#the reason may or may not happen to be rhys darby

[nerdyandproud-li]

Okay, I am beyond desperate, can somebody please tell me where I can watch Love Birds (2011) if I don't have Apple TV or Amazon Prime?

I want ro watch it for.....reasons....

[londonspirit]

Spoilers follow for the season finale of Our Flag Means Death.

After starting the season with its lovable cast split in two, Our Flag Means Death concluded its second season with the entire crew of the Revenge sailing off together into the literal sunset—well, almost the entire crew. With Rhys Darby’s Stede and Taika Waititi’s Blackbeard staying behind on land to make a go at being innkeepers, they’ve found their happy ending, which could be where the story of Our Flag Means Death finishes for good.

But according to series creator David Jenkins, there’s still more story to tell, and the fans rallying behind a third season may just help make that dream come true. After witnessing the filming of the season finale on the show’s New Zealand set—including Black Pete (Matthew Maher) and Lucius’s (Nathan Foad) emotional knife-swapping wedding—we caught up with Jenkins to discuss the most emotional moments of the finale, the dramatic action sequences, and what might come next.

Vanity Fair: What did you hope to achieve with the ending of season two?

David Jenkins: It’s bittersweet. There’s death and there’s the rebirth of Stede and Blackbeard’s relationship; there’s a funeral, there’s a wedding, and the idea that this family is going to keep fighting even as they lose members. And then it’s about belonging to something. It’s not just a bunch of people who are desperately stealing from each other and killing each other. There’s a way of life that they’re fighting for.

You’ve talked in the past about a season three. Fans are already circulating petitions, hoping there will be a third season. Will we get to see these pirates again?

There’s always a chance, if viewership is good. I think we all need to figure out what era of television we’re going to be in when we come back and who can afford what. I like our odds. It’s a cool show. We have a really good following. We have a passionate fan base. Max has been great in terms of publicizing us. I’d love to do another season of the show. I’m sure they’d love to have a reason to do it again. You can feel like it’s special making it. It would be nice to be able to get everybody together again for one last shot at it.

So despite the happy endings in the finale, you’ve left things open for a third season.

A lot of times, with this narrative of characters, same-sex relationships end on a dour, downbeat note, where one of them dies and it’s unrequited or it’s unrealized; something horrible happens and they’re punished in a way. So it was important to leave it open and a lot more show to go, but also leave it in a place where it’s happy. The end of the first season isn’t a happy ending. It’s kind of happy. Stede learns what love is and that’s happy. But I think it was important to be like, Okay, these boys did their work this season. They get to have a little happiness at the end of it.

I visited the set when you were filming one of the final episodes. Izzy (Con O’Neill) had been killed off, and he couldn’t talk too much about that. But now: Why did Izzy have to die?

There’s a trope that I like with mentor stories, where the mentor dies in the second act. Our protagonist outlives the mentor and then they have to go on. We felt like Izzy’s story had reached its conclusion, where we put him through enough. And then there was the realization that he is kind of a mentor to Blackbeard and that he is kind of a father figure to Blackbeard. It felt nice to have him die and have Blackbeard be upset by it, because Blackbeard killed his father. But this is a father figure that he’s losing that it’s hard for him; it's sad and he doesn't want him to go. Izzy has such a beautiful arc in season two; he does a lot of the things, has a lot of the breakthroughs that you want that character to have. It felt like: It’s time to give him a full meal. And it’s also a pirate show, so he’s got to die.

How would you describe the filming of season two?

It was good work, but it was hard, hard work. It’s a big show; it’s basically a one-hour show that we’re doing on a half-hour budget. So everybody has to work triple time keeping up with it. There were tactical challenges in season two. Now we’ve got two ships and two crews, and we had the unique challenge of filming the mermaid scene in a tank, and a storm in one episode. I love the fourth episode, and Buttons turning into a bird, and Izzy losing a leg. Blackbeard is saying: “I want to turn into a bird.’’ He’s kind of saying, I need to change. The idea that if you want to have something with this guy (Stede), you’ve got to change. And that seems to me to be the key to the season.

As a New Zealander, I loved seeing the scenery on the big screen—the lush bush, big, windswept beaches, and wild, expansive landscapes. How were you able to use the setting in season two in New Zealand?

It was jaw-dropping. In New Zealand, you go out the west side of Auckland, and it’s like the most beautiful beach you’ve ever seen. You go to Bethells Beach, and you can turn the camera here; you can shoot the entire thing. You’d shoot it a little bit this way, you’ve got, like, a Bergman movie. You go to the ocean, you’ve got From Here to Eternity. The freedom that you have and the beauty, I’ve never experienced anything like that before.

The battle scenes seemed to be far more elaborate and really felt like the show was leveling up. What went into filming those?

Jacob Tomuri, our stunt coordinator, is exceptional. He did Mad Max; he’s Tom Hardy’s stunt double, and he’s just so capable and good. And so a lot of it this season was that we have a short time frame, we move very quickly, and, again, we have a half-hour budget. We don’t have a one-hour budget, and we don’t have a one-hour shooting schedule. So a lot of it was just picking our shots and saying, Okay, we’re going to do a battle sequence. Let’s storyboard it. Let’s make sure that we know what the stunts are going to be, and let’s make sure that the location is spectacular. So we shoot it on that sandbar behind Bethells Beach, and it was like a dune which went on forever…. A lot of it is just seeing what New Zealand has to offer geographically. And then deciding, yes, let’s do that, and then building it around that, and then making sure that we’ve planned enough, that we can pull it off in a way that’s safe but also has enough size.

What was the idea behind having Stede as a merman in episode 3?

The idea was to make something that was just beautiful, and to get beauty and have beauty around them seeing each other again and their need for each other. To do that and to do it in a way that it’s a comedy, but to do it in a way that’s earnest and genuinely doing it and singing a Kate Bush song. We hit on the idea of a mermaid early on in the season two room, and [we said], Oh yeah, well, we have to put that in. There can’t really be mermaids on the show, but there can be in limbo, kind of purgatory, brain-damaged land as Blackbeard’s dying.

I particularly loved Zheng Yi Sao and the new female characters. I know that she’s based on a real-life pirate. Tell us a bit about the character of Zheng and how she came about.

Zheng Yi Sao is the most successful pirate in history. And we never knew anything about her in the West. She was so talented and so good at what she did that the Chinese government had to broker a treaty with her. She was about 100 years apart from Blackbeard and Stede. So we’re making that up, that she’s in this world and that she’s in the West. But it just seems like there should be so many stories. What she did was amazing. Her crew was largely female and largely women that have been discarded by society.

She was doing a social movement on top of robbing shit and doing everything that pirates do. Her reasons for doing it are more impressive and perhaps can be read a little bit more as altruism than somebody like Blackbeard, who is not a good guy. Or Stede, who’s probably not the best guy. And it just felt fun. It’s like, Well, who’s a cool third captain that we can put into this season that would give Blackbeard and Stede a run for their money?

As a female heterosexual viewer, I particularly loved that storyline. Were you wanting to reach a broader audience?

The first season is a lot of dudes. And so it’s nice to think, Okay, who else can we add into the stew? I started thinking about her while we were shooting season one. And it looked like perhaps we could get a season two, and she seemed like the most formidable person to add.

How do you feel about the attention from the fans?

I love it. I can’t possibly hope for this to happen again on another project. I hope I make things that people like and they want to engage with. But I would say the thing that separates this fandom is the level of positivity, like almost uniform positivity that just makes it nice to be able to engage with. And I think that’s rare. They’re so kind and interesting and talented, and so why wouldn’t you want to engage with that? It’s an honor.

Do you think of Our Flag Means Death as primarily a queer romance?  For this show, it’s important to me just to write a really bold-bodied romantic show that happens to be between two characters of the same sex. I think that the story beats don’t matter, because if you’ve been in love and you’ve been hurt and you met someone you love—hopefully we all know what those feelings are. And then in terms of listening to the room and having a room that’s on a spectrum of queerness and has nonbinary writers, if it's working for everyone in the room, the story’s working. And if it’s bumping for anybody, then you go in and retool: Hey, what should we do here to make sure that we’re getting all of it right and we’re not just assuming that?

Because on some level, love is love. And on another level, I get to see myself in a rom-com all the time. Someone who’s nonbinary and someone who’s queer doesn’t get to see themselves in a mainstream rom-com pirate thing almost ever.

Are there any other characters you want to talk about in terms of their development in season two, that you feel are relevant to the script?

Izzy’s the big one of the season. Just to give him a whole meal and see that character go from a villain into somebody, really, that you can identify with and care about. And Con O’Neill did such beautiful work. I love him as an actor. His character is a joy to write. And maybe it’s masochism, but I do feel like the character that’s a joy to write often dies.

How about Blackbeard and his arc?

He’s a damaged guy. He learns to love and he almost dies. And he comes back. He kind of goes through rehab. He has to wear a bell on his neck like a cat. No one trusts him. He’s like in Superman 2, where Christopher Reeve loses his powers, and he’s immortal. What happens if Blackbeard loses his powers and his outfit but still has to be in a pirate world? Who is that guy? The first season is about Stede Bonnet’s midlife crisis, and the second season is about Blackbeard’s midlife crisis. And then when they both have their midlife crises, they can open a B&B together. The chemistry between Rhys and Taika, and that friendship of 20 years, is key to the season.

How would you describe Blackbeard and Stede’s relationship in season two?

I don’t think Stede and Blackbeard are ready to be married. They’re emotionally saying: “Let’s give this a go.’’ Black Pete and Lucius are a little further along, and I think a little more mature. And yeah, it was also nice to see a formal union, I think, and between those characters. I love that relationship, and I love Matt Maher and Nathan Foad together; they have such a wonderful chemistry. It’s nice to see that couple kind of come to the fore in terms of maturity, that they are in fact a little more mature than Stede and Blackbeard.

A left field question: What level of research have you done on gay relationships on pirate ships? How common was queer romance among pirates?

Pirating has been so whitewashed and straightwashed, and it’s guys on boats confined to small spaces, and they’re also people that didn’t fit into normal culture. And so I do think there’s a history of same-sex romance at sea because it’s people who don’t fit in on land.

To not talk about that in a pirate story is to not really tell a pirate story. They’re criminals and did some really terrible things, but also, like, they were counterculture, and there was a reason they’re on those boats beyond the fact of being poor. I have to believe that in a society that has a term for marriage between crew members, same-sex romance was common.

The season’s third episode is called “The Innkeeper,” which fans definitely took as a hint toward a potential fate. How did you seed that outcome for Stede and Blackbeard through the season? And did you want fans to see it coming in a way?

I don’t know that you could really see it coming. We like the idea of Blackbeard pining for something. Beyond lighting ships on fire and shooting people, he’s longing for a normal life. We knew where we were going with that, and we knew that they would eventually end up perhaps opening an inn.

Back to the whole community around OFMD: Did you feel an enhanced level of responsibility, because people are feeling so seen by the show and have an affection for the show, when you were creating season two?

As opposed to responsibility, it feels more like relief—that people feel seen and they feel good about it and they liked what we did. And so it feels like, Okay, somebody’s out there and wants the show. The makeup of the writers room looks a lot like the makeup of the fan base. So as long as we’re true to our stories in the writers room, I think we just feel excited that there’s somebody waiting on the other end to enjoy it.

[rhysdarbinizedarby]

Rhys Darby on Hollywood’s Writers Strikes

BY CHLOE DAVISON (July 15, 2023)

Writers turn their pens from scripts to protest signs; The Writers Guild of America (WGA) are striking. Waving signs that read “pay your writers or we’ll spoil Succession” and “I told ChatGPT to write a sign and it sucked,” the WGA are picketing for contracts that guarantee job security and fairer pay. These infamous strikes prevent writers from creating new content, and since entering this strike on May 2nd, Saturday Night Live and Late Night Shows have halted filming. More Hollywood production disruptions are inevitable unless a deal is struck.

I sat down with actor Rhys Darby, who zoomed in from LA, to discuss how the writers strikes might affect us here in Aotearoa. The Auckland-born actor is a true Kiwi success story. Originating in stand-up, and starring in the breakthrough Kiwi comedy series Flight of the Conchords, Darby’s comedy has since infiltrated Hollywood. Starring in the blockbuster Jumanji and queer rom-com Our Flag Means Death alongside Taika Waititi, Darby is making us proud over in Hollywood.

These writers are fighting the good fight, though the quiet question of “what will happen to my telly?” can be heard in hushed tones among audiences. We audiences may resent the disruption to our favourites, but I wonder: why do we rely so much on American productions, do we not have our own media identity? I fear not.

Darby shares in the consensus of support for the WGA: “It’s about fairness in the industry starting at the grassroots level, which is the writers.” He fears without writers, the Kardashians are our standard for good television. “Without the writers, there’s nothing happening. We’re watching Kardashians, no offence against them, but we’re basically going back into reality.”

Darby suggests that the reason we in New Zealand are invested in the writer’s strikes, and why we feel impacted, aligns with the reason for the strikes. WGA have historically striked at times of change in the industry. 2007’s strike allowed writers to generate revenue from internet-distributed media, ‘81 and ‘85 centred around the financial distribution of home video. This time writers are picketing for fair residuals from streaming services.

Darby thinks “the world’s become way smaller than it ever has in the past,” thanks to the internet. “We are all watching the same kind of stuff, thanks to streaming services.” Because of this, there’s no longer a physical barrier between international media, presenting one global stage for which media to be judged. Perhaps streaming services are a modern Silk Road, a shared network. Hollywood’s pinnacle, the Oscars, might just reflect this, having awarded the Oscar for best picture to a non-English film, Parasite, for the first time in 2020.

My question still lies unanswered: Why is New Zealand’s media identity so weak? Why are our consumption habits so Americanised? Darby has the answer. He says, “It’s a real battleground for like— ‘Is this Kiwi or is it actually American what we’re making, how many New Zealanders are in it?’ Well, I can tell ya, there’s a lot of crew that are Kiwi because we’re very good with our crew.” He cites the sitcom Wrecked, “that was an American production, American writers… it was I think 90% New Zealand crew.”

“We’re hard-working people, and we’re utilised a lot, and so people forget about that… they think of writers, they think of actors, but they wouldn’t think of the rest of the industry that are working behind the scenes to make these things happen.”

Micah Winiata, one of these backstage Kiwis, shares similar ideas. He says that “physically being on set you can notice the behavioural differences with crew. In broad strokes, Kiwis get stuck in and do the job and complain less, and Americans (typically) like productions to go through unions, following the rules to the tee.”

When speaking with Rhys, his wife, producer and publicist Rosie Carnahan, interjects from offscreen, “I was just gonna say they need to continue to be competitive with filming rebates as well.” Rhys replies, “so we need to be more competitive with filming rebates to attract productions to our country. I came up with that, not my wife.”

The New Zealand Screen Production Grant (NZSPG) grants international productions in New Zealand a cash rebate of up to 20% of production costs. This rebate, though not as competitive as other nations, does serve to attract productions to New Zealand, and may account for the significant Hollywood presence in New Zealand, yet no national media identity.

Economically, New Zealand differs heavily from Hollywood in terms of funding. New Zealand media entities are overwhelmingly government-funded; this has pros and cons. Winiata is for it, saying “New Zealand can fund and create films which may not even have any international commercial value, but are culturally valuable for the nation unlike America, where it is solely profit driven; if there is a market and an audience there is money to be made. The structure of this funding means we can create taonga for future generations to come.” Winiata values this taonga, reflected in his own work such as TIAOI (2021), a silent documentary he produced, and set in his hometown of Tauranga Moana.

However, by building a national media identity on the foundations of government dollars, these dollars are biased, political, and shielded. It’s almost a dangerous premise: where does government media cross the line and become propaganda? Darby thinks that maintaining a cultural bubble is New Zealand’s pitfall, “it’s a competitive world, but it’s really important for us to tell our own stories. And have them relatable… that’s the key, is to have them relatable to the wider world so that it gives them more life.” He cites Apple TV’s 2020 comedy-drama Ted Lasso as an example of cross-cultural appeal and success. “At the end of the day, it just needs to be relatable.”

New Zealand may not be synonymous with Hollywood just yet, but we are far from absent from the big screen. You’ll simply have to stick around for the credits to see us.

source: Tear Away NZ

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

Takia & Rhys are platonic friends, so i'd rather not watch a sex scene BUT scattered clothes/waist-up naked bed cuddling/jumping each other when the Passion Grows Too Great/overheard moans etc. would all be excellent. Also maybe a scene right after they have sex, where Ed's snoring & then it pans over to Stede whose expression is just 🤩🤩 like when Arnold Schwarzenegger loses his virginity in Twins.

Not to be like, a sex worker on main, but this is such a weird take to me.

Like first of reason it's a weird take is, I've done a fake sex scene in a filming situation before (it was for a friend's art school project as a teenager and it lasted exactly 10 seconds so it was like not serious or comparable) and trust me acting in a sex scene is not very much like having sex. And unlike what I did there's gonna be a whole intimacy coordinator and set choreographer and all that shit on set which is gonna make it even less like having sex. Like from what I gather through the grape vine if there's a blackbonnet sex scene is season 2 like what I described what happened was they took the worlds stiffest weirdest blanket that was specifically frozen into one position, and then there were like 5 people sitting just of screen in those directors chairs pausing it every few minutes to make sure everything that's happening is above board, and they're wearing jeans under that blanket, and Rosie Darby and Rita Ora are also off screen in a chair just to make sure it doesn't get to narsty (i've heard of actors spouses sitting in on sex scenes before Idk if that's standard practice but it's a thing I've heard of). So a sex scene is not sex let's just start there. You're on a set with a bunch of fucking cameras, nobody is touching anybody else's junk, they will literally make fake prosthetic junk for them to touch before they let the actors touch each other, and nobody is actually even naked. Like even in episode 8, the least sexual nudity ever, Buttons the character may have been butt fucking naked but Ewen Bremner had one of those skin color tape on g strings that makes you look like a ken doll down there.

The second reason it's a weird take for me is, as someone who has done sex work before... truly getting paid to fuck a platonic friend sounds like a dream scenario. Like that sounds like the most normal scenario I can think of. Like you would already care pretty deeply about each other's comfort level, you would be able to get passed the awkward "so uh, hi I'm ___ I guess we're having sex now" thing because that's your buddy you know them. You can meme with each other to diffuse the tension. Absolute best case scenario. Like that's not what's happening here because like I said they're super not having sex, but I were watching a porno the actors being platonic friends IRL would not ruin it for me because that sounds like literally so much chiller than fucking a stranger for money to me.' I prefer a John I've seen before personally. (not that those two types of sex work are the same)

The third reason this is weird to me is because... we've like, seen them kiss, presumably we want them to kiss again. But that is where the acting is real. Does them being platonic friends ruin the kiss for you too? Because they actually kissed each other. Unlike a sex scene that would not be fake.

The final reason is, like I said, we're not watching Rhys and Taika have sex because they didn't have sex (for this). But we are watching Ed and Stede have sex. Ed and Stede are not platonic friends, so the people you're watching have sex (Ed and Stede) are very much attracted to each other.

TL;DR: Any sex scene they would do on OFMD is all smoke and mirrors. Even if they literally showed us a dick going into an ass (which they're super not gonna do) that is prosthetics, ass molds and cgi. So Rhys and Taika being platonic friends who aren't attracted to each other irl should be of no object. If you would prefer to see a scene like you described rather than a full blown sex scene that's fine, but Taika and Rhys being Just Friends is quite possibly the most nonsensical reason to not want to see it. It's fine to feel weird about seeing sex on tv like that's ok you don't have to come up with some reason.

[danepopfrippery]

Wtf is happening over on ofmd Twitter??

I dont tag in much so last i was aware was the ‘stede bonnet is a racist and u are too’ fluff. And this is of course my take. I only peak in anymore someone more involved might be able to explain better.

Theres some lovely ppl over there, gorgeous art and nsfw art too. But starting lets say may-ish a group of mostly young fans (judging by their profiles most were under 22) started saying most fans were racist for liking Stede Bonnet or Izzy and basically white people and straight ppl shouldnt be allowed to watch or be fans. If u like Con or Izzy (yup both) you were basically a klan member cuz clearly he thinks Ed is his slave etc. it goes on.

Look im white and cishet so im basically 3% of most of the fandom. But i found this particularly interesting cuz a lot of these people crossed over with Wwdits and no one wanted to talk about Kayvan Novak doing repeated blackface starting in 2015. They also didnt want to acknowledge Taika said some real terfy shit when he was my age in 2014 (mustve been an asshole era). Neither man has apologized (or mark proksch) and Kayvan doubled down on it last year.

So look i absolutely can not say how poc are allowed to feel. I just find it very odd they want to lynch Rhys and Con but are fine with Kayvan especially. Blackface to me seems like an ultimate sin.

So moving along… by the C2e2 they wanted to cancel Con for playing Izzy and slammed anyone who fangirled over him. A few weeks later Con made an insensitive comment about a tory having a coke nose, comparing it to a latine country. For some reason that didnt blow up til August. He did apologize and deleted or paused his twitter (he claimed before it blew up he would for filming and this coincided with filming beginning so hard to say). Most of them felt apologizing was no good and this was proof he was truly a racist playing a racist character.

(Fyi my personal belief is ppl should take responsibility, sincerely apologize, and never do x again).

Rhys’ wife is a royalist and when the Queen died they went after her and Rhys for saying Elizabeth’s death was sad. Wife doubled down. Ppl said proof shes racist and he should divorce her (i mean…i didnt love it but they really went after them. Im no royalist and think the queen was a colonizer.)

So then a few weeks ago Rhys Darby briefly replied to a friend that he felt playing Stede Bonnet was like reliving a past life. It was like 2 sentences. Ppl first thought it was cute, then this mob came to feast. They attacked any fan who liked it and attacked rhys so much he declared this is why he doesnt tweet much.

I personally took the tweet to mean he felt like he was reliving a life, not necessarily Stede Bonnet the real dude. But i mean shit if ur playing (or claiming) a rich white man pre 1860 the dude was likely a slave owner. Not a justification but liking a fictional character doesnt mean u think the fictional character is the real dude. I didnt know Stede Bonnet existed before ofmd. Real dude was a cunty slave owner who was prbly mentally ill and an asshole to his crew. I dont conflate Rhys’ bird of paradise bitchy queen with that dude. In my world Stede Bonnet is a fictional character. Fuck the real guy.

Soooo ive ranted nice and long here (sorry i have feelings). But the summary is theres a young mob of ofmd fans on twitter who want to prove they are activists by being assholes to real ppl who arent doing anything worth calling out…while also not calling out actors who really have done shit. Basically baby bullies. And oddly many of them are white so its even weirder. But thats that. I dont recommend bothering with it.

[sunnysideblogup]

So Twitter people have started piling on Rosie Carnahan-Darby after some questionable tweets she sent after the Queen’s death in regards to her views of the royal family and colonisation. I can’t be sure but I think a lot of people making the comments are American, or at least not Kiwi.

The thing is, she is in no way the only Pakeha who is thinking that right now. NZ primary schools LOVE to talk about the monarchy, and from the ages of 5 to 10 you hear about this fairytale person who is “technically in charge” of your country. And because you grew up with Disney you kind of like the idea of a Queen. And then members of the royal family visit and maybe you’re encouraged to go wave flags. And when tragedies happen Prince William or someone else comes over to shake hands with first responders and give a speech about prayers being with you all.

And then you get to high school and you start learning about colonisation and the land wars and Te Tiriti and you realise how fucked up it is that the country that you call home once belonged to other people, and people that look like you stole that from them. And you realise that the only reason you grew up in this country that you love and that is a part of your identity is because indigenous people were slaughtered, and oppressed. That can be a difficult thing to reconcile.

And then the Queen dies and it’s like “huh. That person who’s on all of our money, who was always this weird background figure in our social studies classes, who the PM would always talk about chatting to on the phone is gone.” Of course this is really a Pakeha reaction, because the only reason we got to have that early fairytale image of the queen is because we were blissfully ignorant of the atrocities her institution represents.

Me, personally? I’m staunchly against the Monarchy. My ancestors moved to New Zealand because of the Irish famine, I strongly believe Aotearoa should be a republic. I grew up reading Horrible Histories which did a pretty good job of shedding light on British behaviour overseas that we didn’t learn about. But I still wrote letters to the Queen as part of primary school projects, I wasn’t immune to royalist propaganda.

Something else to remember is lots of other people - especially the generations above me - had very little education about what colonisation really meant for Māori. And many older people still consider NZ to be a “dominion” of the United Kingdom, because that’s what it was for their parents.

Ultimately it comes down to ignorance, and I hope that now a symbol of the royal institution has passed on we can have more conversations about its irrelevance and the reparations that should be paid to indigenous peoples.

But yeah, there are a lot of Pakeha who are going to feel kind of sad. Even the ones who are well aware of what colonisation did. Again, it’s that having to reconcile what you were told growing up, with what you learnt later on, and what that means for your own identity as a Pakeha. Rosie is one of those people, as opposed to someone who’s both a royalist and a “sick of all this colonisation talk the Mow-Rees need to get over it” type of person. There are plenty of them around too, unfortunately.

As for people asking if Rhys knows what Rosie is saying? Of course he does. He’s a middle aged Pakeha man. He may well feel the same way. He’s not your morally perfect idol whose beliefs match entirely with yours.

[hopelesstvaddict]

ASOUE’S CONVOLUTED PLOT COMES TO ITS FINAL DENOUEMENT

It all led to this. With The Penultimate Peril, ASOUE manages to encompass all the ingredients that made its success - adults being incompetent, children being too bright for their own good, self-deriding humor and dry fourth wall-breaking, big emotional moments (good and bad), secret organizations and of course, how could it not end up in flames ? The Penultimate Peril sees the Baudelaires arriving at the Hotel Denouement, which again channels Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel, anyone ? - along with Kit who of course, cannot go with them because the too rare adults who seem competent at what they’re doing cannot be too helpful. Otherwise, where is all the fun ? Kit explains that the concierge of the hotel are twins, Frank and Ernest (both played by Max Greenfield), with each one belonging to one side of VFD. The entire first part of this penultimate installment is dedicated to a funny and intriguing detective game where the three children try to discover who is the mysterious J.S who has summoned (almost) the entirety of VFD while balancing their interactions with the aforementioned concierges. Going up and down the immense hotel - a grandiloquent retro-chic styled set reminiscent of the luxurious Squalor appartment, only make it ten times bigger - yields hilarious situations such as the oblivious children asking ‘Are you Frank or Ernest ?’ and getting a simple ‘Yes’ as an answer, the darkly noir-ish giant clock which has nothing better than to utter the word ‘Wrong’ each time it rings, or the numerous returning guest stars.

Because yes, just like in the book, it seems all the people that the Baudelaire orphans ever encountered on their disastrous misadventures - everyone that managed to survive, that is - is somehow present in this hotel. If this sounds like a big reunion for a grand finale, that’s perhaps not too far-stretched because this two-parter actually works as a finale of some sort. In addition to Mr Poe (sans Mrs Poe, unfortunately), we are happy to reunite with Larry-Your-Waiter (Patrick Breen), still trying and failing to be helpful, Babs (Kerri Kenney-Silver), Vice Principal Nero (Roger Bart) - who himself introduces a seemingly random piece of information on the deeds of Prufrock Preparatory; of course, this show has taught us to never let anything slip past our attention and this late in the game, this cannot not be relevant to the rest of the story - and Jerome Squalor (Tony Hale), still bitter and completely afraid of his ex-wife (though he technically still refuses the validity of the ‘ex’). Originally, Sir (Don Johnson) and Charles (Rhys Darby) were also present; due to the actors’ unavailability, they were written out. Given how this whole event ends, it’s perhaps for the best but Jerome still undirectly mentions Charles, referring to he and himself as an item.

The whole guessing over the identity of J.S is compelling enough for those who like me, had forgotten the book. There are enough characters with the initials to fit the bill, chief among them the dearly departed Jacques Snicket (Nathan Fillion who unfortunately only appears in a photo). But Jacquelyn Scieszka, Jerome Squalor, Justice Strauss (Joan Cusack) or Julio Sham could also be candidates. The first part of the installment culminates in the ‘denouement’ of the J.S mystery as well as the Frank/Ernest question, introducing one last VFD member, fan-favorite Dewey Denouement, the triplet to Frank and Ernest (because in this series, everything works better in threes). It must be said that Max Greenfield does a great job in portraying the three brothers. The show makes the relationship between Dewey and Kit more explicit than it was in the books, which allows two things. First, a sense of shock and suspense, as the pair is seen kissing and we are made to believe we are seeing Ernest, the evil brother; second, it makes it that much harder to watch when another trusted ally is ripped away from the Baudelaires. Just like Olivia (Sara Rue) at the end of last season, Dewey meets an untimely death, only this time, Olaf is not (really) to blame. The scene in question, which caps off Part One, is beautifully framed as everything unravels for both the orphans and Olaf himself who finally alienates himself from Esme. Lucy Punch really nails the break-up scene and leave it to ASOUE to finish it off with a daddy joke. But it’s really the subsequent scene that follows which is the real highlight of this first part. As Olaf threatens to harpoon Dewey, Violet, Klaus and Sunny all place themselves in front of him and reason with him over the attempted murder. It’s really the culmination of the twisted relationship they reluctantly, unwittingly developed - no more running, no more hiding on the part of the children, and no more chasing them around on his account. The face-off could very well be amplified to epic levels. Instead, it is handled subtly, quietly and in a very soothing way. Olaf’s arc continues to evolve and we see the facade cracking further. The Man With A Beard But No Hair and The Woman With Hair But No Beard may play a villainous role in The Penultimate Peril but overall as characters, they are more like the Sugar Bowl, narrative devices used to propel their former pupil forward, rather than formidable adversaries on their own.

The scene ends with one of the most beautiful cinematography the series has achieved yet (in fact, the whole episode is aesthetically wonderful) with the dead Dewey floating above the secret underground library that no one knows the existence of, now that its owner is dead. But again, this is upstaged by the next scene, which reveals the long-suspected identity of a cab driver who offers the Baudelaires a ride to safety after the catastrophe they caused. This season, Patrick Warburton gets to interact with the rest of the cast as his Lemony meets for the first (and only) time the Baudelaires. While the scene is insignificant for the children themselves, present-day Lemony goes to great lengths to explain how this brief and failed meeting caused him regrets and prompted him to go on his investigation about the lives of the orphans, which is essentially the premise of the whole show.

The second part is dedicated to Olaf's trial in what could be a reference to the Seinfeld finale which staged a similar story for its own conclusion. With the show coming to an end, it finally brings satisfying answers as to the backstory of VFD and the fateful night at the opera that provoked the schism. After 23 episodes of obscure references and mentions, Beatrice (Morena Baccarin) finally makes an (instantly delightful) appearance. The flashback is compelling and while clearly a toned-down adaptation of what transpired in the books, it does work in terms of explaining what turned Olaf against the Baudelaire and Snicket families. Back in the present, the trial allows Olaf, the Baudelaires (in their iconic book outfits! I swear, the love and respect for the book material sometimes really amazes me) and Esme to shine as they each take the stand. The theme of morality comes back in full stance as Olaf turns the table on the children and forces them to admit that in surviving, they too have sometimes indulged in grey areas. It's an arc that played out for two seasons and seeing the Baudelaires finally come to terms with it is a good payoff.

This being the de-facto finale, the producers pack as much as they can and there are many references to the show's trademarks - Olaf is cut short in one of his musical numbers, several recurring phrases return - but not so much as character arcs closure. Larry is the only definite casualty of the episode - the death itself was (kind of) hilariously stupid and fitting for the character but it is a bit unnerving to really think about it and about the contrast it draws when Olaf later cannot bring himself to kill the Baudelaires - but the fates of the giant supporting cast is left dangling in the air as the episode comes to a fiery end. Olaf plans to poison the entirety of VFD with the Medusoid Mycelium but he needs the Sugar Bowl first. The Baudelaires convince him to burn the hotel instead, stemming from the logic that a fire will be slower than the poisonous fungus and will allow some to escape. That's unfortunately overestimating the capacity of reasonable logic from the adults in this show and we are treated with a delightful scene where the Baudelaires try to warn various characters of the danger only to be rebuffed; even when adults do believe them, there is nothing further they can do. And so we bid goodbye to Esme, Carmelita, Mr Poe and pretty much all who assembled at the hotel. The feeling is perhaps frustrating but that's exactly how it happened in the books and at this point, the story has worked itself enough to not make us care that much about the characters that are left behind. I must say that I have never seen fire depicted so strangely beautifully anywhere else. The visuals really defy the expectations I had when imagining those fires as I read them.

The Baudelaires sail off with Olaf with two more lessons; justice can be blind sometimes, courtesy of the Man With A Beard But No Hair and the Woman With Hair But No Beard, and sometimes you do fight fire with fire. In trying to prevent Olaf from mass-murdering an entire hotel, they have possibly achieved the same result. The fire thus destroys almost the entirety of VFD, both sides of the schism, all evidence that could damn Olaf and perhaps the Sugar Bowl which was dropped in the secret library. This could very well work as the final scenes of the series. So many things are now resolved. We know the backstory of VFD and now it does not exist anymore. We have searched and failed at finding the Sugar Bowl and now it doesn't exist anymore. We have tried to prove that Olaf is guilty and we have (kind of) but the proof does not exist anymore and we instead have come to the realization that the Baudelaires are not as pure as they want to appear. In terms of what this series was about, this is as close to full-circling as it can get and as good a sign that the end is near as the visual clues - none better than the opening scene from the season premiere where Lemony walks through the now-decaying underground tunnels. Present-day Lemony continues his monologues in those tunnels, repeating that for him, the story of the Baudelaires stops here as he lost all traces of them. Past Lemony is seen sharing a heartfelt moment with Beatrice which explains why he's been on the run all series long and features, for longtime fans, his iconic declaration of love, in a toned-down version of its original form as it appeared in The Beatrice Letters. (If you have nothing else to do, treat yourself to the entirety of it, you won't regret it. As Beatrice says, he 'always had a way with words'.)

To complete the many parallels harkening back to the beginnings, we are treated to a reprise of the song ‘That’s Not How The Story Goes’ while moments from the past seasons recap the unfortunate series of events that graced our screens for three years.

The Slippery Slope | The Grim Grotto | The Penultimate Peril | The End

[owlsandpenguins]

How I Met Your Mother

Okay, so I just finished watching all 9 seasons of How I Met Your Mother ( in under a month) 

i’m so satisfied, Annoyed, and sad. - i’m on some sort of emotional rollercoaster. 

so lets begin. 

My favourite things about the series was ( in no particular order) 

- Barney when he is totally in love with Robin 

- The friend ship between the five 

- Sassy Marshall 

- Ted’s Smile 

- the fact that Ted looks like Chai Cameron, ( i men they have the same smile)

- How Ted Met Tracy  ( so cute) 

- How similar and perfect Ted and Tracy are 

- The Slap Bet 

- The Pray Five 

- the Smurfs References that would make sense if you have seen the Smurfs movies 

-  season 9 up until the last episode 

- Barney’s Bachelor Party 

- the fact that Lin-Manuel Miranda is in it 

- the fact that the episode that Lin-Manuel is in, is all rhyming, and that he does a little rap 

- the Suit Musical Number 

- the musical Numbers through out the show 

-the way barney Proposed to Robin 

- the play book  

- how Excited Ted Gets about stuff 

-Robin Sparkles 

- laser Tag 

- How much barney Loves his mother 

- Marvin’s first words 

- the Yellow Umbrella 

- Ranjit 

- The fact that Marshall’s dad and patrick Star are the same person 

- “ NO ONE ASKED YOU PATRICE”

- Mickey’s dumb board games from terrible ideas 

- I Would walk 500 miles 

- how reliable Linus Is 

- Barney’s fake  family 

-how people think Ted and Marshall are gay 

- Marshall and Lily’s nicknames 

- the fact that Jack Frost was in it ( a.k.a martin Short) 

-that Robbie Ameil’s character was a dog 

- that Jayma mays was in it, ( she is from the Smurfs Movies, along side Neil Patrick Harris) 

- that Rhys Darby was in it and kept his new Zealand Accent 

-the fact that Lily can’t keep a secret 

- How Lily and Marshal tell each other everything 

- How  they all text each other in weird time ( such as going to the bathroom) 

- How they measure how their number 2 is going and send emojis 

-That Ted is the best friend ever 

- Ted and Tracy’s best moments 

- when Ted eats bacon for the first time 

-detective Mosby, and how he is always a wrong by a smitch 

-how sandwich is code for Pot 

-the Ring Bear 

-star wars 

- Marvins lullaby

- that we still don’t know where the Pineapple came from 

- the Pineapple episode 

-suits 

- when barney is jealous 

-the Goat 

- the episode when they point out each thing thats annoying about each other *glass breaks*

-  how Lily brings a 6 pack with her, for marshal when she goes away 

- the high fives 

-that time they were in a band 

- challenge accepted 

-the naked guy 

- the fact that Lily is marshall’s one and only 

- their booth 

-the super bowl episode 

- when they jump over to the other roof top 

-sword fights 

- that Ted is Nerd and doesn't care 

- when Future ted and barney  come, and chat with Ted and barney 

- that Marshal and Lily’s apartment was on a lean 

- How Barney Surprised Robin with their rehearsal dinner  

Things i ate about the series 

- Robin and Teds relationships 

- that Robin is always the reason that Girls break-up with  Ted 

- that Robin and Barney’s marriage only lasts 3 years 

- that Robin can’t have children 

- that Lily and marshal were broken up for a period of time 

- that there aren't more musical numbers 

- that the episode when Ted and barney are talking to future ted and barney, and Robin and Marshal are fighting over a drink name, didn't happen and Ted was just alone : ( 

- that we didnt met Tracy sooner 

- that we never saw Marshall as  judge 

- how Ted was forever in love with Robin 

- that stupid locket 

- how Tracy ended up dying 

- How Ted and Tracy’s kids got out of the whole season was that Ted loved Robin 

- That Ted went back to Robin at the end 

- that we didn’t get to see Ted and tracy’s wedding 

[blockcastcc]

A work in progress

New Post has been published on https://blockcast.cc/news/a-work-in-progress/

A work in progress

3 total views, 3 views today

“We live in a digital world where all is available at the touch of a screen. Money has been simplified, changed subtly over time from tangible bills to numbers in cyberspace. Cash is no longer in a cloth bag; it’s numbers on a screen. Numbers that can be manipulated and modified. If you run out of numbers, you can just buy some more, right?”

Not my words, but those of the New Zealand comedian, Rhys Darby. And it’s not so much funny, as true. We live in a world of digital change, and one of those changes is how new businesses get kick started. Only a year and a half ago, the financial instrument of choice was the Initial Coin Offering, but now it’s reported as dead, or at least dying. Is that actually true? It’s difficult to crunch the numbers because as yet there is no industry which is specifically crypto-centric, only sectors. By one measure (www.listofico.com) there are currently 16 ‘soon’, maybe 18 ‘current’ ICOs, with 150 described as ‘over’, and 862 ‘ended’. Another source (cointelegraph.com) has the figures in for ICOs in 2017 as 717 completed, of which only 48 reached their Hard Cap. A year later and 138 projects out of 2,284 reached Hard Cap, while 438 made it to Soft Cap. So the Hard Cap success rate for ICOs last year was 6.04% – not exactly an outstanding result. If you then take into account the fact that despite reaching their Hard Cap, not all of those startups will have successfully launched, or are now actually trading, then it would be fair to wonder if ICOs really are the right instrument for fundraising.

Step forward Security Token Offerings, or STOs, which started to make their mark in 2018. Or did they? There are clearly many advantages to an STO, for both sides of the investment equation, but in fact the world hasn’t yet caught fire with this. In May 2018 there were a grand total of 3 STOs launched, a figure rising to 22 by October last year. So OK, something is happening, but it’s not yet a mass movement by any means. Part of the reason is that there are many more restrictions for the entrepreneur, including security exemptions and of course the mandatory requirements of KYC. It’s a building site, a work in progress.

Now there’s the new hybrid possibilities of Initial Exchange Offerings coming onstream, and many people are predicting that this will be the new new thing. More regulation, more protection for investors, and an easier route to reaching those investors for the entrepreneurs. What’s not to like? The fact is that while IEOs may offer a magic bullet for some, the model still doesn’t cover all the needs of the market, and according to a recent review (cryptopotato.com/ico-list), with 82 currently-listed ICOs in play, there are only a handful of IEOs to match. These include the OKEx crypto exchange which is set to launch its IEO ‘OK Jumpstart’ in the very near future. Andy Cheung, Head of Operations at Malta HQ-ed OKEx predicts bringing ‘Extra security to the funding process and helping developers reach more investors.’ He also said that the IEO model will especially help startups. Well yes, of course. Then there are also upcoming IEOs from Cryptobuyer, Matic Network, DUO Network, Ocean Protocol, and Evedo. Enough to demonstrate that something is going on, but not as yet a flood, and nowhere near the numbers for ICOs at their peak.

Another route to fundraising may well lie in a return to more traditional partnering or VC investment. One project which I am currently advisor to in Europe has dropped its original ICO planning, in favor of teaming up with a large-scale existing media partner, so clearly some of the older models of raising cash are still valid. However, when we look at the figures again, it’s perhaps worth noting that total VC investment in the USA is to date only two thirds in 2019 compared to 2000. So in actual dollar investment that source of funding has dramatically reduced, as other methods have enlarged.

What this all means is that fundraising in the cryptosphere is still in flux, as all the players seek to find the best methodology and instruments to help businesses get off the ground. As I quoted at the start of this post, “If you run out of numbers, you can just buy some more, right?” Well, no, but there is the sense that like any largescale building project, sometimes the plans have to be re-interpreted, no matter how great the architecture is. When that happens it’s down to the workers on the ground to figure out what adjustments have to be made, and I remain optimistic that we are steadily moving towards systems and approaches which will be effective in delivering the right degree of financial support to new, wealth-delivering businesses.

Learn more about fundraising in the second edition of my book:

https://6steps.online

[pacificwanderer]

Hi! I wanted to ask, since you reblog some fanart but, is Voltron a good show? Do we have some really good heroXVillain vibes?

Hi Nonnie!

I’ve only watched some of the first season, but it seems pretty fun. The writing is snappy and the animation is often pretty gorgeous. Lotor hasn’t shown up yet which is, I’m not gonna say the most disappointing thing in my life ever, but pretty up there lol. A friend of mine assures me it’s amazing and the fandom IS HUGE, so it seems there’s lots to have fun with.

I’ve just personally got a thing for villains with long, white hair and tragic back stories (I could make a list, I blame anime and Jareth) who may or may not be redeemed, and Lotor seems to have all of that in spades. Also, whoever is doing his VA wow, just wow. God damn. I’d stan Lotor on that voice alone.

I also love to reblog art, so if I find it aesthetically pleasing, I’ll reblog it regardless of the fandom. And Lotor gets some serious hate and god knows I love to stan characters who get overblown hate from fandoms lol.

Anyways, season 5 is where the Lotura ship really picks up, but I’ve been shipping it aesthetically since Lotor started rolling up on my dash. What’s also nice to hear is that they’re not following the original series beat for beat, because Lotor isn’t as interesting for me in that series, despite his hair lol.

Anyways, I also love when two characters are forced into the same vicinity for more than three seconds and realize that they have more in common than they realized *cough* sounds familiar *cough* aaaand that’s exactly what happens. AND THEN THEY TOUCH HANDS *COUGH* ALSO SOUNDS FAMILIAR *COUGH*

So yes? The ship went from niche to #6 on the fandom metric for Tumblr within one week, so that is some serious interest very quickly, and not without reason. I’d say give it a go, nonnie! I am and it’s been fun so far. Also, Murray from Flight of the Conchords (Rhys Darby) is one of the VAs and he’s gd hilarious.

[flauntpage]

Your Wednesday Morning Roundup

This is part of the Phillies’ future. And that future is happening now.

The Phillies once again took care of the Dodgers last night, 6-2. They’re 31-33 since the All-Star break. And the young guns were out in full force yet again.

Aaron Nola gave up only two runs on five hits in seven innings of work and struck out eight batters. Odubel Herrera went 2 for 3 and got an RBI on a bases loaded walk. Aaron Altherr hit his 18th home run to tie him with Rhys Hoskins for third on the team. J.P. Crawford recorded his first career triple with the Phils.

But once again, it was Hoskins who stole the show, batting in four runs on the night, including a bases-clearing double to break the game open in the bottom of the seventh after a 10-pitch at-bat! The man can do it all, even if he doesn’t hit home runs.

I’ve watched more Phillies baseball from the start of August to now than I have for the first four months of the season. Guys like Hoskins, Nick Williams, and now Crawford have brought life back to CBP.

The two teams play again tonight at 7:05. Jake Thompson faces off against Alex Wood.

The Roundup:

Sticking with the Phillies, Matt Breen discusses when fans may see Scott Kingery or Tom Eshelman next season:

The Phillies can preserve a year of Kingery’s club control by stashing him at triple A until roughly the middle of May. They can sacrifice six weeks of the season — in a year when the Phillies do not expect to contend — in exchange for delaying Kingery’s eligibility for free agency from 2023 to 2024. The Phillies would not be the first team to do such a thing.

Keeping Kingery at triple A would be a bit more challenging if he has a stellar spring training for the second straight year. The Phillies will likely try to move either Cesar Hernandez or Freddy Galvis in the offseason to make room for a future double-play pairing of Kingery and J.P. Crawford.

Eshelman could crack next season’s starting rotation, but a lot of that depends on how the team attacks the free-agent pitching market this winter. The Phillies already have eight candidates on their roster to fill a rotation alongside Aaron Nola. Eshelman, a 23-year-old righthander, is probably ticketed for triple A but could be the first pitcher promoted when a need arises.

The outfield is one of the team’s strengths, but could Aaron Altherr be the odd man out?

Finally, former Phillies beat writer Meghan Montemurro announced she was laid off from The News Journal after spending three and-a-half years covering the Phils.

—

The Eagles may need to find temporary replacements for Rodney McLeod and Jaylen Watkins for a few weeks, according to Zach Berman:

Both players have hamstring injuries. No official prognosis has been offered, but a league source told the Inquirer and Daily News they could be sidelined for a few weeks.

That means veteran Corey Graham would start at safety in McLeod’s spot, and rookie Rasul Douglas would likely make his first career start in the place of Darby and Watkins. Both players played the bulk of Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs.

The team tried to sign safety DeAndre Houston-Carson from the Bears’ practice squad before Chicago promoted him to their 53-man roster.

After Doug Pederson gave his vote of confidence for Isaac Seumalo, offensive coordinator Frank Reich did the same. He also answered questions about the pass-run ratio:

“I’ll assume you’re right. I remember getting the number at halftime and I think we were 18 to 9, or something like that. We go out and hit a couple of plays in the passing game. All I can tell you is, as a play caller, you’re calling what you think is going to get the team down the field in that situation. So that’s what we were doing.”

Speaking of the run, Kevin Kinkead says there’s actually three problems to the team’s run game.

Chris Long is donating his first six game checks to fund two scholarships in his hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia.

http://pic.twitter.com/A77nmDPJLi

— Chris Long (@JOEL9ONE) September 20, 2017

—

Giroux-Coots-Voracek? Claude Giroux played left wing in practice yesterday, but could we see him there during the season? Anthony Sanfilippo has more:

“We’re in camp and we want to look at all the good options we might have, and this is one we wanted to look at,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “This was a good day to take a look at it in practice and overall it was a pretty effective day for that group.

“G is still our number one center, but he’s such a skilled player that he can play anywhere on the ice. The level of camp G has had is outstanding. We talked about this a lot and thought this was a good time to look at it. We still have to evaluate it and take a look at it further and see where we go from there. We’re not going to draw any conclusions, but we’ll look at it and see if there’s a next step.”

That wasn’t the only new position he played. He threw out the first pitch at the Phillies game last night.

New starting goalie Brian Elliott is getting used to Philly’s system:

“It’s really intense. I think it’s a lot concentrated on [the defense] joining the rush and scoring,” Elliott said at camp on Saturday. “It’s just the first two days, and I’m sure they have their reasons to [do] certain drills, but we just have to kind of trust the process and go out there and do what they’re asking us to do.

“The first couple of days haven’t been really goalie friendly, let’s just say that.”

Defenseman Robert Hagg is ready to make the jump to the NHL this season.

Flyers take on the Islanders tonight at 7 in split-squad action. One group will play at the PPL Center in Allentown, while another will play at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The Allentown game will be on TCN.

—

With Sixers training camp around the corner, Rich Hofmann ponders five questions regarding the team’s rotation.

—

Temple’s freshman quarterback Todd Centeio could be used more in tomorrow night’s game against South Florida.

Kevin Kinkead spoke to former Union executive and current National Lacrosse League commissioner Nick Sakiewicz about his soccer past and what he’s doing now to grow lacrosse.

—

In other sports news, the New York Giants are also sticking with a struggling offensive lineman for the Eagles game.

After Santana Moss said that Robert Griffin III loved the Redskins firing Mike Shanahan in 2013, RG3 fired back:

No subtweeting needed Santana Moss, I treat you like a brother & have always had your back. To openly lie about me is a betrayal…..

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) September 19, 2017

Former Bears cornerback Charles Tillman is training to join the FBI.

Former Sixers player and head coach Doug Collins is back with the Chicago Bulls as a Senior Advisor of Basketball Operations.

This NBA offseason might be the best offseason in history:

Kevin Durant admitted that was really him on Twitter at #TCDisrupt

The NBA offseason >>> most actual seasons (: @anthonyVslater) http://pic.twitter.com/sY2mTr1v6B

— SB Nation (@SBNation) September 19, 2017

Devils forward Brian Boyle was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia:

“For us, we’re in a good spot,” Boyle said, speaking about his wife, Lauren, and their two children, both under the age of 3. “We have a good plan of attack here, and I’m looking forward to getting on the ice and playing, to be honest. When that happens, I don’t know. But my mindset is Oct. 7 [opening night], to be honest with you. I don’t like missing games.

“But it’s just a thing you have to deal with, we have to deal with it, and that’s for us to deal with. Hopefully the season can go on as normal and regular as possible, and we don’t have to be asking about it all the time. If I suck one night, it’s because I suck, not because of any other reason. Hopefully, if that’s the biggest issue, than that’s a good thing.”

—

In the news, Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney appeared on Bloomberg to make his pitch for Amazon to have their new headquarters in the city. Some key points:

Cheaper real estate than New York or Washington

Dense concentration of colleges and universities

Close to eastern seaboard economic hub

10-year property tax abatement

Methacton School District has cancelled classes today as a teacher strike continues.

More details on the death of a Lafayette College freshman have been released.

Hurricane Maria has made landfall as a Category 4 storm in Puerto Rico.

Toys R Us has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

A pop-up restaurant in Baltimore is serving up an insect-heavy menu to promote eating bugs as a viable protein source. This is one of the most disgusting things I’ve heard:

“With food, having fun is important, so I think this is a great way to bring awareness and have some fun while doing it,” he said.

How the hell are you having fun eating bugs? What’s wrong with crabs and seafood, or pretty much any other normal food?

Your Wednesday Morning Roundup published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

[londonspirit]

Imagining what could have happened if the creator dared to dream bigger is fandom’s driving ethos. Whether or not the people behind the scenes expected to have the most passionate bloc of their audience fixate on a queer romance that may or may not have been intentional is irrelevant. When queerness is still on the periphery of society, it’s unsurprising that the relationships fans obsess over and seek to actualize are predominantly queer.

Our Flag Means Death, whose second season is now airing on Max, doesn’t require its fans to dream of the queer possibilities. Instead, it’s that rare breed of work that raises the romantic subtext—typically buried under bromatic jokes or subtle ambiguity—to undeniable text from the very beginning. And when fandoms and creative teams are both on the same page of the same unabashedly queer love story, as is the case for Our Flag, the experience is nothing short of sublime.

Queer media, particularly TV, has entered something of a golden age since the aughts. There are the early mainstream pioneers like The L Word and Will and Grace; the wholesome coming-of-age romcoms like Heartstopper and Love, Victor; and the adaptations taking beloved stories one big step further, like Interview with the Vampire, Good Omens, and Hannibal. There are gritty, inspired-by-real-life dramas like Orange is the New Black and Pose, murderous thrillers like Killing Eve and Orphan Black, raunchy comedies like What We Do in the Shadows and Sex Education, and many more stories featuring queer leads with fully fleshed-out storylines.

But even among these big names, this silly gay pirate show stands out by taking what these shows do best and fulfilling a particular need few have met before. The reasons are myriad: It refuses to use queer subtext as a prop or ransom for audience loyalty. It eschews the will-they-won’t-they dance that positions love as an end rather than a beginning. It defies the trope that you must renounce your past in order to move on. It scoffs at the notion of a ceiling for complex queer characters and relationships in a single show. And it demonstrates that depicting the experiences of queer people (and, just as importantly, people of color) don’t always have to center brutality and trauma—that healing can come from making acceptance the norm and bigotry the butt of ridicule, and that being kind doesn’t necessitate being passive.

As a show that didn’t explicitly market itself as “LGBTQ,” one of Our Flag’s most striking aspects is how it subverts the way this genre typically approaches romance. You could argue that the love story begins when Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) is recognized as the pirate he wants to be—while three-quarters of the way dead—by none other than the dread Blackbeard (Taika Waititi). Or you could say it begins when Blackbeard, a.k.a Ed Teach, is seen, for the first time, as someone who deserves softness and finery by the epitome of softness and finery himself. Or when Stede comforts Ed as he curls up in a bathtub reliving his worst memories. Or when Stede picks roasted snake out of Ed’s beard. Or when Ed gives himself up to the British to save Stede’s life. Or when…

You get my drift. There’s an entire season’s worth of scenes that make up the foundations of a fandom: moments of intimacy and connection that gesture toward the possibility of something more. These are the planks and rigs of a ship sturdy enough to outpace the fleet of fanworks chasing such moments down until feelings are admitted, consummated, and set sailing off into the sunset. In hindsight, Our Flag was undoubtedly heading in this direction. But it wasn't until the most incontrovertible on-screen gesture of romance happened—a kiss—that fans heaved a sigh of relief. Because fandom, for all its capacity to will alternative universes into being, is inherently bound to the media from which it springs, and many have only ever cast queer love as bait.

But with Our Flag, most fans aren’t at all concerned about what direction the story will take. And the key difference is that they trust the creators wholeheartedly.

For many queer fans, it’s a novel experience to interface with a creative team that is not only aware of exactly who the audience is and what they care about, but also proudly and vocally celebrates them. In interviews, producer and lead actor Taika Waititi has stated that he collects fan art on his phone. Vico Ortiz (who plays the nonbinary pirate Jim Jimenez) has shared that fan art encouraged them to get gender-affirming top surgery. Creator and showrunner David Jenkins once remarked that fan discussions are so spot-on, it was as if they had “been in the writers’ room.” And several queer actors on the show have expressed that the fandom has made them feel even more connected to the LGBTQ+ community.

Our Flag is one of the rare cases where fans and creators share the same vision for a given work. There are no calls for the figurative death of the overly originalist author, nor strict separation of the "canon" of the original work from the "fanon" interpretations of the audience. There is no need for fans to dig for subtext, because what they’ve been searching for has been on board with them all along—not as a blink-and-miss-it pantomime or a nothing-left-to-lose Hail Mary, but a queer love story that was intentionally, thoughtfully crafted from the beginning.

Our Flag presents fans with a vibrant world where everything is mostly beautiful and almost nothing hurts—at least, not yet. Fans can surmise the shape of the second act and the close of the third, even if they don’t know exactly how they’ll get there. But with full confidence in the creators, fans have the opportunity to stretch their imagination beyond tallying evidence and righting wrongs—and it makes for a fandom experience less a eulogy at a funeral of another buried gay, more a toast at the most extravagant and absurd cruise-ship wedding to ever grace the seven seas.

We are all on the same page of the same story, and the experiences of everyone involved is so much richer for it. Or, as Stede would say, treasure is the real treasure.

Fandom, like being a pirate, is in many respects a very queer enterprise. It centers on abandoning the rules so you can survive; grabbing every scrap of home you can find and making it your own; sharing the spoils with the people who see and accept you for who you are and who you want to be. Or, in the words of the show’s pseudo-antagonist, Izzy Hands (Con O’Neill), it's about belonging to something—a something that, I believe, could be enough to help you fall back in love with life and the world.

I think often of the scene that first drew me into Our Flag: Stede asks his former wife, Mary (Claudia O’Doherty), what it feels like to be in love. Looking back at it now, I realize her response describes what the experience of being a part of a community a show like Our Flag creates can feel like. Because love, she tells him, is as easy as breathing. It’s understanding each other’s idiosyncrasies and seeing the charm in them. It’s exposing each other to new things and laughing a lot. It’s passing the time so well together.

To every queer fan out there: I hope you find that, too. I hope you can name it without fear. And I hope you will be embraced for that revelation, and all the wonder and joy it brings.