymore, which is ironic because their new head coach, Mike Budenholzer, enforced a similar strategy in Atlanta. Instead, they’ve adopted a conservative base defense—right now they rank 27th in opposing turnover percentage—that was en vogue half a decade ago but has since been swallowed whole by the three-point revolution.

The approach plays out as such: When offensive bigs run up to set ball and flair screens, Milwaukee’s defenders will drop back and stay in the paint. They want ball handlers to either meet their length at the rim or submit via a mid-range pull up. So far, so good! Only four teams are forcing more long twos; after they finished dead last in opponent shot frequency at the rim in 2017-18 and 2015-16, the Bucks currently rank first.

For the regular season, it’s a low-risk, medium-reward tactic that fits their personnel and maintains order. Switching is mostly frowned upon, which simplifies defensive rebounding (long an issue for the Bucks) and reduces the negative side effects that long rotations tend to have, which is evident when you look at how often they foul shooters relative to the past four years.

It feels unfair to attack something that’s obviously working, but this scheme can only do so much against the best offenses in the league. This is something I touched on in greater detail earlier this week in a column about Joel Embiid’s individual defense, but the same principles apply: Against the league’s most potent offenses, any plan that doesn’t account for pull-up threes is antiquated and futile. And guess what: Milwaukee is allowing a higher three-point rate above-the-break than any team in the league!

In the Bucks' season opener, the Charlotte Hornets went 16-for-38 from deep. The Kawhi Leonard-less Toronto Raptors went 9-for-45 (Kyle Lowry took nine threes and missed them all). Milwaukee's first loss came against a Boston Celtics team that jacked up 55 triples (more than ever before in franchise history) and tied a league-record by making 24 of them. The Sacramento Kings finished 14-for-36 and, in Milwaukee’s second loss, the Portland Trail Blazers drilled 17 of their 43 tries.

None of this is a coincidence. The Bucks want teams to take floaters and tough mid-range jump shots, but in doing so they’re conceding a ton of pull-up threes. Even though the Golden State Warriors don’t like running a bunch of high pick-and-rolls with Steph Curry, Fiserv Forum would spontaneously combust if they did.

Five years ago, guards and wings (and some forwards!) didn’t have the freedom to jack threes up off the bounce. During the 2013-14 NBA season, only four teams launched more than six pull-up threes per game. Today, two-thirds of the league eclipse that volume. What Milwaukee wants/needs is for the ball-handler's man to earn his money at the point of attack. Either fight over a screen and take away the shot by pressuring from behind, or duck underneath and either allow a poor shooter to shoot his shot or recover in time to take it away.

This is where Milwaukee’s length and tenacity comes into play. Khris Middleton, Giannis, Malcolm Brogdon, Eric Bledsoe, and Donte DiVincenzo are not terrible at navigating on-ball screens. But against just about anyone, it’s still extremely difficult work.

But pull ups aren’t the only threat. The league has never had more big men who can and will stab you from beyond the arc. And when their man is deep in the paint, trying to stop penetration, a kick back pass usually results in an open look.

Bledsoe has no interest in switching onto Al Horford, knowing it would let Kyrie Irving surgically remove Brook Lopez’s ankles from his body. But it’s unclear if leaving Horford wide open is a better strategy.

It makes sense to drop Lopez and Ersan Ilyasova because rim protection is good and neither guy is particularly mobile in space. But to have them do so while seemingly ignoring specific matchups is not the wisest move. Watch how the Celtics take advantage by having Horford set a flare screen for Irving. Ilyasova might as well take a nap.

And the strategy applies across the board! Why don’t Giannis and Malcolm Brogdon make life easier for everyone involved by switching this? Instead they give up an open three to a good three-point shooter.

This brings us to the future, and how Milwaukee will solve a problem that doesn’t currently exist. They may not feel this way, but adding an athletic big who’s more comfortable switching and scurrying on the perimeter—while still providing offensive substance—should be a priority before the trade deadline.

If they run into an opponent who plays Lopez off the floor, the rangier Thon Maker isn’t good enough to fill those minutes. The Bucks struggled mightily with Giannis at the five last season, too. (That doesn’t mean it can’t work—they have more two-way players this year—but assuming Budenholzer doesn’t venture too far from a formula that’s yielding terrific results throughout the regular season, how hard will it be for the Bucks to adjust after a sharp left turn in the playoffs?)

It’s a fascinating conundrum and one worth keeping an eye on as the season goes on. Milwaukee’s legitimacy as a true title contender may hinge on it.

Josh Jackson is Drowning

It feels like yesterday, right around the 2017 NBA draft, when it became clear that Josh Jackson did not want to get drafted by the Boston Celtics, a winning organization that couldn’t offer the same opportunistic environment (in terms of shots and playing time) lottery picks of his stature normally step into. He cancelled a workout that was to be held in Sacramento while Danny Ainge, Mike Zarren, and Brad Stevens were literally in the air flying to it, which probably made the decision to take Jayson Tatum that much easier.

As the saying goes: Be careful what you wish for. Jackson was instead picked by a dysfunctional organization that also has quite a bit of young talent. So much, in fact, that Phoenix’s coaching staff can’t find time for Jackson to contribute. His PER is 2.1, and his minutes are drying up.

Before the Suns even trade for a starting point guard—assuming that day comes this season—they already have so many mouths to feed at Jackson’s general position. (And that’s also before you mention Deandre Ayton, the first overall pick who needs reps and touches.) Devin Booker, Trevor Ariza, T.J. Warren, and Mikal Bridges are all better than Jackson right now. He can’t shoot from literally anywhere and has a comically abysmal turnover rate that’s a couple mistakes from becoming the league’s worst, per Cleaning The Glass.

Jackson’s trade value has never been lower, and the long-term consequences of his current struggle loom over an organization that might’ve squandered three top-five picks in the past six drafts. That’s not a great way to rebuild! If Jackson can’t be much more than Tony Allen (in an era where Tony Allen couldn’t even be Tony Allen), it’d be a significant blow.

Jaren Jackson, Jr. Wants to Make Post-Ups Great Again

It’s downright strange to watch Jaren Jackson, Jr. operate in the post and believe that he recently turned 19. The strength, stoicism, patience, determination, and technical skill has been unreal, and by letting him do work down low instead of placing him on the outside as a full-time spacer, the Memphis Grizzlies deserve credit for believing what their eyes (and early statistical returns) have told them.

The first time I watched him play in an NBA game, he sprinted up the floor, sealed 255-pound Derrick Favors just outside the restricted area, caught Marc Gasol’s entry pass, and immediately scored with a lefty jump hook.

Jackson Jr. already has a reservoir of post moves, and he executes them with admirable composure. He doesn’t get flustered or worry if his shot is contested, and can get to either hand whenever he wants. (Apologies to Favors.)

A first-class ass whooping at the hands of Golden State’s swarming defense on Monday night notwithstanding, Jackson Jr. is a migraine down low. He’s fluid, strong, and packs a delightful spin move that bigs around the league have yet to figure out. It’s a breath of fresh air watching someone that young enter the league with skills that are A) still valuable, B) inevitably unguardable one-on-one, and C) ostensibly extinct in the way he’s using them. According to Synergy Sports, Jackson ranks in the 73rd percentile on post-up possessions, and they account for 27.4 percent of his offense (the eighth-highest proportion in the league right now).

He’s still a rookie, and obviously needs to round out other areas of his game—Jackson Jr. is 1-for-14 from behind the three-point line since Memphis’s second game—but all that will eventually take care of itself. (He made 40 percent of his threes in college, was 5-for-9 in the preseason, and 14-for-28 during summer league.)

It’s just cool to see him contribute in a way that complements his veteran teammates while adding wrinkles to an offense that wants to be slow. Jackson Jr. is going to be so freaking good, and his advanced post game is a notable reason why.

The Buddy Hield Bandwagon is Ready to Roll

Buddy Hield’s hot start can be explained by absurd shooting numbers. Compared to last year, he’s up 11 percent at the rim, 10 percent from the mid-range, and 6 percent from deep (he made 43.1 percent of his threes in 2018, so, yeah, this dude currently exists as an inferno).

These numbers should come back to Earth—he's averaging 20 points, six boards, and three assists per game—but they're also a sign of his natural progression towards becoming an extremely valuable player type. Hield can shoot on the move, standing still, and pulling up in transition. He can escape-dribble his way into a cringeworthy albeit accurate long two or attack a closeout and then finish strong at the rim.

Even if Hield doesn't sustain his shooting splits (doing so would be super human), players who spend the entirety of a game racing around the court to leverage their gravity in myriad ways are a luxury. Chasing him off the ball for 32 minutes would be my idea of hell on Earth. Last year he averaged 1.95 miles per game, which was about the same as Rockets center Clint Capela. This year he’s at 2.62, trailing only three players in the entire league. Even more wild is Hield’s average speed. He’s one of the 15 fastest players in the league, but everybody who ranks higher doesn’t even cover half as many miles per game as he does.

Defense is a big issue; Hield was repeatedly obliterated by Eric Bledsoe over the weekend. But he’s still only 24 years old, with the stamina and shooting chops to potentially become a more dynamic version of J.J. Redick. This comparison is an absolute best-case scenario but also within the realm of possibility. It should make fans of the New Orleans Pelicans cry themselves to sleep, and fans of the Sacramento Kings feel great knowing their team's backcourt of the future is outscoring opponents by 11 points per 100 possessions when on the floor.

Hield isn't a star, but he doesn't need the ball to have a similar effect. That matters.

Watching Dante Exum Figure It Out is Pure Joy

One of the more fascinating contracts offered last summer was a three-year, $33 million deal awarded to Dante Exum by the Utah Jazz. I say “awarded” because the 23-year-old’s first four years in the NBA were mostly a collective dud. Facing obstacles that mostly weren’t his fault, Exum wasn’t able to write a resume that rationalized Utah’s decision.

He tore his ACL in 2015 while playing for the Australian national team, and two years later had a shoulder surgery that sidelined him for four months. When healthy enough to play, he shot miserably from deep and struggled to command Utah’s offense. Turnovers were high. Assists were low.

Exum’s defense flashed peaks that made playing him worthwhile, but the blurry end-to-end zip he displayed before his knee injury was but a flicker; much of his offensive play this season remains a concern (Exum still isn’t making threes or finishing at the rim), but there’s an aggression and confidence that weren’t there before. As the Jazz clearly believed when they offered that contract: It's not about what you've done, it's what you can do.

Just from watching him play, there are certain aspects of Exum’s game that make it impossible not to want to see how high his ceiling will be. He cuts hard, gifts soft lobs to Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert, relentlessly attacks the paint like someone who’s never felt pain, and draws fouls by bringing the ball low and tempting defenders to swipe at it, a la James Harden.

Exum also has an individualistic flair that allows him to stand out in a system that sometimes makes Donovan Mitchell look like Beyonce right before she left Destiny’s Child. Take the layup seen below as a prime example. It’s awesome. Exum darts to the basket and then, with time of the essence, seamlessly pushes off the wrong foot to kiss his layup off the glass before Karl-Anthony Towns can block it.

Plays like this only yield two points, but—speaking as someone whose bank account is completely unaffected regardless—they’re graceful enough to justify the investment Utah has made in Exum, and part of the reason why their offense averages a whopping 6.3 more points per 100 possessions when he’s in the game.

TL;DR: It’s Not a Bad Time to be a Hornets fan!

Most of the attention in Charlotte should be directed towards the good (a top-five offense and the league's sixth-best point differential!) and somewhat infuriating (the league’s worst win differential...again!) aspects of their surprising start. Beyond that, something unexpectedly attractive is happening to a franchise that once felt rudderless: The Hornets have an intriguing/good young core that makes their future much less bleak than it appeared to be 20 months ago.

Charlotte looks like a playoff team. They’re disciplined, explosive, led by the best point guard in the Eastern Conference, and their new reasons to be optimistic about the future double as explanations for their current success. The Miles Bridges, Malik Monk, Tony Parker, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Willy Hernangomez all-bench squad is crushing people by 22.1 points per 100 possessions (they’re +19 in 43 minutes). That’ll come down as opposing three-point shooters regress to the mean, but the group is still so watchable and quietly boasts a thrilling pair of 20-year-olds who play basketball without a seatbelt.

Bridges is experiencing natural growing pains but already looks like a positionless gem; James Borrego trusts him enough to play in crunch time and guard the opponent’s first option—as he did for a recent stretch against Russell Westbrook.

(This is kind of a random observation, but in comparing Bridges to Aaron Gordon, you can’t help but notice the benefits of falling in line on a team that already has accountability, direction, and a distinct pecking order. Bridges’s role is clear. He knows how to help and feed off his teammates. Meanwhile, in Orlando, Gordon’s “what should this dude be?” limitlessness was initially thrown against a wall just to see what would stick. Again, that was random, but something that went in my notebook last week while I was watching a Hornets game.)

Monk has been inefficient, but Tony Parker’s rejuvenated play lets him work off the ball instead of backing Kemba up at the point. Ask him to worry about others and Monk tends to overthink the game. Tell him to score and Charlotte’s offense makes a lot more sense. The most important thing about him and Bridges looking this good is the effect it’ll have on Walker’s unrestricted free agency. No matter what, locking him into a five-year max contract would not end well. But an expensive sub-max agreement that covers the next four or five seasons is much easier to swallow with Monk and Bridges providing a youthful push. With those two inevitably finding their way into Charlotte’s starting lineup, the Hornets can rebuild on the fly around their franchise point guard.

That’s easier said than done, pending how much Walker’s next contract is actually worth. Nicolas Batum’s current deal erases any path to cap space, while Bismack Biyombo, Marvin Williams, and Kidd-Gilchrist have $45 million worth of player options they’re likely to pick up. The following summer, with Walker paid (and Frank Kaminsky renounced), Cody Zeller, Bridges, Monk, and Batum’s player option are all that’s left on the books. Walker will be 31 then, but an opportunity to reshape their image around their intriguing young studs will present itself.

This Has Nothing to do With Basketball But…

Whenever a jump ball takes place during an NBA game, the world's two kinds of people reveal themselves: Those who want to hear "Jump" and/or "Pass the Courvoisier" get blasted over the PA system, and everybody else.

The Outlet Pass: Trae Young is Master of the Impossible Pass published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/