#it saddens me that these stories i invested So much time and effort into will probably never get finished

[sorikkung]

people interacting w wgoin in my notes... this would be a rly bad time to say all my writing will probably be on hiatus for the indefinite future huh

[mubal4]

Unplanned Lives

 Today’s entry is a quick excerpt from a book I began reading recently that was suggested to me by a dear friend, following a conversation we had about some challenges I was experiencing. These areas of my life that I seem to continue to cause me struggles, reside around my thinking of the future way too much and not living for the moment that I am blessed with today. I repeatedly get distracted by what is coming and not focused on what’s in front of me. As with many times on this journey, wisdom is provided when you’ve shared it and need it. This morning on our daily walk with the pupper, I was explaining to my wife about the “practice” and continued consistency, and showing up each day to honor my commitments, obligations, and responsibilities seem to be making my patience thin a bit. We both agreed that I was working to control timelines with some areas of my life that I had no rite or reason to control. And yes, I had to keep showing up, staying consistent, and keep moving forward “practicing” being a better husband, father, and human being each day. The TIME will come when I am ready!

 This was the chapter I read this morning, following that walk and my sharing with Robin. I believe the words were directly related to my current spot and compelling considering the conversation this morning. The book is, The Exquisite Risk - Daring to Live an Authentic Life by Mark Nepo. This part discusses the investment in "practice," that being mindfulness, meditation, prayer, or whatever it may be for the particular individual.

 "If we are not careful, practice can become a devout haven in which we mistakenly hide from life and all the unpredictable moments that carry what can transform us. Yet practice is essential. It is a way to train the mind to be an open field, a way to train the heart to stay as clear and receiving as water. Still, practice only seems worthwhile when we can remember that it is no substitute for the moment of living."

 "One hazard of practice is that the devotion of practicing for something can so heighten our expectations that we can miss the treasured moment when it comes. This brings to mind a story of a man who prayed every day to be of use, to be a saint, to be a man of compassion. In praying this way, he imagined repeatedly what being a saint would look like. But every day, he felt no revelation or sense of understanding. He felt no presence of the Divine. He was saddened and frustrated that after all his efforts to be a good man, he was no closer to God than when he started."

 "This troubled man would rise from his daily prayers, waiting for some sign from God to lift him. And every day, nothing. Yet every day, he was always in the right place at the right time. An old woman would trip, and he'd catch her and still he'd feel sad that he was of no use. Someone would spill a cup of tea near an infant and he'd block it with his robe and still he'd feel sad that he was not capable of action. His sudden smile would stop two sisters from quarreling and still he'd feel sad that he was not filled with compassion. A sparrow would light on his depressed shoulder and still he'd feel sad that he was not connected to nature."

 "The story says much about how we look everywhere for what is already in us, how we search for preconceived forms of God and love, while missing the actual rhythms of being kind and loving. The way flames dart about a wick, we often search for truth when it is the wick of truth that sparks the search."

 Who are we when no one is looking?

 **Missing the treasured moment when it comes because we are so devoted to the practice & future results, we believe it will bring.

[iwantescapism13]

Honestly, it's so saddening that, as of currently, Amphibia has shown little to no mention of certain plot points that fans had to desperately create their own versions just to be sane.

There have been... A LOT of versions. But interestingly, everyone have the same thoughts: either a mindscape scene with Marcy and The Core, Marcy saved by Sasha, emotional reunion between Anne and Sasha, the girls acknowledging/talking about what happened in 'True Colors', Dark Marcy being shown and having more voice lines, etc.

I think the reason why there's so many things not covered is because Amphibia is concentrating more on the endings for each amphibian that we have met before just so that Season 1 and 2 stuff can be "completed and out of the way". Everyone can argue that these could've been used for Season 3A, but they really want to put in the community aspect so it (unfortunately) have to be postponed and take up some episodes of 3B (which should've been the part of the series where things get more and more serious but alas).

That's why 'Commander Anne' showed the Wartwood villagers' progress (*ahem*Loggle*ahem*). That's why 'Sprivy' is an episode dedicated to Sprig and Ivy's relationship. That's why the focus of 'Sasha's Angels' is Toadie. That's why Lysil and Angwin are brought up again in 'Olm Town Road'. That's why Grime have his own episode next week because being Sasha's right-hand man in the Resistance is NOT his ending. That's why Tritonio is rumored to be back. We have yet to see any updates regarding Lady Olivia and General Yunan so maybe they're the creatures that Anne will rescue in 'Fight or Flight' and that episode could be their ending. That's why 'The Core and The King' will be all about King Andrias' past.

If I'm right with the above, then Dark Marcy will not be shown until the May episodes.

Am I disappointed?

At this point?

No.

'Commander Anne' had hit me with this painful realization that Amphibia can only tackle the serious stuff at the last few episodes. It's much like Season 1 with 'Reunion' or Season 2 with 'Battle of the Bands' + 'The Dinner' + 'True Colors'.

Well... at least this time it'll be 4 episodes!

Sigh... I fucking hope so.

I'm going insane.

Why is everybody's interpretations of the story so much better than what I'm seeing in canon? Why are the fans the ones that need to fill in these gaps in the story? Damn it all.

Open-ended stories are something I do not like because... I didn't invest my time and effort to get to know all of this just to... what, imagine my own version of what I want to happen? Come on. Fanfictions and art are people's interpretations, yes. But we all gotta have SOMETHING in the original story.

You can't just have Marcy get possessed and it's up to us to figure out what she has been up to in Newtopia Castle. You can't have Anne and Sasha have that fight in 'True Colors' (that almost got Sasha killed because Anne was too pissed off) and have us be contented that they reunited with... a hug and a smile? You can't just say that Anne can control her powers and suddenly she doesn't use it to her advantage once she comes back to Amphibia.

Sigh. I... I don't know anymore.

Despite everything I said, I'm being patient about this, don't worry. The story is still unfinished, after all. There's still a lot left.

I'm just wishing it'll get... at least, managable.

[nissakii]

Wedding Deal - Chapter 10 [Iwaizumi x Reader]

Tip: If you are using Chrome there is a little add-on called InteractiveFics with that the story is much more vivid since Y/N will be replaced with the name you type in. Give it a try you won’t regret it~

Chapter 10:

"About your friend-", he started and immediately I reacted with an answer.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I do not have any friends."

His expression turned concerned and a bit of a sad undernote as he furrowed his eyes, "Wow I need to say that this is kind of saddening to hear", he sighed, "if it wasn't a complete lie. I may be easy-going but not an idiot".

I averted my gaze when he gave me a knowing look that I shouldn't push his patience further.

"Please don't tell my mother...", I only could mutter because next to Chiaki this was my other main concern for her and my own sake.

My mother may be nice and very invested when it comes to helping commoner folks. But that's the line she draws, helping no more no less. There are differences between the commoner folk and us as she says despite that I think that it's completely wrong. But in her eyes it seems like she doesn't believe in such friendships, she thinks people will be jealous of us, they could use the easy gullible me or worse. We are not like them and especially you don't understand, those words were the things that they told me on a daily basis. And more over for my mother it was more important what others thought about us, whether strangers or not. A life that is not for me.

"Well, if I wanted to I wouldn't have waited until everyone left and also wouldn't have made the effort to come here in the first place, would I?", he furrowed his eyes at this obvious answer but I couldn't look up properly nor did I answer him.

"From the events of today I could make out quite an image why you would say that to me. It's odd, you know. The commoner girl dressed up in a dress which brand she doesn't even know. Nobody knew who she was in the first place and also they way both of you interact inside and outside of events. Pretending to not know each other."

He was more attentive and full of knowledge, a bit too full. How did he know-

"Outside?", it slipped out as I was still deeply in thought, finally facing again forgetting how scary that ominous smile of his was.

"Finally catching up?", he sat straight and placed one leg over the other as he positioned his hands on his knee on top.

"What do you think I have been parading this city the whole week for, hm?", he tilted his head and it finally sunk in.

He wasn't just wasting time or taking a stroll like his brother stated-

"She... didn't contact me at all. Don't tell me it has something to do with", he cut me off and clapped his hands.

"Amazing! Nothing more to expect from her closest friend", he cheered and took out something before he dangled it in front of my face.

"Now about that deal, I guess you wouldn't refuse even if you wanted to. Not even for your own sake", the object that was hanging in front of me was no other than Chiaki's ribbon that she usually wore when she was busily working at the bakery on the evening shift.

I gulped and tried to slowly grasp it but he pulled it away while shaking his head.

"I must disappoint you, this is mine now. But I want nothing big from you, on the contrary you will most likely do your part of the deal anyways."

I gave him a confused stare while hiding my shaking hands behind my back.

“Despite that I love my friend dearly, and your confidence about me fulfilling my deal, I still cannot promise you if I am really capable to do my part depending on the circumstances”, out of the anxiety that dwelled in my I intervened my fingers behind my back so hard that they felt like breaking apart.

Lost in my dreadful thoughts, the sudden touch of a firm pat on my shoulders made me almost faint when Prince Tooru’s smile was right in front of my face.

“No worries”, he said cheerfully, “all the circumstances and conditions have been met. There is only a tiny part, oh well scratch that it’s a bit bigger than that but believe me, if you hang in there I might think great possibilities will open up for dear little you who had been caged up in her fear all this time”, I shot my head up to meet his eyes seeing his smile being darker than it had been before as his voice changed from his cheerful tone.

“Let’s be honest”, he dropped his smile and his grasp loosened around my shoulders, “you want to escape. If even someone as dense as my brother who doesn’t care a slightest bit about strangers realized that and made up his mind to marry immediately, do you think I wouldn’t realize as well? Come on, Y/N let’s drop the honorifics and get this deal done. Hajime needs a wife in order to regain part of his power in this kingdom. Things have been a bit complicated in our palace, too complicated to tell you the whole ordeal, the eldest still being the second prince in order”, I widened my eyes.

Due to many things, him being so formal, dropping this charming show of his, the seemingly heavy problems and-

I didn’t know Prince Hajime was the eldest, if that’s the case why is Prince Tooru the seemingly well-liked head of the family?

“Prince-”, he cut me off.

“Tooru would suffice, thank you very much”, he also waved away my question in an urgent manner, “I know you want to know why and such things. But believe me you will find out soon enough. Yet my brother needs someone like you. It may seem weird for you but I am always watching people around me, I know the people, I need to know those around me in order to survive”, the way he said it seemed like he remembered something he rather would not, so I kept shut and listened closely.

He reminds me of someone…

“All I need from you in the beginning is to get that marriage working and make him feel safe. In front of our parents and others make sure to show that you have a good life together and also-”, he rolled his eyes, “he is a bit of a dimwit when it comes to behave properly around lady you need to be patient with him. I am not saying this because I worry about his love life, God no I don’t even have time thinking about my own, but the walls see and listen to everything. You need to make sure that Iwaizumi Hajime’s name is being spread around the Province. He needs his power back, the power that was refused to be given to him”, he took a deep breath and watched the door from time to time, “he is a genius when it comes to logical approaches in both military and diplomacy plan, even if he is not very well-spoken when doing them himself.”

I cleared my throat, “why am I supposed to be the one to help him? This is such a big task, maybe he should have searched for someone else-”

“Too late you already know, might kill you if you don’t”, he pulled back and had a serious expression until I almost fell from my seat if he hadn’t grabbed my arm.

“It was just a joke I cannot kill you even if I wanted to”, with his other arm he stabilized me again and I sat straight.

That doesn’t really help.

“As I said, it has to be you. From all the noble families that I had watched and visited, you are the only Princess who doesn’t have twisted intentions. Also, you are not in love with him which makes things easier if you stay in the palace after the wedding. You can work properly and make sure to do your given task. Also- “, he played with the ribbon, “I had heard that you have a very gentle heart despite that you live in such a family. Making you even befriend commoners. You see past those things”, there was a genuine smile on face as he stared at the ribbon, “I think that is amazing in itself.”

“Now what is your offering?”, it slipped out of me and his gaze wandered over to me, a bit surprised.

“Ah”, it almost sounded like he forgot.

“Let’s say your friend is missing for a while”, the eerie smile on his face gave me goosebumps.

So he really did kidnap her?!

“But don’t worry if you manage to do well, I might make things work out so that you can easily be friends with her and see her as much as your heart desires”, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“I don’t know if you forgot the beginning of our conversation, but despite that I would be at your palace I still cannot meet her without my mother finding out. She will believe me and as you said people will chatter about it, Princess Y/N and the simple commoner girl working at a bakery who only wanted to be friends with a noble, they will say that”, out of reflex I almost snatched away the ribbon he was playing with before he pulled it back last second and hid it in his hand.

“Hey come on, I am a very good listener. You just assumed things on your own”, he heaved his index-finger and pointed it at me, “Nobody said something about you befriending a commoner girl.”

My face heated up and I couldn’t hold my wild thoughts.

What happened between them?!

“W-W-What d-do you mean?!”, I could only blabber out.

He tilted his head in confusion and the ribbon in his hand etched into my vision even more.

“Why are you so upset? She only needs to change her status, right? I talked to her and spent some time, she is not bad at all. Sometimes it’s even hard to think she is a commoner I have to say, especially when I visited the public university, by the way the girl’s uniform there whoever invented them should get my best regards, but she is a lot different than her bakery self. Even her mother said that”, he seemed lost in thought as he rubbed his chin and faced me.

Why does he know so much?

Why does he know where she goes for her studies?

Why does he know her mother?

Why does he have the ribbon-

“You are having the wrong thoughts”, he had a slightly annoyed expression.

“Huuh?!”, I bursted out and clasped my hands over my mouth.

“Oi, you jerk, where are you, everyone is waiting!”, both of us stood straight and almost dashed to the door as we heard Prince Hajime’s voice.

“Well we will meet soon enough. What is your response?”, he turned to the door and then to me.

“Is there a choice?”, I felt it was unfair but he also sadly shook his head.

“You mean it, right? That I can be friends with her and see her whenever I want?”, he raised his eyebrows and his expression grew soft, a warm smile emitting from it.

“Of course. Leave it to me. I stay true to my word. But as I said it will only be possible if things work out”, he looked back to the door.

“Then we have a deal, Tooru”, it took me a while to say his name like that and he shook my hand.

“A deal it is.”

Previous

[doctorofmagic]

At this point i think MCU don't wanna make any effort when it comes to their characters or their comics origins. After the dissapointing finale of wandavision i don't know what to believe. How can you not open a comic book once you work as a writer for a show based on a comic book? Wanda is such an intriguing character with a deep story and distinct personality. They could do so much more, but they make her a sitcom housewife in a rom com and the villain is her grief, cuz they're lazy.

Beware. Once more, I bring polemics to this blog.

I couldn’t agree more. It really saddens me that the MCU doesn’t give the writers and artists the due credits. Most people who don’t read comics rely on Stan Lee and Stan Lee only. But even the man himself wouldn’t be that successful without Ditko and Kirby. How many fans are aware of Ditko and Kirby’s contribution to comics, to begin with?

This is why I trusted Scott Derrickson so much. He was always tweeting old Doctor Strange quotes. He loves comics and he loves 616-Stephen. It shows.

That said, Sam Reimi doesn’t have my trust. It’s true that, as a kid who wasn’t into comics, I enjoyed his Spider-Man movies very much. But now... I have so many reasons to distrust him - and some of them are really bad.

Yes, yes, Benedict is praising him so much it feels he is love with the director. But Benedict is also a white guy. That said, I’m not invested in MoM as I was in the first movie. I don’t know how deep the director is connected to comic books. I don’t know if the movie itself is about Stephen anymore. It certainly doesn’t sound like they’re trying to explore Stephen’s character at all. I know y’all want to see Wanda and Loki. But me, as a fan? I don’t want Christine, for starters. I want Clea. And I want Jericho. I want Nightmare or Shuma-Gorath as the main villain. Obviously, I’ll be there on day 1. But I don’t want to hype too much in case I get disappointed.

And concerning Wanda... I don’t mind that she was struggling with grief. My issue is how they portrayed it. I absolutely adore stories in which the “villain” is a metaphor for mental health and social issues (for instance, Mr. Misery and Stephen’s depression; Marc Spector and Khonshu’s relationship, Rahne and her biased behavior towards Illyana as a metaphor for her repressed sexuality for growing up in a catholic institution). But it’s a very delicate matter and it demands caution.

It’s twisted, really, how Wanda brainwashed Agatha out of revenge and trapped her inside her own mind. Agatha is no saint but she was right. It was quite cruel and twisted of Wanda to do that. Is she sorry she did that to Westview citizens? She said they made them happy (or something, I don’t remember the exact words).

This situation only makes it all harder for me to compare Olsen’s character to comics!Wanda. Bendis was terrible to her. But the Wanda I know from what I’ve read? She’s kind and she’s sorry. She’s still in pain but she isn’t selfish. She’s trying her best - to name a few examples of her courage and willpower:  Avengers: No Road Home, AvX, Children’s Crusade and X-Men: Empyre (even though the last two are huge no-nos for me).

How am I supposed to relate to her if she does things that I don’t believe to be altruistic? Don’t get me wrong, Stephen also made shady choices in the past (and I talk about them all the time because I’m not a hypocrite). But I can’t praise her, especially knowing that she’s not a shady character in comic books.

Not to mention how they portrayed depression and grief in the show.

I don’t know. The only road to redemption in my opinion is working on her altruism in MoM. But again, the movie isn’t supposed to be about her. She had nine episodes to have that.

And still, it’s probably what we’re going to get. However, at this point, I really want to delete the words “rumors” and “theories” from my vocabulary. I don’t know - and don’t want to ponder - what’s going to happen. I’m still recovering from my personal terrible experience with anxiety because of the show. And I don’t want that for my life anymore.

In short? I’ve never been a hardcore MCU fan. I’ve watched all movies and TV shows (I mean it. All of them). And I’ll still be doing it. But see, do you have a really good mainstream show that you enjoy but you’re not really into its core and fandom? That’s me with the MCU. Y’all know so much more about it than me. Because, well, I don’t really care that much. Truth be told, I’m exhausted. I just want to go back in time when I all had to do was cry over my sweetheart.

[funky-boat-zone]

“stars”, but for all the wrong reasons

(based on the salty’s lighthouse ‘verse, with the pov character being adapted from the diesel tug character that never made it into tugs. cw for discussions of kidnapping, missing people (boats?), and implied character death.)

“Do you need any help?” Ten Cents calls from across the harbor. You shake your wheelhouse, since you’re more than capable of pulling your barges by yourself.

It’s strange, being the very first diesel tug in Snugboat Harbor. It’s even stranger that most of the tugs were so quick to accept you as not only their coworker, but their friend; with the way they were acting, it’s as if they’ve known you for years rather than just having met you a few days ago.

-

“Oh— heads up, the sun’s going down and the fog will roll in soon! Do you want to sleep here for the night?” He offers once you’ve finished your jobs for the day. That.. doesn’t sound so bad, truthfully. It’s better than getting lost while trying to navigate a harbor you know nothing about or bothering one of the tugs to try guiding you home, that’s for sure.

“You barely know him, he’s only worked here for a day, and you’re letting him stay here overnight?!” Zorran protests.

Sunshine rolls her eyes. “Well, why not? It’s better than letting him navigate the fog by himself, at least!”

Zorran casts a furious glance your way, but the sight of his unfortunately-named fleet returning to port for the evening stops him from saying anything else.

Zug looks at the three of you nervously, sensing that he’s floated in at a bad time. “Zorran, c’mon! Captain Zero’s waiting.”

ZB adds, “Yeah, leave ‘em alone!”

Zorran looks around, quickly realizing that no one in the vicinity is on his side. “Fine. But he’s not staying at our dock.”

-

You enter the Star Fleet’s dock, quickly recognizing your next-dock neighbors from earlier. Thankfully, there’s no sign of Zorran.

The one with the raspy voice is the first to speak up. “Don’t listen to Zorran, he’s spouting a load of bilge—“

“Zak! Remember what Captain said about language!” ZB admonishes him.

“Hey, I’m just saying that what he’s saying is a load of bilgewater, I’m not actually calling anyone that! Anyway, he thinks that just because of what happened to Otis—“ A set of pointed looks from the already-docked members of the Star Fleet immediately gives Zak the hint to shut up. He looks away, guilty. “It’s, uh— never mind.”

-

Despite their efforts to just make friendly conversation with you, it seems that the mere mention of “Otis” really put a damper on the Star Fleet’s mood. They’re talking about absolutely everything except Otis, and at one point you catch Ten Cents frantically glancing between you and the rest of his fleet to make sure you’re invested in what they’re saying.

“Look at that, the moon’s already up.” Hercules remarks. “Well, better get some shut-eye now. We’ve got work tomorrow—“ he gives you a quick look, “And you should probably be up early if you want to get home before work starts.”

“C’mon, can’t we stay up a little later?” Ten Cents complains.

“Yeah, I’m not even tired yet!” Sunshine adds.

“We have to wake up early tomorrow.” Warrior says with barely-restrained frustration, which, judging by the look of fear on the switchers’ faces and how quickly they close their eyes, you can only assume is code for “shut up, drop the subject, and go to sleep now”.

You stay awake anyway, wondering what’s going on with this fleet.

-

“Hey, you awake?” You feel ready to jump out of your hull when Ten Cents alerts you to the fact that he wasn’t asleep… and probably hadn’t been for hours.

“Y-Yeah, can’t sleep. Got a big day coming up tomorrow.” You laugh nervously, trying to keep your voice down so as not to wake up the rest of the fleet.

“Me either.” Ten Cents sighs.

“What are you guys doing awake?” Sunshine asks, and Ten Cents jolts from where he’s docked.

“Sunshine, this is a private conversation! Now go back to sleep!”

“We were actually just talking about how we can’t sle— Oh.” From the irritated look he’s giving you, you’ve dashed his hopes of keeping Sunshine out of this.

“Doesn’t sound like anything worth keeping private, then.” She huffs. “I mean, I can’t sleep either.”

“Well, at least we have that much in common.” You joke. A glance toward the Zero Fleet’s (you still can’t believe they willingly call themselves “Zeroes”) dock reveals that Zorran made it home after all, and he’s sleeping next to the rest of his fleet. “So.. What’d I do to make Zorran so mad at me?”

Ten Cents sighs again. “It’s nothing that you did, he’s just touchy about new boats in the harbor since..” He looks to Sunshine. “Should I tell him?”

Sunshine looks uncomfortable. “I-I mean, I think Captain wouldn’t want us just blabbing this to any boat who asks— no offense.”

“None taken.” You smile nervously.

She continues, “But.. I think he should know.” She turns her wheelhouse back to you. “It’s not okay for him to treat you like that, I’m gonna tell Zero about how he’s been so rude to you as soon he gets here tomorrow, but I think it’s important that you know why.”

“Alright.” Ten Cents hesitates for a moment before asking. “You’ve already heard of Otis, right?”

“… Yes.” You respond.

-

Ten Cents begins slowly, hesitantly. “About.. I wanna say about five years ago, two tugs came into Snugboat Harbor and told Captain they were famous movie producers. If you think that sounds weird, well.. it is, but nobody thought that at the time. Even Captain was bought their story.

“Anyway— they gave her a long list of movies they’d produced and said they wanted an old boat to star in their movie. And I don’t mean ‘old’ as in ‘grown up’, I mean ‘old’ as in.. well, old. They didn’t say much about the movie beyond that, but Captain didn’t think anything was off and gave them the go-ahead to look around for potential actors.

“Otis was an old tug who’d been with our fleet for.. I actually don’t know, but he was the oldest boat in the harbor. Old enough to still have paddles instead of just a propeller. I remember him being kind of fickle and cranky sometimes, but the rest of the time he was nice enough, a lot of the older tugs were good friends with him. Of course, even if he was the biggest jerk in the harbor, he still wouldn’t have deserved what happened to him.

“At the time, his engine was shot, there was no way around it. I asked him to go to dry dock and get himself repaired, but.. He kept saying there was too much work to do, he’d be fine if he put it off for a while.”

Sunshine chimes in with her side of the story. “Then Captain asked me to go get him so he could meet those producers. So I did, ‘cause I didn’t know anything was wrong at the time and it was Captain’s orders.” She looks saddened. “In hindsight, I-I wish I’d asked her first. Maybe none of this would’ve happened if I didn’t go to find him.” Shuddering, she adds. “I bumped into Zorran on the way, and he said he wanted to show off for them, maybe even get a movie of his own. He complained all day the next day that Captain Zero didn’t let him go, but..”

Ten Cents picks up where his sister left off. “And then Otis blew out his engine. Smoke and soot everywhere, he wasn’t going anywhere unless he got it replaced. Sunshine and I brought him over anyway, since it was Captain’s orders. The movie producers came over, started spewing bilgewa— sorry, a bunch of nonsense about how he was perfect for the job and how they were gonna make him a star. He didn’t want the time off at first, but Captain said he could go, and after the movie was done, he could come back to work with the rest of us.”

“Never mind that they never told us how long he’d be gone.” Sunshine huffs, though there’s genuine fury in her voice.

“Sunshine and I were gonna take him to dry dock for a new engine, but the producers said it’d be fine, that’d be ‘part of the expenses they’d cover’ or something like that. It convinced Captain, so we let them take Otis, got back to work, a-and just waited for them to come back with him.” His voice suddenly breaks. “I should’ve stopped them! I should’ve at least stayed long enough to get him into dry dock, maybe then I would’ve realized something was wrong and told him not to—“

“Shh, we can’t wake up the rest of the fleet!” Sunshine whispers to him, trying to distract him so he doesn’t start crying. The last thing any of you want is to make a scene, especially at this time of night.

He quiets down, though few stray tears roll down his cheeks and his voice still wavers. “W-We waited about six months, since that’s— that’s how long these movies take, right? But we were having a bit of a hard time with work without Otis around, so Captain wanted to call them and try to ask if he could come home for a while.. and that was when we all realized at once that those ‘producers’ didn’t leave her with any way to contact them if we needed him back.

“Captain talks to Captain Zero about it, and the next thing we know, Zero’s calling the Coast Guard a-and Cappy’s rounding us up and asking us all these questions. It turns out that they didn’t even have Captain fill out any paperwork or tell her how long they’d be keeping him, and if they were a real set of producers they’d have at least a few members of a human crew to do all the negotiation stuff. Of course, she expected that for people making movies about boats. She didn’t know what the policy was for boats filming other boats, I don’t think— Nobody did.

“Cappy says he and the Coast Guard were gonna set out and try looking for Otis, but said there wasn’t a lot of hope by this point. It’d been long enough that they could’ve been anywhere by now, and without anyone remembering what the producers’ flags or emblems looked like, they couldn’t even call up their company to ask if they’d taken an old paddle tug in the recent months. I remember he said that the Coast Guard usually only looks for a boat for the first few months; after a certain point, he said, it’s time to start looking for.. parts of the boat, if you catch my drift, just to confirm that they’re actually gone.

“Five years passed, and apparently the case went cold after about one. Of course, Captain tried getting Port Authority involved in that time, and they said they’d look into it, but.. they couldn’t do much, for the same reason the Coast Guard couldn’t. She never told us or anything, but Hercules took me and Sunshine aside and said he thinks they gave up. If Otis is still out there one way or another, he’s probably unrecognizable by now.” Ten Cents shuddered.

“Word got around the harbor real fast in that time, and all the captains took their boats aside and told them to be on the look out for any suspicious vessels. Our fleet’s story became something of a cautionary tale, so I guess in a way, we got our own fifteen minutes of fame..” He chuckles bitterly through his tears before catching himself. “Yeah, I know it’s not funny.”

Sunshine looks close to crying herself. “Captain said that those producers probably took Otis for scrap, since they saw he was old and.. I hate to say it, but Zero told us that old, worn-out, broken-down boats are easy pickings for scrap dealers.”

“What’s this have to do with Zorran?” Ten Cents asks rhetorically. “Well, he took ‘suspicious vessels’ to mean ‘any new boats in the harbor’. And he’s gonna have my hull if he founds out I said this, but.. I think he’s scared. The only reason he didn’t go with the producers is because Zero wouldn’t let him. If he hadn’t run the idea by his captain first, there’d be two boats in whatever scrapyard they took Otis to. Of course, I know you’re not here to scrap anyone, and most of us kind of calmed down once we realized that what happened to Otis probably won’t happen again, not without someone catching them.” He suppresses a sob. “I just hate that it took something like this for it to happen.”

Figuring that’s the end of his story, you close your eyes and bid the switchers goodnight, trying to tune out the sound of Ten Cents’ crying.

None of you sleep well for the rest of the night.

[soyouareandrewdobson]

Alex ze Pirate Mini Review 5: Why I love One Piece and my final verdict

(Warning. Post contains initial geek out about One Piece that is meant to correlate to my opinion on Alex in general)

When I started this series of posts, one thing I asked myself was, how could I sum up my problems with the Sam story while also tackling some general issues with AzP without redundantly repeating major points of my previous posts.

… So I decided instead of giving a straight answer, I would first tell you how I came to fall in love with One Piece.

Around 14+ years ago, I began reading manga, with works such as Ranma 1/2, Pokemon and Dragon Ball being my starting point. You know, the average stuff everyone had read at some point. One Piece, already back then consisting of over 25+ volumes,  was only something a friend started to lend me and I read the first seven volumes, not really quite getting why it was that popular. I did not hate what I read, but there was nothing outright standing out to me the way the story was told that got to me. And then I hit the Arlong arc with volume 8 and onwards. While it was mostly the adventure of Luffy with his crew against Crocodile and his Baroque Corporation that totally sold me on the manga later on, the Arlong arc was what really got my attention. Seeing the character of Nami betray her friends, pieces of worldbuilding that would years later play a role and so much more, made me curious where things were going. Particularly, why Nami would betray Luffy. And when I reached chapter 77 to 81, where I got to read Nami’s backstory, how Arlong killed her adoptive mother in front of her eyes when she was just a little kid and Luffy declaring he was going to help her and her village, I was hooked. This was the first time in my life as a manga reader, I was not just entertained, I was emotionally invested. Because not only was Nami’s backstory genuinely saddening to me, but seeing Luffy determined to help her and the ensuing battles was exciting. Exciting because it truly showed to me, how awesome of a character this goofball with stretching powers really is. Not because he was physically strong, but because he was willing to do all of that for someone just “because” he considers that person a friend. Seeing Luffy not just beat up Arlong, but destroying everything this bastard had build on the suffering of the village and in doing so setting Nami free of the past that haunted her, because he cared for her as a person not in a romantic but platonic manner, was satisfying on so many levels.

 And ever since then Eiichiro Oda proved to me time and time again, even if he hits a bump in the road (seriously, fuck most of the Fishmen Island arc) he knows how to write a world that doesn’t just manage to be cartoonishly entertaining, but also filled with heartfelt moments, where true heroism is not defined just by physical strength, but the willingness of the main characters to help and care for each other and the people they meet across the journey. There are many stories out there where the power of friendship as a virtue, and the virtues it is build on are a theme. But in the world of shonen manga, One Piece for me is still the top.

 And Andrew Dobson’s Alex ze Pirate is the complete antithesis to everything Oda EVER created in One Piece.

 While One Piece has one of the most complex worlds I have ever seen in fiction, with Oda often times setting building stones for future story arcs years in advance (seriously, the thing with Brook and Laboon alone is worth mentioning) , Dobson can’t even bother to properly tell us in what part of the ocean Alex has her adventure or why there is a beaver dog thing walking around a bunch of humans.

 While One Piece has some gorgeous artwork and unique designs with an insane level of cartoonish detail, Dobson has some very generic designs and draws like a 15 year old girl that read Spirou and manga too much and now starts doing scribble artwork.

 While Oda draws chapters for over 20 years now, Dobson could not even bother to finish up the adventure of the crew getting properly together back in 2004, as only one volume was released.

 While One piece tells a story that defines the shonen genre for over a decade, Dobson tells stupid newspaper strip jokes that are not even interconnected much.

 While Oda’s Strawhats are the embodiment of the word nakama, Dobson’s characters only bring the following old saying to mind:

 With friends like this, who needs enemies?

 Bottom line, Alex ze Pirate is absolute garbage as a work of entertainment, particularly in the world of kids entertainment. It was so already long before Dobson wrote the three part story I reviewed in detail, but this story in my opinion was for anyone with a bit of brains the last nail in the coffin. Cause overall, this was likely Dobson’s last chance in his and the eyes of the readers.

 The last chance, because he was going to put all his talent as a writer and artist into this one story to prove his critics wrong; That he could tell an engaging and emotionally fulfilling story in a multi part story, longer than his 15 pagers. But like with everything else I have seen so far, he failed.

 He failed artistically, because damn does this not look even remotely professional compared to other professionally published work or even other silly webcomics like Cludscratcher or Housepets (which I highly recommend you to read).

 He failed as a storywriter, because instead of emotionally engaging and well paced, this shit is rushed, works more on “tell, don’t show” than anything else and really just magnifies the worst aspects of his characters and Dobson’s mean spirited humor in general. Cause this is not a tale where we feel like Sam genuinely has found a family and friends in Alex and her crew. It is the tale of Sam just accepting that he has nothing better going on in his life.

 He failed, because instead of actually putting care, effort and love for his characters and work into this, he likely just wanted to get it out and hope that just because he “put effort” into this more than usual, he would already get praise by default.

 And once this thing was out, all that happened was the following: Even more people realized what kind of hack he is, that this project was not going to be salvaged even if actual stories instead of strip based jokes are told and he misinterpreted the disinterest as reason to just completely give up, instead of trying harder.

 And as a result, even if Dobson still went on to do shitty redesigns and a few more pages for it, Alex ze Pirate soon after ended. Put into everlasting hiatus, where it joins such work as Pilote Candidate or Frank Millers All Star Batman and Robin.

 Dobson, if you ever read this, let me just say it how it is: You failing to make even the most basic story about people appreciating their friends, particularly when within the last decade there has been an entire fandom of manchildren out there that was build on a show with “Friendship is Magic” in the title, just shows how bad of a storyteller and creator you are. You shouldn’t have gone to college in order to become an animator, you should have joined fanfiction.net in order to get some basic understanding on how to even write. Cause your writing is so bad, it makes fanfiction look genuinely complex and thoughtful. Well that and you should perhaps go out and find genuinely friends and not just online supporters that mistake you for some persecuted innocent artist, when in reality you are just a toxic idiot who attempts to manipulate people so he can profit of them and their fleeting interest in his substandard comics based on the lowest common denominator cartoons.

 I wrap this review up. We will revisit Alex one day again, but for now, I just want to focus on something more positive. So within the next weeks, if I post something, I will try to make it focused on something NOT Dobson related. You know, stuff to genuinely enjoy. Till then, I just want to say thank you. Thank you @hypocricyofandrewdobson for reblogging my entries. Thank you to everyone who liked this, reblogged this or started to follow me because of it. I hope I managed to educate and entertain you all in a positive manner, without making myself come off too much like an assholish nerd with too many interests. Stay safe.

 And hey, if any of you has his own two cents on Sam, Alex or the others, even ideas how to make them genuinely better, I am always open.

 See ya.

[jungcity]

You all deserve so much recognition, I really don't understand it when well developed, detailed fics get ignored just because the word count is big or there's no smut. I don't wish to offend smut writers or anything but sometimes you just get fed up with all the sex and the constant horniness, sometimes you just want to escape to another word, to admire the beautiful writing,to get invested in the plot and so much more.They deserve more appreciation because the author put more of themselves in

i have no qualms about smut in fics. heck, i’ve read a ton of it myself. but it is somewhat discouraging to realize that you’ll do absolutely good when you include smut in your writings. i was pressured to insert some steamy sex in my fics for i feared that it would flop once i don’t include such scenes. but i’ve realized that writing should not be pressuring me, that’s why i’ve decided not to write explicit smut any longer. it isn’t my genre and i’m not comfortable writing it. despite of it all, i do believe that writers of any genres deserves a lot of recognition for putting their time and effort to their works. but it is really saddening to work on a fic and not get any decent feedbacks whether it’s a story with smut or without.

[kyndaris]

“99 Little Bugs In The Code...”

With the release of so many titles during the holiday season of 2020, I was barely able to keep up. But, what I was saddened to learn were the plethora of bugs and glitches that permeated the video games I enjoy. In fact, after researching ways to resolve an initial issue where a cutscene refused to load but Eivor was unable to move, I discovered a series of different problems that could possibly prevent me from wrapping up the story of the video game. Cue the anxiety.

I am quite proud to admit that most games I have started, I have actually finished. If not the platinum trophies, then the main story and many of the side activities along with a hefty amount of trophies to showcase my dedication to the game. Often, when I’m writing up impressions/ reviews/ analysis of the narrative in video games, I’d have explored nearly every nook and cranny of the fantastical world I’ve been thrust in. While some people prefer to power through the story and finish the game like The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt in approximately 50 hours, I spent almost an entire day just sailing around Skellige, seeking out the treasure chests and vanquishing any and all question marks that remained on the world map.

A game is not finished until the credits roll. But until that happens, I’ll be doing all that I can to take in the sandbox developers have built around me.

As such, when I encountered a game-breaking bug in Grand Theft Auto V, I was devastated. No matter what I did, the mission circle would not appear. Even as I scoured the internet for a solution, I was unable to make the yellow circle appear in order for me to continue the story. 

My only recourse would be to start the game afresh.

But I had already invested so much time and energy to get where I was. Could I handle another 30 or 40 hours to reach the point where I was at?

It was a hard thing for me to do, but in the end, I simply let it go. It is disheartening for me to admit, but I never finished the story in Grand Theft Auto V. I had neither the time or the energy to go through what I had done before. After all, what if the same error occurred? Then I would have put in so much effort, only for it to go unrewarded.

Besides, I still had a mountain of games to get through.

As I have gotten older, I’ve also become more appreciative of the time I spend with each game. And though I’ve not many other commitments, besides my writing and Netflix, I still feel that my time is quite precious. So, why would I want to waste it on trying to repeat the same things if it might not resolve the problem I faced? 

What’s worse is that I also feel the pressure to get my hands on the latest and greatest video games. Developers are pumping these monsters out in record speed and it is hard to sink my teeth into each and every world. I also feel bad, as someone that blogs about the video games I play, that I’m not keeping enough of my readers entertained with my thoughts on the latest releases. But, because I’m not recognised as a video game reviewer, I don’t receive any of these earlier than other people. In fact, I often have to go out of my way just to pick them up, pop them into my console and start playing on Day 1 or Day 73 (depending on the other titles in my relatively imposing pile of shame).

But maybe I just simply put too much expectations on myself and you, the few readers that I have, are content with anything that I put out. Even if it doesn’t arrive as timely as it can. 

In any case, I’m somewhat heartened by the latest patches for Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla because it was incredibly frustrating to know that I had a treasure hoard I should have been able to collect, but not being able to loot anything in Ledecestrescire. And by the time I finally get to Cyberpunk 2077, it’ll hopefully look a lot better on my PlayStation 4 Pro and most of the kinks will have been ironed out.

I dread to think when I’ll finally be able to play Trails of Cold Steel 4. Why, I hear you ask? Because I still haven’t even STARTED Trails of Cold Steel 3.

Then there are the new games I’m eagerly looking forward to such as Kena: Bridge of Spirits and Horizon: Forbidden West. 

[famedroleplayarchive]

there's a serious problem with lack of dash activity and plotting here. and even though you don't really take advice on how to improve the group or adding groups(unless its specifically something /youre/ asking of the group), the unwillingness to change much of anything besides "model groups" instead of making interesting changes like opening trainee slots, potential duos, bands, and staff positions, fun hinting at group debuts, or even a revamp of the blog with new features is discouraging.

Hi! As a policy, it’s much easier for me to address concerns off-anon, but I do want to start off by saying that I’m always open to taking suggestions for what people want to see! I address that and the bulk of your message more fully under the cut, but I wanted to touch on your dash and plotting concerns first above the cut since I wanted to give members a little reminder, too.

If you’re having problems with or concerns about any specific members, please come to me off-anon and I will speak to them. I can’t ever fully know what’s going on with plotting since that almost exclusively happens over messages, which I have no access to. If your writing partners have been slow to reply lately, we’ve got mini-events with the Base blog along with future full-group events and tasks that will be ramping up that will provide more to write about, as the dash does slow down when we don’t have any real events or tasks going on.

I definitely hear your concern, though, so, members, please make sure you’re putting in the effort to write and plot with those who express interest in doing so with you, and don’t be afraid to reach out to others if you feel your plots are currently lacking! Life can make people slow (myself included right now, especially when it comes to responding to plotting messages and, to a lesser extent, messages on the main), but make sure to follow up when you do get the chance, and it never hurts to let someone know that you’ve got a lot going on right now, so maybe going with the flow on a starter or doing a text thread (though, reminder: those don’t count for activity) would be better for the time being.

Likewise, members, if you ever have concerns about feeling excluded by anyone, please message me off-anon and I will do what I can to try to help you out! Your comfort is of utmost important to me.

Now, I’d like to address the latter part of your message, since it concerns me that I may have given off any kind of impression that I’m not open to suggestions or advice.

As I said at the beginning of this post, I am always open to hearing out suggestions and advice! A lot of updates that have been added recently are at the suggestion of members. Almost all of the claims that have been added to the points shop recently were specific requests by members, as well as several past rule updates and general changes to how the group is run. The biggest addition we’ve had to the group in a while was the addition of the Base blog and the events that will come from it (and the full scope of possibilities I want to incorporate through that has yet to be shown!) was an idea I’d had since the beginning of the roleplay in some sense, but was largely shaped by suggestions and requests from members past and present and those who submitted what they wanted to see anonymously. 

Generally, as a rule, I don’t publicly reply to suggestions for the group that come in since it can be hard to make an official statement on any plans I have for incorporating them before I’ve entirely thought it through and figured the best way, time, and method to implement a suggestion. I keep all anonymous suggestions I receive, so that I can keep them in mind and come back to them later. Messages do get eaten, though, so if you want to be one hundred percent sure I got something, please message me the suggestion off-anon and let me know you’d like to know I got it!

I do understand that the few times I have replied to anonymous suggestions publicly, it’s more often than not been to say that something won’t be able to be implemented (or that, if it will, it’s a ways off), but I only do that when a request or suggestion has been made multiple times and I’ve thought it through enough that I really don’t see it working within the confines of the group so that members aren’t holding on for something that I won’t be able to make happen for them. This includes what you’ve mentioned about opening the roleplay up for trainees, staff, or bands, because those are simply not roles that would work within the mechanics of the roleplay and its concept since everything (events, claims, points) is based around the specific lives and careers of debuted idols. Muses outside of that would naturally feel left out unless I were to do a major overhaul of the group’s core. I know idol roleplays with those types of open roles have been done before and are probably being done out there right now, though, so I do hope you can find a place to write your trainee, staff, or band muse if that’s what you really want to write out! Unfortunately, the specific sub-set of the idol roleplay genre that I’ve chosen for Famed to exist within doesn’t easily accommodate the types of roles outside of those that already exist within it. As for duos, I had suggestions brought to me about people wanting to see more sub-unit and canon collaboration opportunities and I’m doing my best to make that happen through all of the recent sub-unit debuts and the COLLA3ORATE event through the Base blog, and beyond that, music collaborations, dramas, variety shows, etc. are always available as a claim for two muses to work and/or promote together if they want to!

No group debuts have been hinted at recently because there’s none immediately planned anymore. I had a boy group I wanted to debut this summer, but it’s more important to me that existing muses have group mates to write with before I bring in new spots, so nothing is planned to happen there with that new boy group debut until next calendar year at earliest. We’ve had at least one new group or soloist debut every year since the roleplay opened (Femme Fatale in 2017; Lucid and Dimensions Soloist 2 in 2018; BC Soloist 1 in 2019; Dimensions Soloist 3 in 2020) and new debuts are something I’d like to keep up for as long as it’s reasonable.

I’m not able to accommodate what every single request, suggestion, and desire everyone has for the roleplay because not everything will fit into the roleplay realistically and logistically, but I promise I have never refused to make a suggestion happen out of sheer stubbornness or refusal to be open to others’ ideas!

In my view, my role as an admin is to keep the roleplay running and offer updates, changes, plot drops, story lines, etc. to encourage muse for writing among muns, but I am also very aware of roleplay as a collaborative art — meaning, as an admin, I also want to work with members to help craft a community unique to the members we have had and do have that wouldn’t exist in the form it does without their creativity and ideas. That’s why I will sometimes put out surveys for opinions and feedback like you mentioned. I never want to make members feel burdened by those, as they are always completely optional, and are intended to help me, as a solo admin, get a broader view on suggestions that have been brought to me to see if it’s something more widely desired. Other times, yes, they do involve concerns and ideas of my own, but I have no desire to put the burden of admin-ing on members’ shoulders and I sincerely apologize if it ever feels like that’s what I’m doing by putting out opinion and feedback surveys. I do often make decisions without surveys, but when it’s something that I’m not fully set on doing or not doing, I like to know if it’s something that will make members happy since, once again, I really do want the roleplay to be shaped in part by what brings members muse instead of forcing things that might suck inspiration out of the roleplay when that’s the opposite of my intention. If I’m asking for member opinions, that is always completely optional and if you don’t want to answer, you should never feel you have to! If the requests for opinions and feedback don’t match what you want to give, then you are encouraged to message me anyway with your own!

I do want to reiterate again since I am very saddened to hear I may have come off contrarily: I love receiving ideas for the roleplay from members. I do not regularly reply to anonymous suggestions so that I can keep them in the inbox to come back to, but I am happy to read them and consider them. I was actually thinking very recently about how I might want to open a separate ask box or open submission form for suggestions to encourage members to send their thoughts in when they have them, but we have quite a few blogs already, so I didn’t know if that would be wanted.

I’m one person and while I try my best to try to come up with new ideas and ways to keep the group exciting without being overwhelming, I’m under no illusion that there aren’t people out there with ideas I never would have thought of that are better than anything I could come up with on my own and it excites me when I get messages with new ideas for the group, even when I’m not able to implement them, because people making suggestions means they’re excited about the group and/or they have enough investment to want to see something and that means the world to me!

As for a revamp of the blog with new features, I’m not confident I know exactly what you’re referring to there, but if you mean a revamp for a new look, I know we’ve had the same graphics and themes on our blogs for a while as it hasn’t been a priority for me to change those with everything else I’ve had going on, but any suggestions you might have for functional features you want to see on any of our blogs would be great to hear! I’ve been working behind the scenes on creating a timeline of major canon career events (tours, first award wins, foreign debuts, that kind of thing) for each of the groups, sub-units, and canon soloists, so I hope to have those added to the new page layouts some time within the next few months, but other new features on the main, Exclusive blog, Base blog, and company blogs are more in their infancy, so any suggestions there would be lovely to hear!

[atopearth]

Shall We Date? Ninja Shadow Part 13 - Okita Soshiro Route

I feel like with Okita, he seems like (along with other Okita in other games) the type to smile all the time, but under that smile is this cunning and clever person that will never show you how he truly feels unless he needs it to further his goals. Lol omgg when he pushed her down and got close to her, to force her to admit that she’s actually a girl. He’s quite extreme about these things, he just wanted to know if she really was a guy or a woman so he can effectively give her proper training catered to her skeletal structure, body type etc, he sounds very serious about this lol. I guess with Okita’s coughing, it probably means he has tuberculosis already… It’s nice to see how great of a swordsman he is through how acknowledged he is by everyone, I also love how serious he is about being an instructor and even gives some after care massage (and tickling!) for the heroine! He really puts in a lot of effort thinking about his training plans huh?

I like how they’re both getting used to the other being their partner so they’re both concerned over the other’s well-being and tries their best to support each other. Good that they got Suetsugu, but dang, Okita coughed blood and fainted, that’s a bit hard to disguise as a simple cold now lol. It’s saddening to hear Okita say that his illness has no cure and that he would last maximum one year, how daunting would that be, especially when he has to face everything himself. I’m happy he told her about it, and that the heroine wants to take care of him regardless. But at the same time, him telling her can also reflect two things imo, how much he’s giving up on living, since he might feel like telling her or not isn’t much different, he’s still going to die, there’s still no point in struggling to find a cure, secondly, it may also reflect that he finally wants to confide in someone about this illness, hoping that even if it’s unlikely, he wants some comfort, some help, thinking that maybe she could save him, whether that be emotionally or physically.

It’s really cute how Okita’s opened up to her and even quite honestly shows his love and admiration for her when she voices her opinions to Tsubaki haha. I really liked how they watched over the sunset together as they shared their thoughts and hopes for the future, it really showed how much they wanted each other to continue to be a part of their lives, and I thought that was really sweet. Except it does raise death flags lmao, but this is an otome game so we should be fine? Lol at the transition between Okita leaving and then coming back, so quick hahaha. At least they can continue spending their time together and flaunting their affection in front of everyone lmao. But wow, is it just me or was this route really short? It felt like their romance and the story was finally starting to pick up and then bam, it ended!

Overall, Okita’s route was nice? I don’t feel like it was anything special or too different from the others, like it was cute and everything but it doesn’t really stand out, and I think it’s pretty short so that makes it kinda lacking, since it felt like I was finally more invested in their relationship and then it ended. So yeah, not bad, but not great imo.

[elizabethrobertajones]

Dean & Cas Are In Love

A hopefully one day conclusive study of these assholes, hopefully told as briefly as I can.

Written for the people in the fandom who care but sometimes need a pick me up on this, and not written to prove a point to anyone who doesn't already care. <3

Dean needs Cas to get Dick

... They boned him together. 

Slightly less visually erotic and more punnery innuendo-y parallel of Sam and Dean killing Ruby together in 4x22 >.> 

Anyways. 

Season 7 ends, and this episode is dependant on the journey Dean and Cas go through to make amends. There is no formal goodbye or even good luck between Sam and Dean - their last conversation is about Bobby, and the funeral scene is their last real shared scene; after that it’s Dean n Cas paired together until the end.

But let’s start at the top :D

While Carver era isn’t utterly devoid of barbs like this, I’m honestly struggling to think of one that is so overt aside from the deleted 10x14 scene than Meg’s “he was your boyfriend first” line. I feel like this is the end of the really on the nose teasing and jabbing at them as if being in love is an insult, and the beginning of a more nuanced handling - and don’t worry, deleted scenes are on my to-do list as we get deeper into Wonderland >.> 

Through Cas’s return, Meg has acted as a block and a romantic rival, in both overt and not so overt ways. She shows up to get between Dean n Cas having more private reconciliation and then seems to “win” who gets Cas, while admitting freely it’s a power grab and for her own protection against Crowley. By 7x23 she shows up fed up with Cas and unable to deal with him, handing him off to Dean to talk to and try and reason with him. Considering the ownership battle she conjured on her end, it has the feeling of conceding ground, and in this case she frames it in the romantic terms of Cas having been Dean’s boyfriend first. She treats it as if it were a fling and she is resigning from the competition to bag Cas as a boyfriend, and returning him to Dean. While she hangs around and helps some more, for the rest of the episode, she no longer hits on Cas or does more than look at him a few times, while Dean is left to deal with him.

The moment where Dean goes to talk to Cas in the car, I like that moment where Dean takes a breath... Those top two gifs have been thrown around fandom a lot out of context or for fun, but there’s serious stuff going on in them - as often with this show and/or fandom, the funny things have a real story to them. I like that Dean is still struggling to face Cas, but he will make the effort in a way that Meg clearly won’t, and talks him to come inside with gentle, friendly persuasion. But like with 7x21 before he goes to talk to him in the day room, he needs a moment to face Cas in this state, as he finds it saddening and troublesome to talk to him, though, unlike Meg, he makes an effort. 

Then, we have their ongoing argument which builds up over the course of the episode, but by this point bubbles over about WHY they need Cas to get Dick. And why Cas has been resisting the entire time. His self-worth from the whole betrayal and Godstiel thing is obviously his most prominent, painful trauma. He has to spell out for Dean why he won't help, but this is the most clarity he shows in a while, and in this episode Gamble writes his non-sequiturs as very clearly labelled avoidance of questions or thinking about his problems. In 8x08 we'll get another look into his head when he talks about avoiding going back to Heaven with Dean, and I suspect that's based on the intention with how he was feeling during this time as well.

Dean responds by bubbling over with his own shit; this is for both sides of the argument, their stuff in 7x21 finally reaching its conclusion, and of course both are mis-handling it in some ways, through avoidance or anger, and are not at their optimal harmony... To be delicate about it >.> It's harsh to watch, but Dean's anger about Cas is not (just) selfish or motivated to save them - we see multiple times his own pain at seeing Cas in this state, and lines which betray how much it hurts and how he wants Cas back to how he was because, you know, Cas is his friend and he cares a lot about him. Translated into anger, he lashes out with his pain in the situation, the unfairness that Cas can avoid and refuse to help when he caused all that harm, and even to this day is something where Cas still feels bound to make amends for things that he broke - season 13 finally returning to the theme of how much damage he did to Heaven. Dean telling Cas this so harshly is the painful shock that pokes at Cas's guilt, but also betrays Dean's own pain and investment in Cas's situation.

As with moments when they physically attack each other, obviously emotional lashing out betrays care but shouldn't be like... romanticised and stuff. Just, taking this in a fictional story setting etc.

Anyways, after this, Cas goes into a defensive full denial mode for a bit, and they turn to doing Bobby's passing on; at the end of this scene, the camera dramatically pans to Cas with rising dramatic music, and it turns out he watched the whole scene. Of course though he was not a part of his, his presence is necessary and important, because he cared for Bobby too, and Bobby died fighting the leviathans, which Cas unleashed. This is part of his "mess" as Dean put it, and something he confronts, silently, on his terms. There's no camera work to suggest Dean sees Cas watching but I like to think that he does, as he was facing the right way, and between Dean yelling at Cas, and him going to him in peace, this is the only thing that happens. I think Cas's remorse is very important even though it may be silent, as is bridges these moments, giving Cas honest reflection which he can't divert from - seeing Bobby, someone he cared about a great deal, as a ghost that they're forcing to move on. And Dean knowing that Cas came and watched this and was a part of the family scene despite his current withdrawal from helping them.

Dean approaching Cas is wonderful because finally he doesn't demand Cas help them, but finds a peaceful middle ground of something Cas can do to help but that doesn't involve violence, meaning that despite all of Dean's anger, he wants to help Cas find a way to help them, to clean up his mess, but to do it on terms which Cas can handle. This peace also allows Cas to think about it in non-confrontational terms, and to face up to what sending Dean in to fight Dick alone will mean if he doesn't help.

The "I'd rather have you, cursed or not" line has been picked over a lot, both positively on gifsets and general squeeing, and negatively about its connotations that it can still carry a suggestion that Dean only wants Cas to help them because he's the only one who WILL help them, at this stage, and they know that they need him. I like the line after it better, as it's the much more personal appeal, the sense of them being in it together, and that it's not just anything - this is something that Dean feels as a connection between them. The less emotional pep talk and more personal nonsense the line, the more it really means, as he's not saying this in the same tone of voice as rallying Cas, just pointing out that they're all in shit creek together.

Cas understands what Dean's getting :D

I should have giffed as well, but no room and I have to make cuts somewhere, Cas asking about what the plan was - because the plan involves Cas being brought along PEACEFULLY, only for Dick identification, while Dean was supposed to be the one to fight Dick alone, Cas at his side, but the expectation was that Cas had one role and Dean had the other.

In the end, they tag-team him. :')

Also: Dean's absolute trust that Cas knows Dick when he sees him, and Cas defending Dean from Dick advancing on him, after all that stuff about not fighting, once again as with deflecting Hester away from Dean, he steps in to protect Dean, and even grabs Dick from behind so Dean gets his clean second shot at him that does the job.

Of all season finales, 7x23 really floors me for how embedded the Destiel narrative is in it, when this isn't even a majorly Destiel season for obvious reasons, and I never felt like Gamble wanted much to do with them in that sense. Whether it's just because of leading into Carver era or what, or the need to make amends both in the writing for Cas and in the meta level for the writers, once Cas was back this story was oh so very much about and for him, as he was the one responsible, and he had both emotional damage with Sam and Dean, and plot damage to handle. If he was to return as a main character next season and have even halfway a reboot back to a regular Cas, he needed a full redemption in the narrative, and to be brought back into play alongside Dean and back in his rightful place at his side. And this is the set up to get them there, from the awful mess left at the beginning of the season. :D

[echodrops]

Issues with Voltron Season 6 (Part 3)

A continuation of my extremely long vent about the most recent Voltron season.

<-- Part 1 is back here.

<- Part 2 is back here.

This time it’s (mostly) about Keith and Shiro!

All right, so while I think the treatment of Lotor’s character was the true worst offender of this season, the entire clone Shiro plot line has just driven me nuts from start to finish, and the culmination of it in this season just heaped more salt in the fire.

Let me preface this by saying I love Shiro--I genuinely love this character and have felt like the EPs had no idea what they were doing with his character since the end of season one. Everything I say in this post is an extension of the fact that I feel like this poor man has been mistreated and misused by the writers since practically day one.

At least as far as I understand it, the EPs’ original intention was for Shiro to disappear at the end of season two and not return until this point in the show, which would have been an absence of a season and a half (19 episodes). I absolutely understand the higher level executive meddling from Dreamworks that forced them to scrap this idea and bring Shiro back into the story earlier. Simply removing a character from the plot for over a year’s time and then expecting to bring him back in and have some major emotional payoff would have been utterly stupid. No one would have cared at that point, and everyone would have been left wondering why they bothered to return Shiro to the plot at all.

But that doesn’t mean that the route the writers took to “fix” the issue is any better. Why in the world does this entire clone plot line exist? It’s honestly like they sat down at the table and said “What is the most roundabout, complicated, and unnecessary way to fix our Shiro problem?” and then went “Okay, let’s do exactly that.” There are so many ways they could have chosen to solve this problem instead:

1) Leave the real Shiro on the astral plane, and have periodic cuts throughout other episodes to Shiro struggling to “survive” on the astral plane, possibly dealing with apparitions of Zarkon etc. Experiencing difficulties due to the extreme isolation, trying to reach out to the team in critical moments--hell, he could have been there with the manifestation of the Black Lion, and and the writers could have shown him learning awesome things about the lions, the universe, the Alteans, etc. etc. Meanwhile, outside, Keith could have stayed with the team and grew into his Black Paladin leadership role organically instead of the artificial “Well, we aged him two years so now you know he’s mature and leader-worthy!” The drive to find Shiro could have continued to lead Keith and could have served as a more logical reason for Allura and company to be swayed by Lotor--he could have tried to convince them that Shiro might be trapped in the rift or something, and that could have been their reasoning behind being willing to explore the rift despite the imminent danger. Hell, it could still end with Haggar controlling Shiro into a Shiro vs. Keith showdown--maybe gaining the secrets of Oriande would allow her to reach out and control Shiro on the astral plane--they could have used literally any other excuse! And then we’d get our Shiro and Keith showdown on the astral plane as a perfect parallel to the Zarkon vs. Shiro showdown from the earlier season! It would have been great!!

2) Scrap the astral plane idea entirely and just put Shiro somewhere on the other side of the universe with like... minimal working tech. The show cuts between Shiro’s antics across the universe and his attempts to make it back to the team--allowing for greater world building--and the team, where again, Keith is allowed to organically grow into a leadership role. Same reasoning as above, the team could engage with Lotor after Lotor makes a promise to help them find their missing Black Paladin or something. Meanwhile, Shiro is being mind-controlled remotely from Haggar, whose magic got into him from the glowing wound way back in season one or something. We still get our Keith vs. Shiro showdown, tada.

In essence, what I’m trying to say is that literally any other possible plot would have felt more natural and been a better addition to the story than going with “Shiro’s an evil clone and the real one died inexplicably 19 episodes ago.”

I mean, can someone actually articulate any positive gain from the clone plot line? In what way did this particular plot--these particular events--actually make the story better? Is there something here that I am just flat out missing? Was there something in this plot that could ONLY be done via this particular clone story? I am honestly struggling here to see any profit in this. I can only see this as an example of writers choosing the worst possible solution to a simple problem, possibly even out of spite.

As an aside, I think my true biggest problem with the clone Shiro plot line is the the underlying issue of why the EPs thought it was a good idea to get rid of Shiro in the first place. Several of their interviews have led me to conclude that they never expected people to actually like or care about Shiro, and that they themselves never saw him as more than a stepping stone for Keith to overcome in order to achieve his ultimate role of leadership.

But that entire thing doesn’t make any sense, because it hinges on one major premise that the writers never actually sold to us: Keith needs to be the leader.

Why? We’re literally never given a single compelling reason for this in the show itself. There is nothing in this show to support the idea that Keith should be the destined leader of Voltron. There’s simply no logical explanation for this in the show at all. 

The only remotely reasonable excuse is that Keith was the leader in the original Voltron, so he should be the leader here too. Except “Keith” in the original show had an entirely different personality and was a perfect cookie cutter of the hero archetype. Sven wasn’t leader type in the original series; he bears minimal resemblance to the Shiro of this show.

So why does Keith need to lead Voltron? What does he bring to the table as Black Paladin that he could not have brought as the Red Paladin? Why are there so many parallels between Keith and Alfor, the Red Paladin, if Keith was just going to end up as the Black Paladin all along?

Am I genuinely supposed to believe “Because Keith was the leader originally” is the only valid reason the writers had for giving us this massive tumor of a plot--a plot that resulted in Keith’s leaving the team, Shiro becoming a clone, Lance being shoved even further aside, Allura getting a lion despite the EPs saying they wanted to make her a cool enough character she didn’t need one, and undermining essentially all the efforts of season one to show a meaningful lion/paladin bond?

I have never seen--from the very first episode of this show to the most recent--a shred of convincing evidence that Keith being the leader is, in any way, shape, or form, necessary or what’s best for the plot.

The entire lion swap plot line is, to my eyes, utterly unneeded, convoluted, and reductive. So much time was wasted on this that could have been dedicated to better examining the characters’ motivations and reactions to the numerous serious issues the show chose to instead gloss over...

Which is not helped by the writers’ lack of commitment to the color swap in the first place. If perhaps, from season three on, the show had consistently insisted that the color swap was permanent and we were never going to see Keith back in Red or Lance back in Blue, I might have accepted it. But the show writers are wishy-washy about even this!

This is literally how we ended season six:

Haggar deliberately says “the Red Paladin” in reference to Keith in this season--in a freaking episode titled “The Black Paladins.” The lack of consistency in messaging is actively painful to my sensibilities as a writer.

To sum up what I’m trying to say here: The clone Shiro plot line was the worst possible solution to a problem the EPs created for literally no reason, and the trajectory of the “Keith becomes leader plot” so badly shifted the tone of the show that tens of opportunities to better examine the world and characters were lost in order to progress a story line that the writers never convincingly sold to us as an audience in the first place. I can’t think of any word for this but “bad.”

(PHEW. THERE. I SAID IT.)

And this of course doesn’t even touch on the other issues raised by this season in regards to Shiro, namely:

1) How much of the clone body is actually organic material? Because in the flashback from season 3 (or was it 4?), the clone Shiro that was shown lying on the table made a camera sound as his pupils dilated, indicating that at least part of the body was mechanical, not to mention that the prosthetic arm literally grew to extend past the organic part of Shiro’s arm in the Shiro vs. Keith fight--did they put real!Shiro’s self back into a mostly robotic body? Are we ever coming back to this? Is it ever going to be discussed? Why do I get the feeling it won’t?

2) The fact that the clone’s existence was entire overwritten by real!Shiro is super creepy and maybe just because I’m coming from a long history in the Kingdom Hearts fandom, the idea of someone’s existence being absorbed despite them functionally being capable of being different people is super saddening. I was never emotionally invested in clone!Shiro because he was obviously a clone from day one, but the fact that he was a fundamentally good person who was trying his best, then had to face the horror of losing control of himself, fighting someone he thought was his best friend to the death, and then literally being swallowed by a person who wasn’t around to personally experience any of these things is discomforting. Not to mention that “Shiro just inherited all the clone’s memories!” makes absolutely no sense scientifically (and isn’t even explained magically in the show) and is, once more, a cheap way to handwave character growth--of course Shiro hasn’t missed out on more than a season’s worth of development! It’s all still there, even if he wasn’t the one to experience it! Now it’s just like he did, promise!) Miss me with this nonsense, please.

3) What kind of government does Earth have in place that a minor can leave foster care to go to military boarding school at the tender age of what looks like 12 on the apparent recommendation of a man who likely wasn’t even 21 years old? (It’s like, if the main plot itself was going to be completely illogical, couldn’t they at least make the backstories somewhat viable?) And not to mention, but... didn’t the Keith and Shiro backstory deserve more screen time? There was so much build up to this, and we got less flashback for Keith and Shiro than we did for Krolia and Tex! Matt and Pidge got more! I feel incredibly short-changed, especially because I feel like that was probably it and we’re probably not going to get many more flashbacks for Shiro and Keith specifically. I think their placement in the Keith versus Shiro episode was good, but there just wasn’t enough material there to really satisfy the longing I had to see Keith and Shiro grow up together.

“What I got wasn’t what I needed and I wanted so much more than what I got” is the summary of Shiro and Keith in season 6, essentially.

ALSO I CAN’T UNSEE THIS.

I burst out laughing at this scene when I actually watched the season--it wasn’t supposed to be funny but I could not stop laughing. Sorry Keith, or something.

Anyway, all of this also relates to one of the other major issues I have had with Voltron since season one:

4) The writers have no idea how to handle an ensemble cast, but they keep adding characters anyway!

Matt was introduced and effectively erased, Slav might as well no longer exist, Olia? Not sure why we even bothered to give her a name. Kolivan? Probably died off screen! Lotor’s generals? I have no idea why they even bothered to animate them into this season given how little impact they had! All the other existing Alteans on the colony? Erm... I’m sure we’ll get back to those guys eventually.

There’s a difference between “We don’t have time to dedicate entire episodes to side characters” and “These characters just functionally stop existing when we no longer have an immediate role for them in the plot.” The attention in this series is all over the place--Matt gets a ton of screen time in season 4, enough to make it seem like he’s going to be a recurring character--and then his existence is entirely ignored two seasons later. Slav could have proven useful at any number of moments in this plot--and yet he’s nowhere to be found. The allegiances of Lotor’s generals are so cheap that they could basically be swapped out for any random helmeted Galra cannon fodder with zero impact on the plot. I’ve genuinely never seen a show deliberately add so many characters to its cast and then so badly under-utilize them.

This is actively jarring because any new character that appears, you have to first ask yourself “Is it worth getting invested in this person’s story? How likely are they to never appear again after this season?” And there’s seemingly no rhyme or reason to who disappears--even people who could and should still be active in the plot get shoved entirely to the side without any explanation or justification for their absence.

And all this mistreatment of the side characters might be okay if the main characters were at least getting to grow and develop consistently instead. But that’s not the case either! We have Lance’s character back-pedalling, Hunk fans excited over mere scraps of their favorite getting screentime that isn’t a food joke, and Pidge... I was honestly concerned that some of her hacking footage from this season was stock reused from previous seasons. 

Screen time in this series bounces around like a ball--whoever catches it gets to do something cool for ten seconds then has to immediately pass it to someone else. Keith is a ball hog but somehow STILL doesn’t get his issues dealt with respectfully.

This show sold itself on the tried and true premise of “power of friendship.” The entire first season was really about becoming a team. And yet the show writers seem entirely adverse to letting these characters grow together. All the best moments of the show are moments in which the relationships between characters are expressed in believable and meaningful ways. Lance’s pep talk to Allura on Naxela. Pidge’s moving mourning for Matt. Keith’s refusal to let go of Shiro. The show writers KNOW how to believably develop more than one character simultaneously--they know how to let characters share the spotlight--and yet they continually fall back on scenes which give the foreground to a single character, leaving the audience with the constant feeling that other characters are being short changed. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge fans have every right to be upset.

There’s no reason that Keith and Pidge’s character developments have to take place in entirely different episodes. There’s no reason that Lance’s insecurities and Pidge’s fears about her family need separate screen time. All of these characters’ issues--everything they need to overcome in order to become stronger, happier people--could be dealt with together, saving time and animation budget in the process.

I have never come across a show about being a team that so violently rejects the idea of its characters being you know... an actual team.

And I guess, while I’m here, one last little gripe:

5) Chekov’s Gun is a serious issue for the writers of this series.

Lance unlocked a sword in season 4. Where is it? Why has it not been used? Keith got a dog that can teleport. Why not just teleport the dog into the Sincline ship and let it eat Lotor’s face while he was in a cramped and defenseless position??? When elements like these are introduced to the story, viewers are trained to expect something to come from them. We can only assume that Lance’s sword and Keith’s dog will be plot relevant at some point. But when? The timing is terrible in this show--why make us wait more than a season for Lance’s sword to pay off when there were plenty of opportunities to work it in before now? Did the EPs really give Keith a wolf just because they thought it would be cool for him to have a “lone wolf” to relate to, despite the fact that part of the entire trajectory of his character has been teaching him the importance of relying on others and making meaningful bonds to other people? (How does it make sense to even deem it a “lone wolf” if Keith adopted it when it was just a tiny puppy?)

I mean, I LIKE the dog and I still think its inclusion was nonsensical and pointless... They could have introduced this dog in any number of ways, but “randomly dropped on the back of a whale in a space-time continuum with no logical origin point or reasonable explanation for being there” is what the writers went with.

This is nitpicking, I know, and don’t get me wrong, I’m all for Keith having a cool space wolf--but did the show really need another example of badly shoehorning in the EPs’ whims? Did the none of the editors really stop to go “Maybe we should do this stuff later or in a different way”?

At the end of the day, there are just a lot of problems with the story. Enough that, at this point, I feel ready to divorce myself from it. I’m going to continue watching the show--there’s no point in stopping now, at the end--but at this point, Voltron is always going to go down on paper for me as a show I loved for what could have been, not for what really was.

I don’t say any of this stuff with a light heart. I definitely give my all to shows and games when I get invested in them, and Voltron has dominated my fandom time for two years now. I’ve written hundreds of thousands of words about and for this show. No one can accuse me of not caring about it.

But it’s because I care about the show--and the heights I know it could have reached--that I do feel this upset and let down. I know this show could have been better. I wanted better for it. I’m not spewing senseless criticism because my favorite ship didn’t come true or something... I really believe that the show has tons of untapped potential, and I’m saddened by the fact that I feel like it’s all going to waste.

I’m not asking anyone to agree with me, nor am I telling anyone that they have to suddenly start disliking the show just because I dislike where it has gone. People all have their own opinions, and like things for their own reasons. My reasons for liking Voltron are essentially gone, but for the other people that are still enjoying it, rock on.

I really do wish I was still there with you.

[backtothestart02]

Fallen Star - 7/?

A/N: Not all that exciting, I assure you, but certainly longer than any of the previous chapters. I hope you find something in it worthwhile.

*many thanks to @valeriemperez for beta’ing.

Chapter 7 -

No matter how hard Iris tried, she could not seem to focus on Linda’s genius plan to piss Barry off in order to bring them back together. She knew in theory it was solid, and she did have to admit the story was one she would have greedily chased if it actually existed, though maybe she wouldn’t act on it to the extent Linda was suggesting she would – hypothetically speaking, but she couldn’t stop thinking about that New Year’s Eve party at STAR Labs that she had yet to make a decision about.

Barry had bought her a gorgeous shiny floor-length dress for their six-month anniversary near the end of November. She knew he’d been eyeing the dresses that showed a little more skin than this one did and just didn’t want to be labeled a perv by the girlfriend of his dreams and tried to tell him so. He refused to admit to it though, and so she told him she appreciated the gift. Which she did. The dress was absolutely stunning and looked amazing on her when she tried it on.

You would’ve thought she was wearing lingerie from Barry’s inability to speak and the color draining from his face, the bulge forming in his pants. It did show a bit of cleavage and there was a slit for her leg, but she didn’t think it warranted that much of a reaction.

Still, when he lunged for her, and she giggled, “Don’t rip the dress!”, he sped-stripped it off of her and responded, “Save it for New Year’s.” She’d nodded, giddy. “That’s perfect.”

It’d been a magical, intoxicating night after that, and when she found the dress in her closet today she could not help but think of that night and the bright future that lay ahead of them then. One that, as far as she could tell, had been wiped from existence now.

She turned her phone over and over in her hand, trying to decide. Linda had offered to take her with her to New York City where her cousin had managed to snag an invite to a classy party on a rooftop in full view of the huge glittering ball that would sound off the new year. It was an enticing offer, she had to admit. She’d never seen the ball anywhere other than on TV. She’d never even been to New York. She always wanted to go, see the lights all lit up at night, be amidst the crowds on a busy Friday night or a busy Friday day. She wanted to go to a Broadway show and spend hours shopping at vendors in the city streets. She wanted to browse through Tiffany’s most beautiful – and expensive – diamond collection and be stopped in the middle of Times Square because her face was zoomed in on the big screen.

She wanted to kiss who she was with in that moment, have it shown to everyone who was walking by. She wanted that magic of knowing anyone who cared to pay attention could see how desperately in love she was with that person.

And she wanted that person to be Barry.

Tears welled in her eyes as she abandoned the phone on the table and went to curl in a ball on the couch.

She wanted everything with Barry.

She’d wanted Christmas with Barry – mistletoe and eggnog and a fully decorated tree and opening presents and caroling and waking up on Christmas morning wrapped up in each other and eating Christmas cookies, one of her few specialties she excelled at.

She hadn’t gotten that this year. They hadn’t gotten it this year.

Instead they fought and broke up, and her favorite holiday in the world was forever tainted because apparently her Bear had been restraining himself for fear of losing her and had decided that if it was worth the risk if she had some sense knocked into her.

The rumblings of anger buzzed inside her, but it wasn’t nearly as intense as it had been a week ago or any day since. Because right now she missed him so much it hurt. Right now she was willing to throw away her entire career if it meant holding him in her arms again and hearing I love you float passed his lips, hearing I missed you and let’s never break up again tumble off his tongue. She missed the pressure of his lips against hers, of his body against hers, of his fingers in her hair, his whisper in her ear…

She missed everything.

Why couldn’t things be okay? Just for one night, one magical, endless night, why couldn’t their love be enough?

She shivered where she sat and pulled a folded blanket up over her, huddling into its warmth.

But he’s not even going to be there, Iris.

It could be the truth. He might not decide to show, if Cisco prodded Barry to show up the way Caitlin had done to her.  They might be in the same space, and not by accident either. Whenever Cisco and Caitlin teamed up on something, it was usually with good intentions. Which meant they wanted to get the two of them back together and had likely decided since they were making no moves in that direction, it was up to the saavy science nerds of Team Flash to step in for them.

If only it was so simple.

Her phone buzzed across the room, nearing the edge of the table where she’d left it.

It was either Linda, asking her if she was sure she wanted to spend her New Year’s Eve alone, even though she was likely already in New York getting ready for the party. I’ll send in the ‘copter, she’d probably say, only half-joking – or it was Caitlin, reminding her that the party started in less than two hours and she had yet to give her a response.

She bit her bottom lip, thought about that dress, about Barry being there, about Barry not being there, about truly spending another holiday moping and/or feeling depressed, about the rest of the team that probably only wanted to help, about the champagne and the smiles and the new year that could change everything.

She snapped to her feet, zipped across the room, her slippers sliding on the wood floor, and answered the call.

“Hey, Caitlin.”

“Iris! Hey, I was just calling becau-”

“I’m coming.”

A pause, probably due to shock and uncertainty.

“You’re…you’re coming?”

“I’m coming, yes.”

“You’re sure.”

“Absolutely positively!” she assured. Too much, Iris, she grimaced a beat later.

“Well, that’s…great!” A smile in her voice. It made Iris smile too. “You can just head on up to the roof when you get here. If no one’s up there we’re just grabbing extra food and drink.”

“Great! That sounds great, Caitlin. I can’t wait.”

A pause – more smiling from both of them.

“I’ll see you later then, Iris.”

“Should I bring anything?” she asked hurriedly, the thought of contributing unexpectedly dawning on her suddenly.

“Nope. Just yourself,” she soothed.

“Just myself.”

“See you at seven.”

“See you.”

Click.

She set the phone back down on the table and stared out the window, letting the realization of what she’d just done sink in.

A party to forget or a party that might change everything. Her breath caught in her throat, imagining the look that might be in Barry’s eyes when he saw her in that dress – if he sees you, Iris.

She had a feeling he would.

…

Barry stared at himself in the tall mirror and sighed loudly.

“That does not sound like a man who is excited to go to the…” Cisco slid along the floor into view behind him. “Best New Year’s Even party of his life!” he sang.

Barry’s expression did not change.

“Is it too much?”

Cisco glared.

“Dude. You’re wearing a navy suit with a sparkly tie.

“Yeah.”

“It’s better than the first thing you put on.”

Barry paused, recalling, and then nodded resigned.

“Yeah, the bedazzled black tux was a little over-the-top.”

“Ya think?” Cisco deadpanned.

“This might be too, though…”

“You’re not going to the party in a t-shirt and jeans, my friend. This is a party, not…a movie marathon.”

Barry frowned and turned to look at him.

“But Iris isn’t going to be there.”

Cisco raised his eyebrows. “Is that the only time you would try to look nice?”

He shrugged. “Well, it’s nothing with work either or a formal function.”

“Everyone is dressing up,” he complained. “Just because you’re feeling mopey doesn’t mean you have to look that way.”

Barry paused, thinking. “Right,” he finally said. “No, you’re right. Sorry, Cisco.”

Cisco sighed. “It’s all good, my man. We’re gonna have a good time tonight, I promise.”

“Even though I can’t get drunk?” he drawled.

“You don’t need to get a drunk to have a good time,” he almost yelled.

Barry was working his last nerve. He’d been absolutely elated when his best friend hadn’t needed much convincing to agree to come to the New Year’s Eve party he and Caitlin had concocted two days prior. Apparently though, keeping him invested in the idea took a lot more effort than what Caitlin had to deal with – which had just been a last minute rsvp.

“You’re sure Iris isn’t going to be there?” Barry asked, smoothing down his tie again.

“We didn’t invite her,” Cisco said matter-of-factly.

Barry met his eyes. “You don’t think that’s kind of…mean?”

Cisco blinked.

“I mean, she’s part of the team too. Won’t she be offended you didn’t even offer?”

“She doesn’t want to be around you any more than you want to be around her.”

His heart sank.

“Trust me when I say she would’ve said no even if we had asked.”

“Oh,” he said quietly, saddened – and giving Cisco an unbelievable amount of joy.

She’s coming! She’s coming! She’s coming!

But he kept his mouth shut on that little truth. The happy reunion would unfold itself soon enough.

“Think she’s missed me?” he asked, too deep in his sadness to even try to come across nonchalant.

Cisco stilled and gripped his shoulder until Barry looked up at him.

“Do you want me to invite her?”

Barry’s eyes widened. “No.” He shook his head. “No, definitely not. Of course not. No.”

Cisco looked at him strangely. “Does that mean…yes?”

Irritated, he walked passed him. “No, Cisco, it means no.” He sighed, gripping his hands on the counter. “There would be no point.”

Cisco swallowed hard, for the first time genuinely worried that his plan might fall through.

“Why…is that?” he asked.

“Because nothing has changed,” he said sorrowfully. “Neither of us is willing to budge. If I was I’d have groveled at her feet by now, and if she was… Well, she wouldn’t have groveled, but somehow, she would have let me know. It’s been a week, Cisco.” He sighed again and turned to face his friend. “A week.”

“I know.”

“It’s been so hard not seeing her, not being with her, not sharing things with her, not having her as my best friend. It’s like when I broke up with her, I lost all of her. I lost Iris the best friend and Iris the girlfriend.”

Cisco hesitantly walked towards him, bracing himself for the question he was about to broach.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but…hasn’t it been you avoiding her?”

Barry looked at him. “Has she been trying to contact me without my knowing?”

“Well…” he squeaked.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so.” He ran his hand over his face. “We’re both avoiding each other.”

“Maybe you should both stop. At the very least try to be civil.”

He frowned. “I’m being civil.”

“Because being in the same room with her would make you lash out?”

“I’ve been in the same room with her.”

“When?” he demanded. He didn’t know about this.

“A few days ago, at CCPD. We had a run-in. It didn’t last long. I tripped over myself on the stairs. She snapped at me.”

“Because you fell down the stairs?”

“Because I asked her why she was there.”

“Did you snap first?”

“I don’t think so…I was just returning some files Joe left in my lab.”

“Hmm.”

“Don’t analyze it too much, Cisco. All I’m saying is, I’m not the only one trying to avoid a confrontation. And you know what? That’s okay. Maybe right now it’s best if we don’t see each other. Then gradually…in another week or so maybe, we can slowly start interacting again. By Valentine’s Day it’ll be like we were never a couple at all.”

“You don’t sound bothered by that possibility,” Cisco pointed out, slightly troubled. “Isn’t this the girl you’ve been in love with since you were like ten?”

“Nine.”

“Nine. Even worse.”

Barry glared at him.

“All I’m saying is maybe she’s worth not giving up on.”

He sighed. “I tried Cisco. I waited it out. I gently made suggestions. I got a little more forceful. The only effect it had on her was her pushing harder than ever to do what she wanted – or to brush it under the rug. I could forget it at night when it was just us together, hanging out…going on dates…just being us. But…then I’d run across a story she was working on or hear about a dangerous criminal she couldn’t wait to track down – unprotected with zero plan of getting out if her life was in danger. And I can’t be everywhere at once. I can’t concentrate on anything when I know my girlfriend is out there not being safe, being reckless, and that she might die at any moment just because she refuses to have any common sense.”

His temper was rising, his frustration on the issue clearly still present. Cisco wondered for the first time if his genius plan was all that genius. There was a pretty good possibility the party could be shut down before it barely began when instead of kissing at midnight, Barry and Iris started fighting the moment they spotted each other on the rooftop.

“Well, you won’t have to worry about that tonight,” he said, to get his mind off it as much as Barry’s. “Just try to relax, have some fun, drink some champagne pretend you’re affected by it.”

He laughed, a real one, and Cisco relaxed some too.

It was short-lived.

“A night with no Iris sounds like a good night to me.”

Crap.

…

 The wind whipped around her when she stepped out of her car, her hair fluttering around her shoulders as she looked up at the looming STAR Labs and the satellite at the top where she could see decorative white lights lining the perimeter of the roof. There really is a rooftop party, she mused.

Whether or not Barry would be at it was something else entirely, but she’d decided she would risk it. She had this beautiful dress that she’d promised to save for New Year’s. Whether or not she and Barry were together shouldn’t determine what she was allowed to wear or even what she was allowed to do. It was a week from their break-up tonight. If Linda’s plan didn’t work, she would need an escape, something to take the edge off that wasn’t just vodka shots in Linda’s kitchen. And she’d been promised Barry wouldn’t be here. She only trusted that about 50/50, and a big part of her wanted him to be there so she could show him what he was missing – and what he could easily get back if he would just…

Her phone buzzed in the sparkly clutch she’d brought with her. She checked the screen to find a text staring back at her from Cisco.

You coming?

She nodded and took a breath.

Just got here.

She was about to go inside when her phone started to buzz again, this time with a phone call. She frowned by answered it on her way to the building.

“Hey, Caitlin, I just told Cisco-”

“Hey, Iris, I know I told you to just meet us all up on the roof, but HR he…and Cisco...”

“Say no more,” she interjected soothingly. “I’ll meet you guys in the cortex.”

“Great. Thanks.”

Iris smiled and shook her head as she tucked her phone back into her clutch. She had wondered why they hadn’t wanted to all meet up in the cortex or even have the party in the speed lab and head up to the roof when it got closer to midnight. She figured the view was the reason behind it, and she knew she’d agree with that. Plus, maybe they wanted to switch things up given what happened the last time they decorated the cortex and speed lab and… well, obviously the events in their personal lives kept anyone from really enjoying it.

“Iris! Thank God!” Caitlin came speeding towards her as fast as she could in her high heels with her arms full of food and decorations.

Iris quickly stepped out of the elevator before the brunette almost tumbled in with her.

“Hey, let me take something.” She laughed and shook her head as she grabbed a bowl of overflowing popcorn and a box of unopened shot glasses. “I thought you guys prepared for this.”

“I know, I know,” she laughed nervously. “Cisco and I had two days to get our asses in gear, but there was Flash business today – a robbery,” she said hastily, avoiding eye contact as she did. “And, well, HR was determined to decorate but then he accidentally interrupted the lab instead of the roof, and-”

“Hey, hey, breathe,” Iris commanded gently, staring straight at her and willing Caitlin to feel the comfort since her arms were too full to console her by physical touch.

“Right. Breathe.”

“It’s what? Five after seven? That’s almost five hours till midnight. I’m sure we can get everything set up in a half hour or less.”

“You’re right.”

“Where’s Cisco? Maybe we can get everything in order and head up to the roof in like ten minutes? Shouldn’t take too long to decorate, though we may want to think twice about setting out too much food and other things. It was windy in the parking lot. Must be much worse higher up.”

Caitlin’s face fell. “You’re right.”

“Hey, no, don’t worry,” she reassured again. “If it’s really bad we can go in the speed lab and just head on up to the roof for the countdown. If we get all the decorations secured, it shouldn’t be a problem. Who wants to be chilly all night anyways, right? It’s nearly January after all and I didn’t exactly come bundled in a winter jacket.”

Caitlin looked down at Iris’ attired for the first time and her eyes widened, her mouth fell open.

“Oh my God, Iris, you look gorgeous.”

Slightly flustered, Iris smoothed down the sparkling dress.

“Thanks, Caitlin, Barry got-”

She stopped and swallowed hard, the words caught in her throat. Luckily, this time Caitlin came to her rescue.

“You know what, why don’t you take these streamers and lights instead?” She offered her other arm to Iris where the items were starting to teeter over. “If decorations are the priority then we should get them up first. I’ll take the snacks back to Cisco and tell him the new plan.”

She frowned. “You’re sure? I can help with more…”

“No need,” she insisted. “It won’t take long for us to get everything sorted. If we’re not up in ten minutes, you can come back and help up get our act together.” She laughed lightly.

“All right…” she said reluctantly. “Maybe five minutes, though?” She started heading back to the elevator.

“Sure. That works fine too.”

She was more puzzled than ever by Caitlin’s sudden avoiding eye contact and the odd tone to her voice, but she dismissed it to her clearly being frazzled by the team’s lack of preparedness. The brunette’s dashing back down the hall where Cisco and HR were likely still trying to organize everything added to that theory.

Still…something was off.

Whatever was off though was completely forgotten when she stepped out onto the roof. She gasped, starstruck at the sight of all the buildings and the lights beneath on the city streets. The stars sparkled across a dark sky and the moon was big and brilliant. She almost dropped the decorations held tightly in her hands.

She was so mesmerized she almost didn’t hear the roof door open and close again.

“Has it been five minutes already?” she asked, smiling when she turned around to greet the newcomer.

The smile immediately dissolved, the rest of her body equally paralyzed. She swallowed hard and reminded herself to breathe.

“Iris.”

God, she hated when she was right.

His voice was raw, rough, stunned, and achingly familiar. Unlike herself, he apparently hadn’t considered the possibility that they might have been set up. She tried not to look too deflated. The part of her that had been aching for this scenario was overwhelmed with the part that wanted to be free of that worry, which was unfortunate given how badly she’d wanted it earlier.

Still, she summoned her courage and walked into the fire with all the grace, class, and half-hearted enthusiasm she could muster.

“Hello, Barry.”

 *Also posted on AO3 and FFnet.

[mood-report]

The September Vogue Mood Report

Don’t shoot the messenger.

For the second year in a row, Vogue has turned political and I must discuss it in order to do an accurate mood report. I dislike politics and rarely discuss the subject, so for the second year this was not a fun report to write.

I was so saddened by last year’s issue that I barely spent any time on it, focusing mainly on the cover which I labeled “Sunset Of Liberty.”

If it’s true that “Democracy Dies In Darkness,” I very much wanted to be wrong, but it does not appear so. Not with the emergence of Shadow Banning and Search Engine Manipulation against political opponents, or land confiscation in South Africa based on skin color (which, like Europe’s Migrant Rape Crisis, is deemed racist to even discuss).

Shadow Banning and Search Engine Manipulation is repugnant to a free society. It is otherwise known as censorship.

This year I’ve left emotions at the door and have instead followed the rabbit hole. My job is not to judge. My job is to analyze content through the lens of social mood . . . while it’s still permissible to do so.

On second look, it turns out that there was a familiar political theme in 2017 that morphed into this year’s edition.

This year seemed to be a consistent strategy of repetitive political talking points.

This is important to be aware of because whether it’s propaganda, advertising, or politics, the strategy is always the same: repetition.

Messaging and persuasion is achieved through repetition.

Keep repeating it and it sticks.

Get it?

It’s an insidious process if you’re not paying attention. It’s happened to me. During my tenure at Condé Nast reading over two dozen magazines cover-to-cover each month because my job required it, my sensibilities were drastically altered. I didn’t notice it until I left the city and my new attitudes were wildly apocryphal, quite incompatible with real life. It was bizarre how subtly it occurred.

“I love journalism. My dad was an editor, my brother is a political editor, it is just a world that I am steeped in.“ 

~ Anna Wintour

It is not a conspiracy theory to illustrate Anna Wintour’s connection to politics.

In 2008 she was appointed to the Order of the British Empire.

In October 2009, President Obama appointed her to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

In 2011 she was awarded the Legion d’Honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In 2013 she was named Artistic Director of Condé Nast.

In October 2016, Vogue made its first political endorsement in its 124-year-history, calling Hillary Clinton “optimistic, forward-looking, and modern.” (Remember that word “forward.”)

In 2017, for her service to British journalism and fashion, she was named Dame Commander (DBE) of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.

With her new role as Artistic Director, Dame Anna Wintour now controls the editorial vision not only for Vogue, but every title published by its parent company, Condé Nast.

Wintour is therefore at the nucleus of powerful ecosystem that intersects with a vast array of companies and, according to The Business Of Fashion, operates as an “unofficial, behind-the-scenes consultant to CEOs, designers, politicians and movie stars in America and beyond.”

“Wintour is indeed more like a head of state than a mere editor-in-chief, a position which gives her a unique, bird’s-eye view of the fashion industry, emanating outwards from Vogue and Condé Nast to the wider ecosystem that sustains this $2.4 trillion industry.”

~ The Business Of Fashion

In short, she is in a position to sway millions of opinions and trillions of dollars. And with a keen eye for politics and a nose for power, she’s taking advantage of it.

“One of the initiatives I have here in my role as artistic director is that I have regular Editorial Task Force meetings, or ETFs, where we invite leaders from other worlds to come in and talk to the editors-in-chief and the digital leaders and a few other people about what they see happening in their industries, whether it be media or Silicon Valley — we pull them from everywhere.” 

~ Anna Wintour

Yet even if there was a deliberate political messaging strategy at work in this year’s September Vogue, the message itself is largely irrelevant for this analysis.

Yes, irrelevant.

Instead, the task for Mood Report is to answer the larger question: What does it mean when the world’s preeminent fashion magazine indulges in political messaging in the first place?

Is Vogue, to use a word of the moment, colluding with others to project a unified voice?

Or, is Vogue simply reflecting (caught up in) a social mood extreme, much like when a non-financial publication such as Time magazine features the stock market on its cover? At such times the trend in focus may be ending just as it’s being celebrated (or denigrated).

The originator of the Magazine Cover Indicator, the late Paul Macrae Montgomery, reviewed 3,000 magazine covers and found an 80% probability that if there was an investment related story on the cover of a non-financial magazine such as Time, Life, Newsweek, etc. that within three to four months the market would move in the opposite direction of that suggested on the cover.

For example, November 2, 1987, just days after Black Monday, and yet the market hasn’t looked back since:

June 13, 2005, Home $weet Home, right before the peak of the housing market:

Or this one just recently. Highly unlikely that The September Issue is dead, but with readership and ad revenues down, perhaps a stern warning regarding the current editorial direction:

What might appear as editorial collusion might simply be like-minded people seeking to be “Stronger Together” (to use a slogan from 2016) as a form of political resistance.

In other words: a herding impulse.

During times of extreme polarization and uncertainty, people naturally seek to align themselves with others of similar persuasion while being certain of only what they’re against. Repeating the same phrases and points has the comforting benefit of reflecting back their own beliefs which adds confidence and reassurance.

As political ideologies spread further apart, the effort to message one’s viewpoint takes on greater importance, even if it means filling the world’s most iconic fashion magazine with political talking points from cover to cover.

Again, the intent is not to judge the politics but to analyze the mood. By getting the “mood” right we can predict the politics. That is why, from a social mood standpoint, the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election was to be expected.

It is quite likely that the current polarization results in part from a monetary extreme: unprecedented stimulus and accommodation by like-minded central banks also seeking to be “Stronger Together.”

“The IMF was part of rebuilding the global economy —  we all cooperated in the same endeavor: Rescue the system. That system was severely tested at the beginning of 2008. And that system was rescued and improved thanks to international cooperation, thanks to the belief that we could be stronger together.”

~ Commencement Address by Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director Claremont, California May 12, 2018

Extreme monetary policy may have yielded equal and opposing emotional extremes.

While Wall Street is giddy with excess, Main Street senses something is deeply wrong but can’t quite put a finger on it. Divergent opinions then lead to polarization. As Wall Street cheers, Main Street fractures into opposing sides, each seeking an object onto which it can project its angst.

Behold the Donald.

If he espouses Americanism, they want GLOBALISM.

If he wants a wall, they want NO BORDERS.

Behold the two core themes of this year’s September Issue.

As we begin the read through, these themes are abundantly clear. (my comments are lower cased in parentheses. anything in CAPS or bolded is for emphasis).

Repetitive patterns that emerged in order from the front cover to back cover were:

FALL GOES GLOBAL (main cover line sets the stage for the entire issue. also a possible double entendre warning of falling global markets soon)

“EVERYONE’S VOICE COUNTS” (unless you’re Alex Jones, or someone else that Amazon, Google, Instagram, Twitter, or the Facebook doesn’t like. more on this when Beyoncé has her say later on)

Vogue Forces Of Fashion promotion:

MEET THE TRAILBLAZERS PUSHING THE WORLD FORWARD

198, Letter From The Editor:

“September, for us, always starts in March. That’s when we return home from four weeks of shows and start planning what has traditionally always been our biggest issue of the year. Yet the fall 2018 season didn’t feel like it was business as usual, just as life these days doesn’t feel that way either. In all my time editing Vogue, this period is like no other I’ve experienced before, and for good reason: If fashion is radically different, it is because our world is so radically different. As we sat in meetings after the shows, we spent most of our time talking about how what we wear needs to reflect the times it’s being created for. We barely discussed trends -- in fact, trend is now pretty much verboten in the office because it seems such an outdated way to calibrate fashion. Thanks in part to digital technology and social media, we share a growing sense of global citizenship and kinship, not to mention how so many of us are increasingly looking far and wide for labels to better enhance our sense of personal style. Sally Singer, our Creative Digital Director, coined a phrase for it -- “fashion without borders” -- and it is the perfect representation of what this September is all about.

“You’ll find, then, a celebration of the designers who prefer to dispense with the notion of boundaries all together.

“As I read the story that accompanies the portrait of Virgil Abloh, the young Rockford, Illinois-born creative director behind the label Off-White who just made a terrific start with his Louis Vuitton menswear this past June, something Virgil said seemed emblematic of what we wanted to do. ‘It’s like I’m walking down different streets all at the same time, seeing, smelling, and breathing diversity,’ he said, ‘and realizing that things you grow up with -- race, religion, gender, or anything else -- tend to disappear once you’re embedded in a global community.’

“When it came to thinking about who should be on the cover of this September issue, there was really only ever one choice: Beyoncé. It’s not just because her fame redefines what it means to have a global presence; it’s the way she uses that status to challenge herself -- and us, too.

“More important, Beyoncé is intent on challenging the status quo, drawing out attention to society’s imbalances and injustices -- something that many of our current politicians seem intent on maintaining (or, worse, taking us backward).” (again, keep that word “forward” in mind)

Vogue Insiders.com promotion:

A POINT OF VIEW IS MEANT TO BE SHARED. JOIN AND SOUND OFF

Vogue.com promotion:

SHOP THE WORLD

“From museum-worthy boutiques in Tokyo and Milan to rare beauty finds tracked down from halfway around the globe and delivered right to your door, our style is now truly -- and effortlessly -- international.” (“effortlessly” is the tip-off that we’re experiencing a positive mood extreme)

Maybelline ad:

GLOBAL ROMANCE

Cover Girl ad:

I AM WHAT I MAKE UP (ironic given the current “fake news” environment)

254 Taking Flight:

On Vogue.com ==> “The Wing gears up to go GLOBAL” (women-only co-working club with $2350-2700 a year membership fees)

322 Off The Map:

“E-commerce site Ssense is championing the idea that fashion can come from absolutely anywhere.”

“For Ssense, GLOBALISM ISN’T JUST POSITIVE, IT’S PROGRESSIVE.”

334 BAND TOGETHER

356 Star Spangled:

“While knitwear label Alanui is based in Milan, its foray this fall into dressing us head-to-toe embraces a glittery, glam-rock Americana.” (everyone seems to be focusing globally this year)

380 L’Oréal promotion:

BEAUTY BEYOND BORDERS

“Pinging around the globe at the speed of Instagram.”

499 NEW HORIZONS:

“This odyssey is all thanks to the GLOBALLY MINDED designers who simply refuse to see borders.”

500 ALL AROUND THE WORLD

501 HERE, THERE, EVERYWHERE:

“Fashion has never been more celebratory of GLOBAL DIVERSITY and influence as the best fall looks -- and a visionary group of BOUNDARY DEFYING designers -- ably prove.”

506 FIT TO PRINT

(comment: an ironic nod to the daily, front page, hiding-in-plain-sight, bold-faced admission of censorship by the New York Times: “All the News That’s Fit to Print” -- in other words, what’s “fit” is something only they decide. HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT ironically appears as a caption on page 585)

519 Demna Gvasalia:

“This stars-and-stripes jacket, which represents the States, is my favorite -- because American culture is what I loved when I was growing up.” (another designer with his eyes fixed on distant shores, who now lives in “clean, calm, safely neutral Switzerland” while spray-painting NO BORDERS graffiti on the set of his latest show. the irony is that Switzerland is clean, calm, and safe because it is neutral and has some of the strongest borders in the world)

522 Gosha Ribchinskiy:

“If you’re not thinking GLOBALLY, your thinking is out of date.”

526 Stella McCartney:

“Climate change, of course, knows NO BORDERS.”

Beyoncé In Her Own Words:

“If people in powerful positions continue to hire and cast only people who look like them, sound like them, come from the same neighborhoods they grew up in, they will never have a greater understanding of experiences different from their own. They will hire the same models, curate the same art, cast the same actors over and over again, and we will all lose. The beauty of social media is it’s completely democratic. Everyone has a say. Everyone’s voice counts, and everyone has a chance to paint the world from their own perspective.”

(comment: the most powerful words in the entire magazine. in direct opposition to the Shadow Banners and to Vogue as well for waiting 126 YEARS before an African-American (23-year old Tyler Mitchell) was allowed to shoot its cover, and only when Wintour granted Beyoncé complete control of the cover story and shoot. also notice not one peep of GLOBAL and NO BORDERS talking points in her words)

580 THE GLOBAL TABLE

582 Age Appropriate

“Stories of burnout -- and worse -- are rife in a modeling industry filled with vulnerable mid-teens. So isn’t it time for the fashion world to commit to working with models old enough to vote?”

(another story that is decades too late. but no mention of the European Migrant Rape Crisis against girls (and even boys) as young as twelve. Due to its NO BORDERS policy, Sweden now has the heartbreaking distinction of being labeled the “Rape Capital” of Europe, while victims and their families are labeled racist for speaking out)

586 “Cover Story”

“Is there seduction in concealment? Safety in charade?”

“The incognito chic of the new coverings speaks equally to our desire to conceal -- and that eternal wish to stand out.”

“This predilection to disappear in plain sight is not limited to the catwalks.” Both Rihanna and Beyoncé sported the look during live shows.

(this was probably the only leading-indicator-style, fashion-inspired social mood alert in the issue, and it was all about the trend toward concealment, which is a negative mood characteristic. could also be an unintended consequence of the #MeToo movement as well as the European Migrant Rape Crisis)

=== end of editorial ===

Here is the result when all the noise is stripped away and the thematic messages are linked together in repetition:

FALL GOES GLOBAL, EVERYONE’S VOICE COUNTS, TRAILBLAZERS PUSHING THE WORLD FORWARD. We share a growing sense of global citizenship and kinship, fashion without borders, a celebration of the designers who prefer to dispense with the notion of boundaries all together. Things you grow up with -- race, religion, gender, or anything else -- tend to disappear once you’re embedded in a global community. Fame redefines what it means to have a global presence. A POINT OF VIEW IS MEANT TO BE SHARED. JOIN AND SOUND OFF. SHOP THE WORLD. From museum-worthy boutiques in Tokyo and Milan to rare beauty finds tracked down from halfway around the globe and delivered right to your door, our style is now truly -- and effortlessly -- international. GLOBAL ROMANCE, I AM WHAT I MAKE UP. Taking Flight, Off The Map. Championing the idea that fashion can come from absolutely anywhere. GLOBALISM ISN’T JUST POSITIVE, IT’S PROGRESSIVE, BAND TOGETHER, BEAUTY BEYOND BORDERS. Pinging around the globe at the speed of Instagram. NEW HORIZONS. This odyssey is all thanks to the GLOBALLY MINDED designers who simply refuse to see borders. ALL AROUND THE WORLD, HERE, THERE, EVERYWHERE. Fashion has never been more celebratory of GLOBAL DIVERSITY and influence. A visionary group of BOUNDARY DEFYING designers. FIT TO PRINT. If you’re not thinking GLOBALLY, your thinking is out of date. Climate change, of course, knows NO BORDERS.

Analysis:

Before we jump to the conclusion that this was an intentional messaging strategy, we had better get a few things straight.

First a definition:

Social mood is a shared mental state among humans that arises from social interaction. It is unconscious, unremembered, and endogenously regulated.

~ Socionomic Theory

Therefore, counter-intuitively, what appears as an intentional messaging strategy is likely unconscious.

But the question remains: what does this shared mental state say about current social mood?

We may find the first hint in Anna’s editor’s letter: “If fashion is radically different, it is because our world is so radically different.”

According to the Socionomic Theory of Finance, “humans herd because they evolved to conform to others’ behavior in uncertain situations as a primal survival tactic.”

In my opinion, the Vogue content flagged above is an example of herding as a form of political survival.

“We’re totally integrated here on one floor. It’s total integration and we meet, we discuss, we talk all the time.”

~ Anna Wintour

While caught up in the negative urge to RESIST the current administration, maybe all the ETF meetings, the discussions, and total-integration-all-the-time have resulted in a sort of unconscious groupthink that has allowed Vogue to get swept up in the same positive social mood extreme that has driven the markets to record highs, by unconsciously embracing the same giddy animal spirits fueling Wall Street.

In other words, groupthink may have undermined Vogue’s own message of resistance. GLOBALISM and NO BORDERS are radically extreme aspects of positive social mood.

William H. Whyte Jr. derived the term "groupthink” from George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, and described it as “rationalized conformity.”

A recent study may have proved its existence. “How social influence can undermine the wisdom of crowd effect,” by Lorenz et al.,¹ found that social interaction among participants produces convergent opinions, less accurate opinions, and higher confidence in those opinions. 

“Convergent opinions” may explain the rampant repetition cited above that essentially blurs into a long stream of social mood conformity. “Less accurate opinions” may explain the embrace of GLOBAL/NO BORDERS ideology that was rejected in America and is steadily being rejected throughout Europe, even though the embrace of these ideologies may have resulted from conformity to the same mood underpinning the raging bull market.

Yale psychologist Irving Janis, who pioneered the initial research on the groupthink theory, wrote:

“The main principle of groupthink is this: The more amiability and esprit de corps there is among the members of a policy-making ingroup, the greater the danger that independent critical thinking will be replaced by groupthink, which is likely to result in irrational and dehumanizing actions directed against outgroups.”

Irrational actions directed against outgroups sounds a lot like how Shadow Banning can happen without realizing it is censorship.

Irrational actions directed against outgroups might explain how Search Engine Manipulation happens -- why, when you type in the word “idiot” into Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, and Google respectively, this is what you get:

Irrational actions directed against outgroups might explain the embrace of NO BORDERS even as Europe is overrun by its Migrant Rape Crisis and No-Go Zones to the point that far-right voters are surging from Norway to Greece and most everywhere in between.

Irrational actions directed against outgroups might also explain how throughout history the word “forward” gets used as a rallying cry for progress even when ideologies linked to it result in regress. Case in point: Venezuela.

In Latin American slang, Pa’lante is a contraction of "para adelante" or "forward."

“At Vogue, we’re not much given to looking backward, reasoning that life only goes in one direction -- forward -- and therefore, so should we.”

~ Anna Wintour’s 2017 Editor’s Letter

Zuckerberg’s latest project: 

Complete with “Sunset Of Liberty.” (now pulled from site. had to use the Wayback Machine for it from August 30, 2018.)

“Forward” to more voters:

“Demonizing immigrants weakens our country. Fighting against hate crimes makes us grow stronger together.”

~ George Soros

In summary, GLOBALISM and NO BORDERS are positive mood manifestations. Constant, effortless travel and a miche mache of global styles reflect an expansionist mood peak at odds with growing angst against income equality resulting from extreme monetary policy.

The irony is that income equality is often blamed on capitalism when a central bank and a progressive income tax are two of the ten planks of the Communist Manifesto.

And here’s what all that miche mache global style looks like: not very coherent, like a bunch of “convergent opinions.” Anna even referred to it as the “creativity of chaos . . . everything all sort of jumbled up and looking like it came from different countries and different identities.”

GLOBAL/NO BORDERS, effortless travel, pinging around the world at the speed of Instagram . . . this is what maximum mood expansion sounds like.

Incidentally there is so much demand for air travel lately that JetBlue and United have just raised checked bag fees, again.

And this is what maximum mood expansion looks like:

Here are some other examples:

S&P 500 revenues at record highs.

S&P 500 earnings at record highs.

S&P 500 profit margin at record highs.

GDP revised up to 4.2%.

US consumer confidence at 18-year highs.

Highest job satisfaction reading since 2005. 

Lowest unemployment rate in almost 50 years.

Recent headlines:

Luxury Lounge Wars Heat Up as Airlines Vie for High-end Passengers

Luxury Housing is Hot, Hot, Hot

Personal Loans Surge to a Record High

A record 95% of American manufacturers recently declared themselves optimistic about the economy

The Art Fair where $20 million Impulse Buys are the New Normal

At $9.7 Million a Pop, Private Jets are Luring Buyers Again

Home Price Insanity: $2.6 Million for 900 Square Feet

But probably my favorite dead-simple, long-term forecasting tool is the S&P/Case-Shiller 10-City Composite Home Price Index. This has me looking for another bump in the road before a run to final highs in possibly 2021-2022 which should coincide with further highs in stocks.

Thus, the march “forward” will likely be slow until we reach a depression when it will once again be a rallying cry for the “economically oppressed.”

Sadly, then capitalism will likely get the blame for our day of reckoning even though it was central banking (central planning) that created the imbalances that needed to be corrected.

The negative mood forces that ushered in Trump’s victory have given way to euphoria, but angst is still smoldering here and abroad as evidenced by Europe’s far-right resurgence with anti-immigration as its core ideal. Since we are all now riding the same liquidity wave, we should pay close attention to other markets as well.

Therefore, the observations made in last year’s September Vogue Mood Report still stand: authoritarianism may still be on its way as countries “crack down” on loose borders.

Socialism in America will probably have to wait until after the excesses have been purged from the system and the jackboots fill the streets. Then, “forward” might seem like the only way for many.

Vogue is warning us of a potentially significant mood peak and thus the potential for a significant market peak. But it is still possible that higher highs can be made based on pure momentum, even after another period of adjustment.

Positive social mood can also feed on momentum, so expect higher until it flames out. You can always check with Mood Report for market timing.

On the other side, social mood is sky-high even as negative aspects of it continue to build beneath the wave.

This is most likely because of the degree of the potential peak at hand. Like a cresting tidal wave, the crest itself may take a long time to form, but meanwhile below the surface the energy is building for the wave to roll over and crush the unexpecting. Likewise with social mood. As with the interplay of yin and yang, excesses in one yield excesses in the other as the opposing forces remain in flux at all times.

I have tried to avoid making this report a political diatribe, but instead have attempted to show that we are at the whims of social mood. The best we can do is identify it and try to either accept it or align with it as best we can. Social mood dictates the mode of events, not the events themselves. We can only control our reactions.

Thanks for reading.

References

¹ Lorenz, J., Rauhut, F. Schweitzer and D. Helbing, “How Social Influence Can Undermine the Wisdom of Crowd Effect,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011.

[dlamp-dictator]

Allen’s Rambling about Tokyo Ghoul (Again)

Alright, it’s time I stopped lazing around, I really should finish giving my final thoughts on Tokyo Ghoul. I finished the manga last month and... well, my job kind of got in the way of me giving my closing thoughts on the series. Originally, I had every intention of just ripping this manga apart, letting out all my rage against it, saying how bad it was to read, how stupid some of the plot points were, how empty the last few chapters felt, and just tear into how much of a waste of time this manga was.

However... at the time of me wanting to do that I had a bad work week and wanted to take my anger out on something since working the holidays is kind of a pain. I’ve calmed down since then, and a step back, rethought things, and... well.

I don’t hate Tokyo Ghoul, but I don’t like it either. 

A few months back I made a post call the Seinen Adventure, where I talked about some of the seinen manga I bought/read and initial gave my thoughts on them. I talked about a manga called Tsugumomo and how it felt like a shounen manga forcing in seinen elements for the sake of seeming mature, but only being seen as even more childish and just downright perverted. I consider Tokyo Ghoul to be the reverse, a seinen manga adding shounen elements to seem more engaging, but coming off badly written due to... well, most shounen manga being badly written. It would explain some of my main issues with the series. The bloated cast, interesting female characters being pushed aside, the slow presence of power creep, Kaneki’s... issues as a character. They’re all elements and flaws of shounen, but when put into a manga made for a more mature audience these issues become so damning. Not to say I expect the pinnacle of storytelling in my Seinen manga, but I do expect not see the issues of most shounen pop up then... blantantly. I can forgive shounen for this because I’m no longer in the age group where shounen would appeal to me, and nowadays I mostly read shounen for the action and spectacle. With Tokyo Ghoul, a seinen manga (or at least more mature one) , I was reading for its story as well as the action, and that story had many issues that irked me as a reader. 

A quick list of my issues would be Kaneki’s growth as a character, the cast growing to the point of feeling bloated, new characters getting more attention and spotlight than older ones I was more invested in, the world building dragging the manga’s pacing at times, and so on. Some of the issues got fixed near the end, namely the world building and pacing (at least by my standards), but most of my issues involving the characters still remained. 

Much like when I talked about Persona 5 for a second time, I don’t think my opinions have changed much after finishing this manga, but I do want to talk a little (or a lot) about some of the characters of Tokyo Ghoul. The ones that made a decent impression on me anyway.

Kaneki

I... don’t know how to feel about Kaneki. I don’t know if he’s a bad character, or just a badly written one. I think my main issue is how he has no main goal throughout the series. The closest thing I can think of to a goal of his is to get enough strength to protect his friends and those close to him, but... that’s an ambiguous goal. I’ve said it before, but Kaneki’s actions feel like the actions of a 13-year-old shounen anime protagonist, but Kaneki is roughly 18 or 19, so him having these vague goals for someone his age feels annoyingly childish to me. Hell, Touka even calls him out on this, and she’s a few years younger than him. The fact that someone younger than him has a better grounding of reality just... makes Kaneki seem all the weaker as a character. And even then, many shounen protagonists around that pre-teen age have solid, definable goals.  Naruto wants to become Hokage, Luffy wants to find One Piece, Rokuro from Twin Star Exorcists wants to eliminate all Kegare, Negi from Negima wants to find his dad, the list goes on, but you see my point. All of these characters have a drive to protect their loved ones, but also a clear goal that guides them through the story. And even then, manga series like A Certain Scientific Railgun and Tokyo ESP had a sort of “Threat of the Arc” situation going on, where our main character is just dealing with the craziness of whatever big thing is happening in their vicinity. I think that was were Tokyo Ghoul was heading up until Kaneki’s kidnapping, and I could argue that’s still the kind of story being told, but... I don’t know, something about it feels off to me an-

Ah shoot, sorry. Went on a tangent there. 

To get back on topic, I think a good comparison of characters like Kaneki would be Durarara’s Mikado Ryugamine, and High Rise Invasion’s Yuri Honjo. Now, the plot of both these manga are convoluted and I could honestly spend this whole post just explaining them, but I’ll skip to what’s important. 

Mikado, like Kaneki, was a shy and reclusive person, but through surfing the net and messing around on some forums he had accidentally created his own street gang in Ikebukuro that worked as a sort of anti-crime/community service force in the area. While things were going well at first, they slowly started to spiral out of his control, and while he didn’t ask for things to get as wild as they had gotten, he made due with what had happened, took charge, and tried to fix his mistake. Kaneki is in a similar situation where he’s forced into becoming a ghoul without consent, and while he does accept his ghoul half during and after his kidnapping, he regresses every now and again when the pressure’s on him. 

I mean... it makes sense, I’ll admit that much. The life of a man-eating cannibal is probably not a fun one, even if you’ve accepted it. However, as a reader, his flip-flopping between accepting that half of him and regretting it is annoying, especially as he chooses to go deeper into the shadier side of the ghoul life. Again, most of my annoyance with this comes from the fact that his goal of getting strength to protect is so vague. I know at the end of the day he just wants to know why he was turned into a ghoul and why everyone and their grandma want a piece of him, but... until he understands that’s what he wants and makes efforts to figuring those things out, I just... ugh... 

Moving to the second character, Yuri Honjo was a normal (if a tad co-dependent) high school girl thrown into a world of towering buildings and mask-wearing superhumans trying to kill her. At first she was understandably terrified by this, but soon manned up and took charge almost instantly, and moved along her own plot as things got crazier and crazier. Kaneki, again, does indeed make due with his own situation, but his back pedaling, while realistic and understandable, is very annoying to read through. 

Okay, I’m getting angrier the more I talk about Kaneki, so I’m moving onto Hide now. 

Hide

I wanted to see more of Hide in this manga. I’m serious, for as important as Hide is to the plot, we didn’t see enough of him. I know so little about him and that’s so irritating. I know that he’s cheerful, upbeat, but is a lot smarter than he leads on. I know he’s the kind of person to put an obsessive amount of time and energy into something when he’s invested into something. These two points alone are probably why Hide isn’t too present in the manga, he’s smart enough to figure out how to solve just about every problem Kaneki is in. He’s also bright and optimistic, which would make him a breath of fresh air compared to all the... angst of Kaneki’s character arc. I wish Kaneki just brushed off Touka’s threat and told Hide was a ghoul so he’d have a decent balance between Touka’s realism and Hide’s optimism guiding him. 

As a character, Hide needed to have a solid presence in this story, and the lack of him makes all of Kaneki’s angst and rash decisions so annoying when there’s a smarter, nicer, and (frankly) prettier character that could move him in a better direction. I like the idea of Hide working in the CCG, slowly figuring out Kaneki’s movements, steering investigators in just the wrong the direction to seem competent and trustworthy, but fallible, seeing him play every side just for Kaneki’s sake, to be that perfect friend Kaneki needs. I just... want more of Hide, if only so I don’t have to deal with Kaneki’s bullshit. He has points that should make him a character to look out for every damn time he’s in a panel, but... he doesn’t, not to the extent I wished for anyway, and I’m livid about this. 

I had often thought to myself before reading this manga that Hide was just around to be Kaneki’s potential romance to attract Yaoi shippers. The anime basically confirmed that, but, oh Lord, how I wanted to be wrong when reading the manga. I wanted to see more Hide outside of when he needed to make eyes at Kaneki or remind us that he existed and was (maybe) important, but... I didn’t see enough of him to feel safe in saying that. Hide has potential to really shake up the plot, but... he doesn’t, and that saddens and enrages me.

Touka

I said it before, and I’ll say it again. Touka Kirishima is Best Girl. She is literally 90% of what I look for in my female characters. She’s tomboyish, she’s a fighter, she doesn’t take Kaneki’s crap, she’s got a cute hairstyle, she’s got a soft side behind her rash exterior, her flaws are noticeable but not forced, she just... feels human. It’s such a shame that she doesn’t get the spotlight after Kaneki’s rescue. I said it before, I understand why she basically got shafted in the second half. The plot was moving away from Anteiku and more toward the CCG and Aogiri, but... damn was it a shame. I wish she would had split from Anteiku as well to become some kind of Ghoul Avenger/Batman after all that stuff went down. She could had went off trying to truly avenge Hinami’s mother, and any ghoul that she saw was wronged, becoming one hell of a wildcard in the powerplays that were happening. I mean really I just want a manga starring Touka like how Akame Ga Kill!Zero actually focuses on Akame, but

Moving on, like I said when talking about Hide, I think Touka makes for a good realist to balance out Hide’s optimism in terms of dealing with Kaneki. She’s cold, but not without meaning or reason. She’s rash, but that’s because she has her own baggage. And... well, her brother is one of the leading members in Aogiri, so I was hoping they’d bring their relationship into more light, maybe having her duke it out with Ayato again and winning to prove his beliefs and ideals wrong. Speaking of, Ayato was really underused as well considering how big of a threat Aogiri seemed. Aogiri as a whole sort of took a backseat after Kaneki’s rescue... eh, another plot point dismissed that irks me, but... whatever. 

Another thing that Touka does for the story of Tokyo Ghoul is give us an idea of what a “typical” ghoul is. Touka is basically the same as Kaneki in terms of social status, only a ghoul. As such, through we get to see how a normal ghoul behaves in the human world. They’re no different than humans really outside of getting into the occasional fight in turf wars, being a bit more violent than humans, and hunting for food every now and then. I could go on about why I like Touka, but I’ve got other characters to discuss.

Amon

I honestly didn’t think I’d like Amon as much as I do now. I would consider Amon something of a foil to Kaneki, or at least in a similar place mentally. After his run in with Kaneki he starts to wonder about ghouls having a human sense of morality, especially after learning that Kaneki was once a human. I’m not going to go too in-depth with his character (hopefully), but I like him at the end. I think he’s a nice addition to the CCG cast. He’s tough, but he’s got his flaws. He’s too professional and stoic with his team mates for his own good at times, he has the goofiest ways of trying to make amends for things, and holy shit that Arata Armor was the hypest thing in the manga oh my god. I let out an audible gasp at that panel, I lost it. I’ve said it before when I made my first essay, but if there’s anything I like about this manga, it’s the badass, cool as shit action shots. It’s the main reason I wish this manga was more action focused.

But anyway, Amon is a good man, he’s a good man that I’m glad we get to see throughout the series, as it really humanizes the CCG as something more than ghoul killer with weapon-fetishes. Him and Shinohara both do this really well.

Other Characters

Okay, just going to do a quick little lightning round of my thoughts on some of the other characters that made an impression on me for the sake of time and my own personal interest in the what I consider the secondary cast waning.

Juzo 

I have never cared much for the resident psychopath in any series, and Juzo is no exception. He was written a little better than some and his backstory explains his actions well. but... I’m still apathetic to him. If anything, it looks like he’s going to be in for some character development in :Re. 

Ayato

I already talked about him when talking about Touka, but I still wish he had more presence in the manga as a main villain and foil for Touka.

Tsukiyama

I also wish Tsukiyami remained a villain instead of teaming up with Kaneki. He represent the depravity that ghouls could have in terms of morals. I know some people like the more gentlemanly side of him, but I love seeing him go crazy and just chew the scenery while screaming foreign words.

Renji

Just another character I wish had more screen presence since it looks like he has a lot of connections to other characters. 

In the End

At the end of it all, I’m... honestly not going to bother with :Re, I hate the fact that is manga left so many open ends and didn’t bother answering some of the bigger questions. Like, when and how did Hide learn Kaneki was a ghoul? What’s the deal with Rize? Who the hell is this Insane Clown Posse that keeps popping up at the end of arcs to say that they’ll get the last laugh? And most important, who the hell is Eto really? The back of the manga may say this is the last volume, but it clearly isn’t. Even Naruto answered most of the bigger questions of Part 1 before moving onto Shippuden, and when Naruto does something better... that says a lot. 

The Insane Clown Posse (and other Issues)

Okay, I lied, I need to bitch about this real quick before I end this essay. Seriously, who the hell are these damn clowns? Why make Eto/Taktsuki the One-Eyed King and not explain that further? When exactly did Hide put two and two together? The fact that all of these are just carrots being dangled in front of me to buy :Re infuriates me.

Look, I’m no fool, I know that there are scans of the :Re out that I can read for free, but I really do prefer to paid for my manga and read official translations, plus I read enough off this computer screen, my eyes need a break from that at times. I know that :Re doesn’t fix a lot of the issues I have with this series, I remember seeing people post :Re stuffl nonstop a few months after the anime ended. The cast only gets more bloated with more characters, Hide is still only utilized for shipping and as something to dangle in front of the fandom, Haise is basically just a way of narrative-ly resetting Kaneki’s character because it was so shot by the end of volume 14, and if what I’ve seen of Dragon!Kaneki is true, that issue of small power creep I had will be skyrocketing to Dragonball Z proportions very soon.

I know... I haven’t really been saying nice things about this manga, and I really don’t hate it, but... this manga isn’t for me, not me personally. I like shounen action, cute girls in cute outfits, ninjas, and fancy strategies being used to outsmart powerful enemiesenemies. Tokyo Ghoul has... 3 of those things. If the fandom wants to at least explain to me the Insane Clown Posse and Eto, I’d appreciate it as a semi-causal fan of this series, but... I’m done, for now. Maybe I’ll check out the :Re anime, but nothing further than that.

In any case, I like that idea of Touka become Ghoul Avenger, so maybe I’ll write a fanfic about it. Until then folks, feel free to give me your thoughts on this series and opinions about my opinions. I’m... gonna’ go do some laundry and then play some Darkest Dungeon the my PS4.