#other than criticizing the newest content we get because it’s not what you envisioned

[padawansuggest]

Real take: I like Star Wars. I like the prequels because they have more fleshed out world building than the originals. I like the originals because it has a compelling storyline and character building. I like the cartoons because they do things that live action cannot. I like the children’s show Young Jedi Adventures and I think it’s both cute, extremely full of world building, and it’s designed to bring back the cartoon storyline of learning a lesson every episode that young children can relate to. I like the Mandalorian because it took a species with exactly two known people from it, and added a third, but made them a baby, and they were cute, and it shows the morals of Mandalorian adoption and love for children. I love Ahsoka because it took a favorite cartoon series and not only brought it to life, but also it’s funny and very full of world building for both the New Republic Rebellion scene, as well as more Dathomirian nightsister lore. I love a lot of other Star Wars off-shoots because they gave good storylines, they try to bridge plotholes, and a lot of amazing characters and new places to play with. I adore, fucking love, would give my life for Star Wars Visions; the lore and new concepts alone have captivated me and I can and HAVE made posts about things Visions did that no other SW series has touched and I’m so obsessed with the force and it’s aspects as well as just species and such you have no idea I would sell any of you for SW Visions. In fact, I would sell any of you for Young Jedi Adventures too. The worldbuilding alone for those two series is enough to have me vibrating with excitement with every episode. Sometimes I rewatch episodes of them just for random juicy facts that I can use for fics.

But you know why I don’t tell people I like Star Wars in real life? People always lookin at something they hate, and the most incel take on it is that it’s got too many women now. But irl non-fandom people who just want to ‘enjoy the ambiance of the original trilogy’ and me do not get along because they actually hate Star Wars. They genuinely hate Star Wars.

I can give you 50 plot lines in various sections of canon and legends that boiled my blood (tho not that one time Anakin at 12 literally boiled a man’s blood inside his body, that was hilarious his eyes turned black like a demons I’m so obsessed with him), but I’m not gonna talk about those.

Aren’t you exhausted? Wouldn’t it be nicer to gush about how amazing a certain costume design was? How the implications of a certain species makes you so excited you could burst? Wouldn’t you like to talk about how that one character just doesn’t get enough love and it wasn’t because they were fridged it was just because they didn’t get enough love from the fans for being black or female or disabled or something?

I am going to tell you this now, and you’re gonna hate me for it but I’m right: if you didn’t like Mortis because you think the force Doesn’t Work Like That? You don’t like Star Wars.

I’m tired of interacting with comments on commercials because it’s full of idiots crying about more women, a black character, the fact that ‘oh that wouldn’t happen’ as if the High Republic era didn’t literally have some sort of fucked up midichlorian vampire roaming the outer rim killing anyone force sensitive. Obviously they def would have acolytes set before the prequels shove it up your ass.

Anyways. Stop talking about what you hate. Yes, I get it. We are tired of rote pumped stories, but that doesn’t change the fact that there will ALWAYS be someone who hates the story you love, and loves the story you hate. You cannot please everyone, and I for one have found just about all off-shoot SW series individualized and compelling in some way or another.

You know what I did when I starting hating about 90% of all new Marvel movies? I stopped watching them. If I want back in the fandom I have older ones I can watch or simply only interact with fics.

Because Marvel, as much as they Need To Calm Their Shit, isn’t about me, and it isn’t for me anymore.

But I think a lot of you hate so much Star Wars content that you truly need to stop interacting with the series. It’s not for you anymore. And just because you didn’t like it doesn’t mean it’s not real SW. Not sorry, but this ain’t your scene anymore and you need to find a new one.

[homestuck-info]

The Homestuck Epilogues: Bridges And Off-Ramps

Andrew Hussie has released a massive explanation of his intents behind the Epilogues and plans for the future of the franchise. Fitting to his theme on subverting delivery of content, its in the newest episode of Pgenpod.

You can listen to the full episode here, with the message around the 1 hour mark, or read the transcript below:

The Homestuck Epilogues: Bridges And Off-Ramps ; By Andrew Hussie:

The history of printed version of The Homestuck Epilogues is also the history of The Homestuck Epilogues themselves, because I originally envisioned releasing them only as a book like this, to even further emphasize their conceptual separation from the main narrative. If you know anything about the epilogues, you probably already understand that conceptually distinguishing themselves from the story by their presentation as "fanfiction" is an important part of their nature and what they are trying to say. In the form of a book (which you can read from one side, or flip upside down and read from the other) it somewhat carries the feeling of a cursed tome. Something which maddeningly beckons, due to whatever insanity it surely contains, but also something which causes feelings of trepidation. There's an ominous aura surrounding such a work, probably for a few reasons. The sheer size of it means the nature of the content probably isn't going to be that trivial. The stark presentation of the black and white covers, its dual-narrative format, the foreboding prologue combined with an alarming list of "content warnings", and even the fact that an "epilogue" is delivered with a "prologue" first, all adds up to a piece of media that appears designed to make the reader nervous about what to expect from it. Such is the nature of a cursed tome retrieved from a place which may have best been left undisturbed. It is also the nature of any creative inclination to reopen a story which had already been laid to rest - a reader's desire to agitate and then collapse the bubble which contained the imagined projection of "happily ever after", simply by observing it. There exists inherent danger in a reader's eagerness to collapse that bubble, or to crack that tome. There is also danger in a creator's willingness to accommodate that desire. It's a risk for all involved. It should be.

Obviously, it wasn't released as a book, until now (the plans for printing it had already been made, but were just delayed until well after its release on site). We decided to just release it all on the site so everyone could read it right away if they wanted. There was a long tradition of making all content freely accessible on the site, and we just produced one utterly enormous update which we were perfectly aware would cause a massive amount of discussion and agitation in the fandom. Overall it was probably better to just get it out there, let people read it relatively quickly, form their opinions on it, and then begin discussing it critically. In other words, people were going to feel something from all this, so it seemed better to just let it out there, allow the maximum number of people feel whatever it would cause them to feel, give people time to process those feelings, and then move on to whatever comes next.

But what comes next? That's a good question. I feel like the work does a lot to suggest it's not merely following up on the lives of all the characters after a few years, but also reorganizing all narrative circumstances in a way that points forward, to a new continuity with a totally different set of stakes. In this sense, I think it's heavily implied to be a piece of bridge-media, which is clearly detached from the previous narrative, and conceptually "optional" by its presentation, which allows it to also function as an off-ramp for those inclined to believe the first seven acts of Homestuck were perfectly sufficient. But for those who continue to feel investment in these characters and this world, ironically the very elements which could be regarded as disturbing or depressing are also the main reasons to have hope that there is still more to see. Because, as certain characters go to some length to elaborate on, you can't tell new stories without reestablishing significant dramatic stakes: new problems to overcome, new injustices to correct, new questions to answer. There can be no sense of emotional gratification later without first experiencing certain periods of emotional recession. And by peeking into the imagined realm of "happily ever after" to satisfy our curiosity, we discover that our attention isn't so harmless, because the complexities and sorrows of adult life can't be ignored. Nor can the challenges of creating a civilization from scratch, when several teenagers are handed god-status. It turns out the gaze we cast from the sky of Earth C to revisit everyone isn't exactly friendly, like warm sunlight. It's more like a ravaging beam, destructive and unsettling to all that could have been safely imagined. Our continued attention is the very property which incites new problems, and the troublemakers appear to be keenly aware of this. So they spring into action, and begin repositioning all the stage props for a new implied narrative. But "implied" is all it was. There was no immediate announcement for followup content, and I'm not announcing anything here yet either. More time was always going to be necessary to figure out what to do next, including what form it takes, the timing, and all those questions. For now I think it was alright to just let things simmer for a while, and give people an extended period of time to meditate on the meaning of the epilogues and why they involved the choices they did. But regardless of anyone's conclusions about it, I can at least confirm that it WAS designed to feel like a bridge piece since its conception.

Is it this way because an epilogue SHOULD be this way? No. It is this way because I thought that was the most suitable role for an epilogue to play in the context of the weird piece of media Homestuck has always been. The story experiments a lot with the way stories are told, and in particular messes with the ways certain stretches of content get partitioned and labeled. Playing with the labeling I think has ways of bringing attention to those labels, what they actually mean, and how they affect our perception of the events covered under certain labels. It can even get us to wonder why certain labels exist at all, and can expose "flaws" in the construction of stories which include them. For instance, "intermission" is such a label. But perhaps another way of saying intermission is, "whoops, the story is getting too long, here's a break from the real story with a bunch of dumb shit that doesn't matter". It's seemingly a tacit admission to a problem. And by continuing to toy with that label as the story rolls along, you start to unpack the nature of that problem by implicitly asking questions about it. If you have one intermission because the story got long... can you have two if it gets longer? Can you have even more than that? Once you have a multitude of intermissions, don't you have two dueling threads of content, one supposedly "irrelevant", and the other important? And if that's true, then is it possible for the "irrelevant" thread to accrue more importance, throwing its entire identity as "optional content" into question retroactively? And if that can happen, is it possible the two threads can flip roles, with the intermissions becoming more important than the main acts? Then once the story goes through the motions of answering "yes" to all of this, isn't it also fair to ask, why bother with this examination at all? Was it pure horseplay and trickery? Actually, yes, sort of. There is a trick involved. The gradual realization that intermission content is nontrivial forces the reader to reevaluate their perception of the material, which was originally influenced by a label presiding over that material, and what they believed that label meant. It relies on the reader's presumption about the label's meaning to disguise certain properties of the content (like relevance), and therefore disarms the reader initially, leading to the potential for subverting expectations about the content later in surprising ways. In other words, you can use whatever it is the reader already presumes they know about stories in order to control the perception of what they are reading, just by gradually shifting the boundaries of whatever it is they've been well trained to expect from certain elements.

So now the label "epilogue" has been toyed with in a similar way, and also in a manner which exposes an apparent flaw with the label. Or actually, just by using the label "epilogue" at all, it seems the story is admitting to an apparent flaw. If another way of saying intermission is "whoops, story's too long, here's a break", then an alternate way of saying epilogue is "whoops, I forgot some shit, here's some more". And we know right away this label will be subject to the same kind of trickery, since there are two story paths of eight epilogues each, prefaced by a shared prologue. It's already an unhinged implementation of the label before you even read it, which means it's probably time to get nervous about whether it satisfies your expectations about what the content existing under such a label should provide. Before you read it, it's already an invitation to start questioning what an epilogue even is, and whether it's kind of a silly idea even if applied conventionally. Take a 50 chapter novel with an epilogue, for example. Why isn't the epilogue just called chapter 51? Why was the choice made to label that content differently? Should we consider it an important part of the story, or should we not? If it's not important, why are we reading it? And if it is important, why is it given a label which is almost synonymous with "afterthought"? Is it a simple parting gift to the reader, to provide minor forms of satisfaction which the core narrative wasn't built to provide? Is it actually important to deliver those minor satisfactions? If it really is important, why didn't that content appear in chapter 51? And if it isn't, why bother at all? What are we even doing here?

By going down this path of questioning, it sounds like we're assembling a case against writing epilogues altogether. But actually, there's really nothing wrong with them. It's a perfectly reasonable thing to include in any story. It's just that the more you ask questions like these, the more you are forced to think about the true nature of these storytelling constructs, the actual purposes they're meant to serve. And with something like Homestuck, where issues like this are heavily foregrounded, like what should be considered "canon" vs. "not canon", or even more esoteric concepts like "outside of canon" or "beyond canon", then the issues you uncover when you ask such questions about an epilogue can't really be ignored. My feeling is, there's almost no choice but to turn the conventional ideas associated with epilogues completely inside-out, because of the inherent contradictions involved with crossing the post-canon threshold and revealing that which was not meant to be known. Stories end where they do for certain reasons, answering the questions which were thematically important to answer, and leaving some questions unanswered for similar reasons, and the reader is left with the task of deciphering the meaning of these decisions. Under the "whoops, I forgot some shit, here's more" interpretation of an epilogue as a flawed construct, by reopening an already closed-circuit narrative, what you're really doing is introducing destabilizing forces into something which had already reached a certain equilibrium, due to all the considerations that went into which questions to answer, and which to leave ambiguous. And these destabilizing forces became the entire basis for the construction of an entirely new post-canon narrative, for better or worse.

These are the types of things the epilogues let you to think about, along with a few other ideas. Like the fact that all narratives have perspectives and biases, depending on who is telling the story, even in the case where it's unclear if the narrator has any specific identity. The suggestion that all narratives are driven by agendas, sometimes thinly disguised, other times heavily. There's also stuff to think about just due to its presentation as fanfiction, and that it's the first installment of Homestuck which included other authors (contrary to some speculation I've seen, every word of all seven acts were written by me alone). By deploying it as mock-fanfiction, and including other authors, I'm making an overt gesture that is beginning to diminish my relevance as the sole authority on the direction this story takes, what should be regarded as canon, and even introducing some ambiguity into your understanding of what canon means as the torch is being passed into a realm governed by fan desires. If the epilogues really prove to be the bridge media they were designed to feel like, then I expect this trend to continue. The fanfiction format is effectively a call to action, for another generation of creators to imagine different outcomes, to submit their own work within the universe, to extend what happens beyond the epilogues, or to pave over them with their own ideas. And I believe the direness in tone and some of the subject matter suitably contributes to the urgency of this call to action.

I also think many of the negative feelings the story creates isn't just an urgent prompt for the reader to imagine different ideas, or ways to resolve the new narrative dilemmas. It's also an opportunity for people to discuss any of the difficult content critically, and for fandom in general to continue developing the tools for processing the negative emotions art can generate. Sorting that out has to be a communal experience, and it's an important part of the cycle between creating and criticizing art. I think not only can creators develop their skills to create better things by practicing and taking certain risks, fandom is something which can develop better skills as well. Skills like critical discussion, dealing constructively with negative feelings resulting from the media they consume, interacting with each other in more meaningful ways, and trying to understand different points of view outside of the factions within fandom that can become very hardened over time. Fandoms everywhere tend to get bad reputations for various reasons, maybe justifiably. But I don't see why it can't be an objective to try to improve fandom, just as creators can improve their work. And I think this can only happen if now and then fandoms are seriously challenged, by being encouraged to think about complex ideas, and made to feel difficult emotions. I believe when art creates certain kinds of negative feelings in people, it can lead to some of the most transformative experiences art has to offer. But it helps to be receptive to this idea for these experiences to have a positive net effect on your life, and your relationship with art.

So now I'm looking to all of you on the matter of where to go next. Wherever the most conscientious and invested members of fandom want to drive this universe, as well as the standards by which we engage with media in general, that will be the direction I follow.

[kairiofknives]

Trading Hearts (Part 1)

Summary:  It's been months since Akira won his freedom and saved the world. Now, back in his home town, separated from his friends and girlfriend, Futaba, Akira finds that the place he grew up doesn't necessarily feel like home anymore. Back in Tokyo, Futaba starts to piece together that Akira isn't exactly happy with his change in scenery. She resolves to do what she can for the man who changed her life, whether he is aware of this endeavor or not.

Warning: Spoilers for end of game

Read on AO3

Sometimes Futaba wondered why she or Kana-chan ever wanted to go back to the eternal prison of damnation and lack of intelligent thought that was high school. It was a societal norm that functioning members of society attended high school before acquiring more practical real life paths to take, but the longer she spent here, the more she was convinced that this was merely slow method of torture than a useful method of learning anything.

She'd seen much weirder things to be certain.

To: Kana Banana

The true meaning of survival of the fittest is he/she who can get through high school without offing themselves. I'm convinced.

To: Phantom Leaves (group)

What even is the point of first year biology? Almost none of this falls within the realm of actual science. I would know.

From: Kana Banana

Your school doesn't seem to do too well on that front then.  No offense.

From: Skull Bash in Phantom Leaves (group)

Ur doin better than I did already Futaba. I didn't even know what subject I was in half the time.

From: Cafe Noir in Phantom Leaves (group)

Should you not all be paying attention? :)  You wouldn't want me to tell Mako-chan, would you? :) :) :)

From: Skull Bash in Phantom Leaves (group)

!!!!

Suffice to say, Futaba was bored. Starting high school had seemed like a tremendous first step towards getting herself to be normal again. Sure, she'd be a grade behind, but at least she had a path to start moving down. It was almost laughable that she was managing to sit in a classroom full of students, after taking a crowded train to get here, and wasn't freaking out at all. A year ago, leaving her room was an impossibility. Now, she felt the smallest tinges of panic when people pressed on her too hard on the train, got a bit sweaty when strangers talked to her for too long, but neither feeling was enough to derail her day. She felt like a real life person most of the time now and it was all because of...

From: Key Item

As long as you're getting good test scores, it doesn't really matter if you pay attention in class.  Word of advice though: beware of flying chalk. It's got a 90% chance of critical.

...a wonderful, adorable nerd who always knew how to make her day better.

To: Key Item

Gasp! I'll make sure I put my best armor on then. Thanks for the intel. Btw, aren't you supposed to be slaving over a midterm paper?

She couldn't help but grin to herself. One of her biggest worries starting this year had been that despite the massive amounts of support she knew she could get from the other members of the now disbanded Phantom Thieves, Akira Kurusu had moved back to Kyoto to finish out high school in his hometown. She would always credit her revival from the corpse of her previous self as a victory for the entire group, but it was truly Akira who had stayed with her every step of the way. His warm presence by her side made pushing herself out of her comfort zone not only less scary, but infinitely more rewarding. They'd spent countless hours cultivating their bond both between one another and with Sojiro. Sojiro, Akira and Morgana were her family. And the Phantom Thieves were the perfect extension to that family. She would have been more than content to stay in that perfect bubble of happiness forever.

Alas, after saving the world multiple times and nearly dying for the sake of doing so, Akira had finally been granted the freedom he so deserved and was finally free to resume the life that had been stolen from him by Shido. Futaba had been gutted to know Akira would be leaving, but no matter how much she wanted him to herself, she knew he deserved the chance to try to put his "normal" back together, the same way she was trying to fix her "normal".

Still, it sucked pretty bad to have to start one of the potentially scariest steps in her life without her combo best friend and boyfriend there to cheer her on.

As soon as concrete plans had been made with regards to Akira returning to Kyoto, Akira had insisted that if they intended to keep dating, they had to tell Sojiro. Futaba had suspected that perhaps her loving boyfriend had developed a death wish, but agreed anyway. She had envisioned having this conversation with her adoptive father many times, and each had ended in some sort of disaster.

Thus, she had been thoroughly shocked when Sojiro's reaction was to sigh and grumble "I don't like the idea of Futaba dating in general, but if it has to be anyone, I guess I couldn't have picked someone better." They had hashed out rules concerning their alone time and curfews while Akira was still in town, but Sojiro made it very clear that Akira was still a treasured part of their family and was still welcome at LeBlanc if he was ever in town. Needless to say, there was hardly a dry eye in the room.

So they had kept dating. The concern that they'd drift apart was a valid one, but luckily both of them were good about keeping up with Skype dates and keeping in contact via text and phone calls. High school had been going better than expected, the old Phantom Thieves group was still super close, having dinner at LeBlanc every Sunday, and her relationship with Akira still felt just as fun and relaxing as ever. All in all, Futaba really couldn't complain about her current life situation.

From: Key Item

Procrastination nation. Don't worry about it. It'll get done.

From: Key Item

How is that computer building project coming along?

...with one minor exception.

It hadn't seemed like such a big deal at first. She wasn't even really sure there was an issue in the beginning. But the more they talked, the more she started to realize that Akira did not want to talk about himself, at all. She could go on and on for days about every little detail of her own life, down to even absolutely insignificant things like that one time Sojiro bought almond milk, and Akira would always stay attentive. But anytime she directed these questions back at him, asking about his school or town or even what he did with his free time anymore, she was met with vague answers and then a swift redirection of conversation back to herself.

Fueled by the intrinsic desire to be connected to Akira's life in a more reciprocal fashion, Futaba began her newest mission: decode the life of Akira.

To: Key Item

What are you doing after school today?

From: Key Item

Nothing. Why?

To: Key Item

That's weird. You did so much stuff here like every single day. You'd better not be holding back on having fun just so we could talk!!

From: Key Item

I promise I'm not doing that.

From: Key Item

I'm still free though.

To: Key Item

...alright. Do you wanna Skype? Usual time?

From: Key Item

Sounds great.

Futaba sighed. This was going to be slightly harder than she had originally anticipated. That was fine though. She'd grab some intel from the friend group and then prepare her counterattack.

~~~~

"Hey, Ryuji. How often do you and Akira talk?"

Ryuji paused in his desperate destruction of what might have been a sandwich at one point, chewed thoughtfully, then spat "rrvydy, hy?"

Ann scrunched up her nose in distaste, scooting away from the boy in mock offense. "Eww. Stop. Please be like a normal human being for like ten seconds?"

Ryuji gulped loudly, smacking his lips, "Whatever floats your boat, Ms. Princess." He received a warning glare. "Fine, fine. Anyway, yeah, we talk on and off basically every day, why?"

Futaba fidgeted a bit, playing with the leftover rice from the curry Sojiro sent with her to school for lunch today. "I don't know. Anything seem off about him to you?"

This got Ann's attention. "Off, how Futaba?"

Futaba shook her head a bit, "it may be nothing, but it feels like he's avoiding talking to me about his own life right now? And I was wondering if you guys noticed it too."

"Oh man, I think I know what you mean!" Ryuji exclaimed, gesticulating wildly with filthy hands. "Once, I asked him if Kyoto had any good arcades. And he sent me a Google search instead of telling me about it himself. Like, what?"

Ann nodded, "I've never noticed it myself, but it doesn't seem completely out of his character. I mean, he never really wanted to talk about himself, even when he was here."

Futaba considered this for a moment. "He definitely would talk about himself to me, maybe not...full life story all the time, but he would tell me who he had been hanging out with and what he'd been up to. Now I can't even get that out of him. I'm wondering if something isn't wrong..."

Ryuji scoffed, "Naw man, ya know, I bet he's just trying to not make us miss him too much. I know I'd feel like shit if he was constantly going on and on about how much better his home is than here."

"Why?" Futaba asked, a bit upset by Ryuji's response, though glad he'd be that honest. "He has to stay there for a year. Don't you want him to enjoy that year? If he wants his life to go back to normal, I want him to succeed in that quest, ya know? I mean, he's done so much for us. Doesn't he at least deserve that...?"

Ryuji leaned back, slightly surprised. "Alright, alright, calm down Futaba. Geez. Didn't you know you were Akira's number one defender..."

Futaba blushed. While both Sojiro and Morgana knew of her and Akira's relationship, they had not told the rest of the group as of yet. She often wished she could, but they had agreed that they wanted to see how things went before getting the group all excited about this. After all, it would seriously suck if they told everyone then broke up...

A comforting hand settled on her shoulder. "I agree, Futaba," Ann smiled, "Knowing Akira he probably wouldn't wanna risk burdening us too much whether it be with good or bad information. And honestly, it could just be that he has nothing to say. After all, life now compared to life 6 months ago is really boring."

Futaba nodded, sulking. She didn't care if he was having the best time ever in Kyoto or had nothing to talk about except the A tier naps he and Morgana had been taking. She just wanted to be able to share whatever their mutual lives were like equally since they couldn't be together living the same life anymore.

Ann sighed, then offered, "let's shoot a private message to Makoto. She was talking about bothering him about his college plans awhile back. Maybe she'll have an opinion for you."

Futaba glanced up at Ann, and smiled, thankful for such understanding friends. "That sounds awesome, thanks."

With that, the first warning bell signaled that lunch was basically over. Hopefully, Makoto would answer before she Skyped Akira tonight.

~~~

She had luckily managed to snag a seat on the train ride home and was settling in to read a book when her phone chimed. It was Makoto. Futaba praised the God that blessed their friend group with such a capable and efficient Mom Friend.

Actually, they may have killed that God....hmm...

From: Dream Queen

Hey, Futaba. In reference to what Ann asked me about, I have noticed that Akira is acting a bit strange. I did end up talking to him about college entrance exams and apparently he isn't currently planning to take any. He wouldn't give me a complete answer but what I pieces together is that the issue is a combination of not being in the right college prep classes at school, the school staff not taking his desire to go to college seriously, and his father not believing he could pass the exams and thus not wanting to pay for them. Now, keep in mind, he told me very little of this flat out, but from our conversation this was what I could draw conclusions about. Hope that helps.

Futaba's jaw fell open a bit. So, Akira was having troubles and not speaking to her about them. Again. Damnit. She shot a message back to Makoto quickly, needing to process this information before her conversation with Akira.

To: Dream Queen

Thank you so much for the info Makoto. God, he hasn't told me any of this. Not even a little bit of it. It's just like the prison thing...why does he do this?

Luckily, it seemed Makoto was still attached to her phone for the moment.

From: Dream Queen

It's likely a complex answer. I'm sure he thinks sharing this sort of information with us would bother us because we would try to fix it. Sadly, he's right. We will try to fix it. And he should probably just get used to that fact and let it happen.

That made her laugh. Their little group was quite infamous for being overly close and overly protective. Just because Akira was used to doing the protecting didn't mean he was exempt from the protection.

To: Dream Queen

I want to talk to him about this. See if there's anything we can do to help. But I don't want him to deflect me. Any ideas, Ms Prosecutor-Lite?

From: Dream Queen

Let's not call me that. In general, direct questions are more likely to get useable information. If he can purposefully side step a meaning of a question, he seems to do so.

She figured as much. Formulating the right questions might be hard though. She didn't want him to think the decision not to go to college was what she was upset with, so lingering on that topic might not help. Truthfully, she just wanted to know if he was happy and if not, why.

Huh. That might be a good one.

Her phone chimed again.

From: Dream Queen

But being frank, Futaba, I don't think you're going to get straight answers with a screen in between you. Skype may be slightly more effective but Akira is a face to face kind of person. We may not be able to address this until break. And that's perhaps a long shot if he doesn't plan to come to Tokyo for break.

The thought stuck in her head for a moment. Face to face. Midterms were this upcoming week. After Thursday, she wouldn't have class again until Tuesday. Hmmm...now if only...

To: Dream Queen

Do you happen to know Akira's home address?

From: Dream Queen

No, but shouldn't Boss? He did have mailed correspondence with Akira's family a bit over the last year.

Perfect.

To: Dream Queen

Thanks Makoto. You're the absolute best. I'll tell you what I'm thinking of doing tomorrow.

From: Dream Queen

Anytime dear. Hope it goes well :)

The train announced that her stop was next and she hopped up, energized and ready to move the plan forward.

~~~

She surveyed her desk space to ensure she had everything she needed. Drink? Check. Bag of chips just in case? Check. Blanket draped over her desk chair? Check. Computer open to Skype? Check. List of questions conveniently out of sight? Check.

She was a bit hesitant to write up the list of questions. Futaba knew there was no way in hell she could link all those questions together coherently without sounding scripted. That was Makoto's thing. But still, Akira was by far the superior conversationalist. She needed some sort of backup if this went south.

She tried to remind herself that this wasn't about only getting answers. Their Skype dates were sacred. It was the closest they got to each other on a regular basis. She needed to find a natural work in for that line of conversation or needed to drop it all together. And besides, she consoled herself, plan B could still work out without this conversation being... productive. No pressure.

She was so screwed.

The sound of Skype's ring tone started up then, and she jumped a bit. She ran her fingers through her hair, pausing to take one huge breath before hitting "answer".

"Hey, Akira."

Her screen slowly resolved into what was becoming a pretty familiar backdrop. The walls were painted a medium shade of blue. All along the back wall, were countless posters. Rock bands, video games, movies, you name it. She fondly remembered their first Skype date, where he explained where he got every single one of those posters. That was the most he had spoken to her about his past since he told her how he got arrested...

The bed was messy, plaid blue comforter thrown across the bed in a half assed attempt at making the bed. She knew for a fact the thin black sheets underneath were bundled up the same as when he first woke up. The only thing in the room messier than the bed was the mop of hair in her line of sight.

"You, my friend, need a haircut," Futaba giggled, earning herself an overly dramatic eye roll and a huff in response. She actually was a fan of the extremely puffy hair, but knew it was getting long enough that his bangs would be hanging in his eyes, which annoyed him greatly.

The lights in his room were off, the only light source being the blueish light from his laptop screen. Futaba didn't try to keep it a secret how much she liked the way his face looked illuminated so minimally like this. The angle of the light showed off features she hadn't paid attention to when they were physically together. Now, she couldn't stop staring at the well defined jawline, sharp cut of his nose, the way his bottom lip was a bit fuller than his top. Maybe there was some truth to the phrase "distance makes the heart grow fonder".

"What's up, hot stuff? You look a bit down."

Akira met her eyes, the ghost of a smile on his face. "I guess I'm kind of tired. Haven't been sleeping well lately."

This was good. Getting right into it. "Aww. How come?"

He paused, staring at something to the left of his screen. For a moment it looked like he was gearing up to say something, but then he simply shook his head. "I don't know. Happens sometimes."

The bags under his eyes told her that it wasn't as simple as a couple bad nights. Still, she knew he probably wouldn't give her an answer on this particular vein of thought just yet, so she moved on. "Speaking of sleep, where is the sleepiest cat in the history of history?"

That got Akira to smile. "My dad got him some catnip at the store the other day. Before I opened it, he swore over and over it wouldn't work on him because he is a human."

Futaba giggled, "let me guess: he went crazier than when he saw particularly nice looking treasures in the metaverse?"

The smile broadened into a smirk. "Babbled nonsense and ran around the house after 'ghosts' all night. It was a true sight to behold. That said: he denies the whole thing now."

"Not surprising. News headline: local cat does cat-like thing. Is disgusted."

Akira chortled, "Very accurate!"

They chatted back and forth for about half an hour about various things, mostly superficial. Still, it served its purpose as a recharge from all the social exhaustion of the week. She was content. But, she did want to ask him one thing.

"Hey, Akira...real quick before we hang up..."

Akira smiled at her, nodded, "What's up?"

"You've been in Kyoto for awhile now. And I guess I just wanted to know..." She paused, looking him straight in the eye, "are you happy?"

Lightning quick, his smile dropped away. For a bit, Akira's eyes darted between the screen, his hands, and the space just to the left side of his computer screen. This sort of frantic defense mechanism was new to Futaba. To her memory, she had never seen Akira cornered before. It only proved that this was a question she needed to have answered...but, an equal need to soothe him also sprung up.

It was a long pause before Akira finally plopped his head down onto his crossed arms and sighed. When he next revealed his face, it was with a soft, "I guess not."

Futaba's heart broke at the despair in his tone. Her voice was just as soft, "Is being back home not what you thought it would be?"

Akira shook his head. He didn't meet her eyes. "No, it's exactly how I thought it would be." He buried his face in his arms, fingers tapping out a rhythm on the desk. His next words were muffled so he couldn't make them out super well, but Futaba was absolutely positive she heard him mutter "It's me that's different now."

That was all she really needed to hear. "We don't have to talk about it anymore if you don't want to."

He removed his head from it's hiding spot and attempted a smile. "Thanks." The sound of a door opening in the background echoed through his room. He sighed and sat up. "I have to go."

Futaba's heart sank. She hated herself for saving this for last. Leaving conversations on a bad note was the absolute worst and yet...Well, she'd just have to make up for it.

"Ok. I love you."

Akira nodded, "Love you too." She smiled and reached for her mouse to cut the call, when he started, "Futaba?" She made a noise acknowledging him. "I miss you."

God, this kid really knew how to play her heart like a guitar. She smiled widely at him. "I miss you too, Akira. Good night!"

"Night."

The call ended, leaving her alone in her room with her thoughts. Akira had always been there for her when she was going through something awful. Even forced his way into helping her even when she said she didn't want his help. There was no way she was letting this go. She nodded to herself and started writing a message to Makoto.

Failure wasn't an option.

~~~

LeBlanc was deserted when Futaba got home from school that Friday. Sojiro was busy cooking, humming contently along with the radio. Considering what Futaba's goal was this evening, it was probably for the best that he was in a good mood to start.

"Hey Sojiro! I'm home. Need any help?"

Her father turned and raised an eyebrow, giving her a once over glance before nodding and beckoning her forth to help with dinner. Futaba winced to herself, realizing her huge tactical error. She never offers to help with dinner. Alas, the hint that she wanted something from him is perhaps better than springing it on him with no prior suspicion at all. She hurried to put on an apron and slice up the apples he placed before her.

They worked in companionable silence. And once the curry was done to perfection, they both sat down at a booth to enjoy their meal. The air was thick, pregnant with the anticipation of important conversation. Futaba hated this sort of unease, as it was exactly what she feared would occur. And she hadn't even said anything yet.

"So. You want to ask me something, Futaba?"

No surprises there. Futaba nodded, "Um. Yes. I. I do." God, this was harder than she thought. The words were there, right in her head, so why couldn't she get them out? It's just Sojiro! But that was the issue. It was Sojiro, the only father figure she'd ever really had. She could handle a lot of people rejecting her, but Sojiro was not among them.

He seemed to sense her rising panic, smiled at her gently, "Whatever it is, it's nothing to worry too hard over. If you're willing to talk, I'm willing to listen."

"Yeah I know." She took a deep breath, summoned her inner strength (whatever there was of it) and began, "I was talking with Akira earlier. He's...um, not feeling very well, I don't think. I don't know exactly what the problem is, but I really want to help him. He's done so much for me after all."

Sojiro nodded, showing he had heard her. She continued, "I've tried just talking to him about it, but he doesn't give me or any of our friends straight answers. And now he isn't sleeping well. I'm just really worried."

"And what exactly do you expect to do about this?" Sojiro questioned, luckily not looking mad at all. "You can't just force him to ask for help if he doesn't want it. Trust me. I've tried."

"Yeah," Futaba acknowledged glumly, "I doubt he will ever tell anyone what's really wrong over the phone. It's too easy for him to hide behind the screen and pretend he's protecting us. So...I want to go talk to him. In person."

Sojiro stopped eating. Placed his fork down and the folded his hands in front of him. Futaba gulped. "Who would be going with you, then?"

"No one. I don't think he would want to say anything if too many people came."

He sighed and shook his head a bit, sparking panic in Futaba instantly. "He'd probably talk to you and one other person, right? Why not that Makoto girl?"

"I...I already talked to her about it. She. Um. She said she can't take the time off and that he would probably not talk to someone who isn't me or her so it probably has to be just me."

"And I'm supposed to ignore the fact that my sixteen year old daughter with crippling social anxiety wants to travel over five hours to Kyoto by herself to see her boyfriend? On a whim because he seems upset? You're out of your mind."

Futaba's voice grew shaky, "The train there wouldn't be anywhere as crowded as the one I take to school! So what if it's more time, I'd be fine! And it is not just a whim."

Sojiro shook his head, glaring at her through with crossed arms. God she hated that look. "I don't think you realize how dangerous this could be for a young girl by herself. And what would you do when you got there? Talk really quickly and come back home? 11 hours of transit just for a conversation?"

"School will be off for awhile after midterms, Sojiro. I can probably just stay on their couch or something."

"Oh here we go. Probably isn't good enough when planning a trip like this, Futaba. You can't just show up at people's houses and expect them to let you stay with them. Are you insane?"

Tears jerked to her eyes. "N-no, I'm not! I was going to call Akira's dad a-after you and I talked and ask him. Why do you assume I don't think about things? You know I do!" The last thing Futaba had wanted was to cry, but sure enough the tears came rolling down her cheeks in rivers. Her nose was suddenly all stuffed too. Damnit.

"Do you even have his father's number? Their address?"

"Y-you do, Sojiro! I w-w-wasnt gonna go...go behind your b-back and ask when I already made all the arrangements! You h-hate it when people try to do that! And I know you d-do!"

"Yeah and I also hate it when you hatch schemes in private and then just expect other people to go along with them."  Sojiro sighed, pressing his thumbs to his closed eyes. "Why does it have to be you who does this? Is this even necessary? You don't even know if something is actually wrong, Futaba."

"Yes. I. Do. You weren't talking to him, Sojiro. You didn't see how sad he looked. No, he doesn't absolutely need someone to go, but I want to now before it gets any worse." She paused to sniffle and wipe at her eyes, feeling a bit less frantic. "And would you please stop thinking about him as 'Futaba's boyfriend' and just think of him as Akira? Just because he is dating me doesn't make him any less a part of our family! Right? Right?? You were the one that said that! Well our family member is far away and something is wrong."

Sojiro was quiet then. He sat with his arms crossed over his chest and a deep frown for awhile while Futaba sniffled and dabbed at her eyes with her napkin. Her entire body was tense and felt gross, typical after crying. Still, it was a small price to pay if she could convince Sojiro. She had to at least try.

"Go home."

Her eyes shot up to meet her father's. "What?"

Sojiro leveled her with a stern stare. "It's getting late and you need to get a bath and get ready for bed. You have school tomorrow."

"B-but Sojiro...!"

"Enough. Futaba." Sojiro stood, collecting their plates and moving towards the sink. "No point discussing this any more tonight. You go calm down and get to bed. If there is anything left to discuss, we will talk about it after school tomorrow."

"Sojiro..."

"I haven't said no yet, have I?" Sojiro looked back at her with a soft look on his face. He hated it when she cried just as much as she hated crying. "Now get out of here so I can think, ok?"

The walk home was one of the most nerve wracking of her life. There was a snowball's chance in hell of her sleeping tonight, since her emotions felt like live wires all tangled together. But the less she fought him, the more likely he'd agree. That was all she could hope for at this point.

~~~

School on Saturday was the longest and worst experience of her life. She was bone tired from not sleeping even an hour the night before and somehow all the teachers seemed to know this because they kept asking her just about every single question they could. It was unbearable. She had zoned out through all of lunch too, far too tired to even register being hungry, so as she boarded the train to go home, she felt like she had had all of her stats lowered and inflicted with despair, dizzy and hunger all at the same time.

Her phone buzzed in her bag as she managed to snag a seat on the train (the only small miracle of the day).

From: Key Item

Hey. Ryuji and Ann both texted me and said you looked really out of it today. Everything alright?

Great. Now she had even managed to spread her bad day to Akira. Wonderful.

To: Key Item

Bad night. Didn't sleep. I'll go to bed early tonight, though.

From: Key Item

Alright. If you're sure. Get home safe. Get Sojiro to make you some curry with extra love in it!

To: Key Item

If his love is anything like yours, I'd prefer he keep the love to a minimum.

From: Key Item

Ouch. That hurt. Such betrayal.

She giggled, glad that even when she felt like death, talking to Akira could still make her smile.

Arriving at LeBlanc felt like a death march. There were five customers enjoying curry and coffee at the various booths, so Futaba place her bag down at the bar. Before she could sit down, Sojiro slid a pad of paper across the bar to her. She met his eyes first, then looked down at the paper. It contained a phone number and an address. Her heart sped up and she looked back at Sojiro, mouth wide open.

"You'd best try calling now. I could usually get ahold of his dad around this time. Go on."

Futaba grinned, kissed Sojiro on the cheek and then fled upstairs to call the number. Maybe things were going to work out after all.

[nrip]

New association ‘overdue’ to support health care providers on social media

A call to action

Today, we have come to a time where there is an increased focus on health misinformation along with the potential for social media to truly impact public health. A couple months ago, we started a hashtag campaign on Instagram called, #VerifyHealthcare, sparked by the rise of misinformation and influencers even within health care.

With the influencer phenomenon, there are a lot of other concerns, not just misrepresentation, but other pitfalls whether it’s professionalism issues weighing (or not weighing) what is appropriate to post, HIPAA concerns or even sponsored content issues, which is definitely a new phenomenon in health care social media. There’s a need for guidance on how to disclose conflicts of interest, industry relationships and how to cite medical literature so that patients and the general public can easily digest it.

#VerifyHealthcare focused on encouraging those with decent followings to disclose their training and experience. Additionally, it encouraged their followers to be mindful of who they are trusting. To double- and triple-check the credentials of those they trusted online.

We saw how this hashtag resonated with a lot of people – health professionals and patients alike – and we felt the need to take this a step further. That’s when the idea of creating the Association for Healthcare Social Media (AHSM) arose.

First steps

We are the first professional society for health care social media use. There are other organizations focused on health communications professionals or media professionals, but not for those of us who are practicing medicine, dentistry or nursing and are now using social media to educate others or to build our practices. While Facebook groups or online groups do exist, they’re less formal. AHSM holds 501(c)(3) designation as a formal non-profit group and offers more transparency. This was overdue. There needs to be a more organized effort and the designation is the first step to move from informal conversations on an individual level to a concerted force in public health to engage more effectively with other organizations and institutions.

All of us felt that no matter our purpose for using social media, it has a public health impact and to have the positive impact we want to see, we need to come together.

The 15 of us who started this were already heavy social media users, often on Instagram, but also Twitter, YouTube and other platforms. We started with #VerifyHhealthcare and became the founding members for AHSM.

Specialties represented on our board of directors include ophthalmology, OB/GYN, facial plastic surgery, dermatology, pediatrics, orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, GI, pulmonary medicine, critical care and more. Our advisory council has MD doctors, DO representation, nurse practitioners, a psychologist and also the New Jersey health commissioner. We want to continue to diversify and aim to represent the breadth of medicine.

It’s important for everyone to be involved because if you are online talking about health in any way, shape or form, then you should really be aware of how to safely and properly do so.

Changing landscape

It’s interesting how the landscape of social media has changed. In the past, it was a casual forum or creative outlet. Increasingly, many have used it in other productive ways, whether it’s education, discussion or business. We wanted to highlight all of that, but ensure that there’s no danger to health professionals’ careers or patient health.

There’s been a lot of media attention on various aspects of health and social media, whether it be health misinformation or this influencer phenomenon where even physicians have been accused of hiding paid vacations or rewards for promoting certain products in their social media.

Conflicts of interest and industry relationships are not new to medicine, but the way it’s intersecting with social media is new. In this day and age, with the rise of fashion influencers, fitness influencers, etc., health influencers have also arisen. At the end of the day, what impact does this have on the general public and public health? We want to investigate and address this.

Additionally, we observed students, health professionals or medicine-adjacent individuals who said that they were physicians or other health professionals but did not have the training to support that. This was concerning given some of their large social media followings.

  Social media has far more benefits than most people, especially health professionals, often perceive but with that, also many pitfalls than previously imagined. Because our reputations and our identities are so digital and vulnerable to missteps, it’s important to inform ourselves on how we navigate all of this but we also want to help people understand its benefits. We need more health professional champions to serve as an examples of how social media can elevate one’s career, serve as a networking device, and create a niche in one’s field.

There are so many different ways that social media can be used and the diversity of our board of directors demonstrates the full spectrum – whether it’s using one platform to promote another, to create businesses or to create an organization.

Those of us that founded AHSM met on social media. I couldn’t think of a better example or a better way for a group of 15 individuals spread across specialties and all over the country to come together and within 3 months, incorporate a new organization, get 501(c)(3) designation and do all of this. It’s a testament to the power of social media.

Social media is pervasive now for every field and every specialty.

At this point, the AHSM has more than 400 paying members. This is not just for gastroenterology where I practice. This is not just for doctors. This society and this movement are for everyone in the health care field. There may be unique considerations for nurses, optometrists, physician assistants or other health care roles, so we want to encourage those folks to join and contribute.

How to join

If you look into us now, we have a few best practices for social media laid out, but we’re going to keep developing, editing and evolving them. All of this can be found on our website, ahsm.org.

It’s still a work in progress, we recognize that, but we can’t build a professional society overnight. We have early adopter rates until mid-June.

There has been a lot of interest from patients as well as people not working directly in health care, but adjacent to it such as care managers or care navigators for insurance companies. I think it’s important for them as well as patients and patient advocates to be involved, but we are concentrating on physicians and other health care providers for now. There is an open access section for patients on the site.

Right now, there is a disconnect. There isn’t much incentive for health professionals to get online and share health knowledge about what they do. The currency today is still academic journal publications, which is usually not where the general public receives their health knowledge. We aim to shift that, ever so slightly.

What AHSM needs is people who are medically trained, to talk about what they do on social media platforms, but it’s hard to get people to do something when there’s no obvious reward.

Looking ahead

We want other physicians to understand this is not just a social group. We are good at doing this and we want to share and train others on a professional level.

At this time, we’re solidifying our structure and curating content. We are planning a symposium scheduled for the first weekend in November. It will be our first event bringing everyone together, as a precursor to a bigger conference down the road. We want to host annual events just like any other medical organization and bring in key speakers to discuss various aspects of what they do on social media.

AHSM will stay abreast of the latest in health care social media. There are going to be new platforms for social media in the future and what we are doing now will evolve and change with the ebb and flow of social media. The goal is to capture all existing platforms because we don’t know which ones will stick around or change. We’re not talking about social media in terms of only Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, but also YouTube and podcasting as growing forums. We also invite med students and people in training, nursing students, etc., because they’re likely to be at the front lines when it comes to what’s newest in the social media world.

At the end of the day it’s not for everyone. But especially for the younger generation, it has an impact and it has the potential to really help your business or practice.

We envision AHSM as a medical organization, like the American College of Cardiology or American Gastroenterological Association. We want to really legitimize what we’re doing and help academic institutions, other professional societies and industry partners to understand the value of social media contributions and see it as a valuable public health tool that deserves more recognition.

Disclosure: Chiang is the chief medical social media officer for Jefferson Health in Philadelphia.

[cryptogoldpresentation-blog]

The Future of Crypto Currency

Much controversy surrounds comparisons involving precious metals and the expanding number of crypto currencies. In some ways an ideological wedge has formed between hard asset investors and also the most outspoken of electronic currency advocates.

While both investment choices remain relatively sequestered from the mainstream spotlight, they both provide fascinating perspectives for understanding the continuing monetary and fiscal catastrophe.

Crypto Storm

The growth of decentralized, anonymous, and freely traded electronic currencies has worked its way to the media and technology.

Even though Bitcoin, is the poster child, having gained the most attention and participation, you will find nearly 100s of other much smaller currencies and much more being developed all of the time.

The Rising Tide of Social Media

The culture of social media will continue to play a major role in the increase of the a number of the monies. They signify another tier of commerce in just a media format which has the capacity to foment revolution.

Most new forms of media are rather easy to criticize. Social media has it's problems. The inherent lack of solitude and a thin the line emerging between the mainstream media's manipulation and the utility of delivering pertinent information versus amusement and for that reason propaganda as an extension of public relations and promotion.

The Money of Social Networking

A number of the newer e-currencies are introduced by right leveraging social websites. Obviously they begin of little, but many can be collected via sites that offer coins at no cost. These so called crypto-faucets efficiently seed brand new mine production. Many are used as tokens given as tip or reward for posting newsworthy or entertaining content on sites, forums, or on other social media stations.

Some see the techniques as a shadow of these used in promoting penny stocks and almost all share significant and often wild price volatility.

Controversy almost matches

100s of new crypto monies have been created. Many associated with the societal media phenomenon, yet they have not quite reached in to the mainstream concerning awareness, and notably adoption.

Historical adoption CryptoGold official presentation - volatility

Bitcoin is only one of many and happens to be the most famous for now. In some ways it's Naturally the focus of ridicule and criticism. Observers are quick to compare its recent increase to a frenzy, and both swift at pointing out its own use in the digital black sector.

Store of Wealth and Properties

The comparison between the comparative "perfect" monetary features of the precious metals versus crypto currency may be a divisive exercise. However, if the contrast in includes fiat currency, it becomes more compelling.

Finite Supply - precious metals and many crypto have a restricted source. The purest will argue that valuable metals are much more omnipresent than often assumed, but we just don't have the technology or energy to effectively identify and mine metals out of the sea floor.

Portability - all 3 alternatives are usually mobile, though for the person, moving considerable quantities of silver and gold into a certain extent may get hard or more expensive.

Fungible - all three are fungible.

Non-forgeable - the fiat dollar is the only one of the three that is capable of being forged.

Divisible - all forms are basically divisible.

Privacy - precious metals, but especially crypto currency are personal in the sense that ownership can be essentially hidden.

Acceptance - the buck and precious metals are frequently accepted - though in the developed world valuable metals are more indirectly accepted. Crypto monies have yet to attain substantial approval and this is the significant factor preventing its widespread endorsement. Even though the tendency is likely to rise.

Confiscation and theft immunity - both precious metals and fiat currency are somewhat more vulnerable at this point to theft and/or confiscation. The technology and applications code capable of breaking the cryptographic signature to the brand new electronic currencies is extremely difficult to find.

Durability - by it's very nature, the buck would be the least durable of the three, and relative absence of adoption and newness places makes durability and gray area for e-currencies.

Acceptance is the key one ke limiting factor separating crypto currency from financial status or store of value. It's difficult to envision widespread approval given the obstacles to approval. A certain amount of savvy, from technological capability, to the infrastructure required for its own spread.

Really, following a recent visit to South America, and interacting with all the many of their financial elite, it is apparent that widespread adoption is a time away.

Nevertheless, social websites could finally Provide the trigger for fast adoption.

Relatively speaking, and while not necessarily a necessity for financial status, acceptance of precious metals certainly exhibits a robustness that certainly crypto currencies along with the fiat dollar (also as reserve money) do not possess based in time and tradition.

Coverage also interferes with what might be a widespread adoption, but normally for the average person, the worker, there has been a severe lack of ability to deal with any and all technological and competitive challenges.

Currency Velocity

Volumes can quickly burst, and a lot of these monies will observe massive percentage moves as an increasing number of people looking for return become aware.

Regrettably, it is more probable that adoption of crypto currencies or the return to monetary metals will be overlooked by the majority. The Character of the ongoing financial crisis, and it is brittle fragility caused by the ignorance of risk from the top down is that money rate will burst from a massive foundation if paper currency creation

The other day , I was talking crypto-currencies having an acquaintance at our regional Starbucks, and he let me know he had been working with two or three entrepreneurs who had previously been academic experts in IT Security. Needless to say, for crypto-currencies it is about secure transfer of the information, and the trust in the intrinsic value of those individual's and zero's, or Q-bits. Perhaps, I might have a peek at their business plan, although these digital monies have experienced any bumps in the path to the future I'm sure is going to be the upcoming standard - that is how the world is headed it appears.

Does this mean we will have a distributive currency like distributive energy on the smart grid, or distributive info such as the net? Well, humans usually do what works and there's both good and bad with centralization and with a distributive redundancy strategy.

Now then, what's the latest you ask? Well, there are two articles I read not over an hour after this meeting, because I was cruising through the information, I'd previously saved to compose on this subject afterwards; Marginally Useful - Bitcoin itself may fail as a currency, but the underlying technology is beginning to suggest precious new software," by Paul Ford (February 18, 2014) and mind this article was written only days before the Bitcoin thieving from one of the top trades.

Another article was composed by Naette Byrnes the day after those findings struck the newswires on February 25, 2014 "Bitcoin about the Hot Seat - A major bitcoin exchange shuts down, raising questions regarding the cybercurrency." Are you surprised? No, me either.

The next article went on to state "Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, after among the biggest exchanges of the bitcoin cybercurrency, ceased working Tuesday amid rumors that millions may have been stolen in the firm and rising concerns about the long-term prospects for its unregulated digital money. Additional bitcoin exchanges quickly moved to distance themselves in Mt. Gox and claim that they were open for business. The value of this money itself dropped sharply to just over $500 by mid-afternoon. It struck an all-time high 1,100 in November."

What do you say to this? Ouch. Does this demonstrate that the naysayers calling it a Ponzi Scheme were right? Do they get the last laugh, or is that just an anticipated evolutionary process of disturbance as all the kinks are worked out? Well, consider this thought experiment I'd.

Let's say there was hanky-panky involved, let us say someone hacked the machine or stole the electronic currency. At the moment, digital currency flies under the radar because it's not recognized even with the newest Too Big To Fail regulations banks, etc.. How can a digital currency have value? Hard to say, how can a fancily printed piece of paper marked $20 be worth anything, it isn't, but it's worth what it signifies if we all agree to this and have confidence in the money. What is the difference, it's an issue of confidence right?

Okay so, let us say that the regulators, FBI, or another branch of government complies and documents charges - should they record criminal charges that someone defrauded somebody else then just how much defrauding was demanded? If the government law and justice section Set a dollar amount number to that, they're inadvertently agreeing that the digital money Is true, and it has a value, so, acknowledging it. If they don't get involved, then some fraud that might or might not have happened sets the entire concept back a long way, and the press will continue to drive down the confidence of electronic or crypto-currencies.

Thus, it's a catch-22 for the government, authorities, and enforcement people, and it is impossible for them to look the other way or deny that this trend any longer. Could it be time for regulations. Well, I despise regulation, but isn't how it usually starts. Once it's controlled credibility is given to the concept, but his electronic currency theory may also undermine the entire One World Currency plan or even the US Dollar (Petro-Dollar) paradigm, and there might be hell to pay for this as well. Can the global economy handle that degree of disturbance? Stay tuned, I guess we will see.

In the meantime, what happens next will either break or make this new change in the way we view monetary price, wealth, online transactions and the way the actual world will mind-meld into our future blurred reality. I simply don't see many people believing here, but everybody needs to, one misstep and we could all be in a world of hurt - all of humankind that is. Please consider all this and think on it.

Bitcoin is a comparatively new type of currency that has only begun to strike the mainstream markets.

Critics say that utilizing Bitcoins is unsafe since -

They have no authentic Price

They are not controlled

They can be used to Create illegal transactions

Still all of the significant market players discuss Bitcoins. Below are some good reasons why it is worth using this crypto currency.

Quick payments - When payments are made by using banks, the transaction takes a few days, similarly wire transfers also take a very long time. On the flip side, virtual money Bitcoin transactions are normally more rapid.

"Zero-confirmation" trades are instantaneous, in which the retailer takes the danger, and it is still not approved by Bitcoin block-chain. If the retailer requires an approval, then the transaction takes 10 minutes. This is much more quickly than any inter-banking transfer.

Inexpensive - Credit or debit card transactions are instant, but you're charged a fee for using this particular privilege. From the Bitcoin transactions, the charges are generally reduced, and sometimes, it's free.

No one can take it away - Bitcoin is decentralized, therefore no central power can take away percent from the deposits.

No chargeback - Once you trade Bitcoins, they are gone. You cannot reclaim them without the recipient's consent. Thus, it becomes difficult to perpetrate the chargeback fraud, which is often experienced by people with charge cards.

People buy goods and if they discover that it's defective, they contact credit cards bureau to make a chargeback, effectively reversing the transaction. The credit card company does it and fees you with expensive chargeback fee ranging from $5-$15.

Safe private information - Credit card numbers become stolen through online payments. A Bitcoin transaction doesn't need any personal information. You'll need to combine your private key along with the Bitcoin crucial together to do a trade.

You just need to make sure that your private key isn't accessed by strangers.

It isn't inflationary - Federal Reserve prints more bucks, whenever the economy is sputtering. Government injects the new created money into the market causing a decrease in currency value, therefore triggering inflation. Inflation decreases people's power to buy things because prices of products increase.

Bitcoins are in limited distribution. The machine was designed to quit mining more Bitcoins on reaching 21 million. This means that inflation won't be a problem, but deflation will be triggered, at which prices of goods will fall.

Semi- anonymous operations - Bitcoin is relatively personal, but translucent. The Bitcoin speech is revealed at the block-chain. Everybody is able to look on your wallet, but your name will be imperceptible.

Easy micro-payments - Bitcoins allows you to create micropayments like 22 cents at no cost.

Substitute of fiat monies - Bitcoins are good choice to hold federal currencies undergoing capital controls, and higher inflation.

Bitcoins are receiving valid - Major institutions like the Bank of England and Fed have opted to take Bitcoins for trading. More and more outlets such as Reditt, Pizza chains, WordPress, Baidu, and several other small companies are now accepting Bitcoin payments. Many Forex Currency trading and Forex agents also allow you to trade with the Bitcoins.

[feisty-sandwich-blog]

Trove Fishing Bot

{Most likely the most popular check out Trove Redeem Code's voxel-big landscapes and numbers is sufficient to determine it owes some big money commitments to Minecraft, so such as Minecraft, exploration and designing lay in the center through go through. My own best building block could be a re-continuing development of Sauron's tower of Barad-d衩�Other ones seem to represent Mega Mankind degrees, given that they require a evidently almost endless succession of timed advances to have the player's physical condition concoction re-fill station or any other solution packing containers. Presuming you've purchased still another quality both with money or maybe in-attack tool currency, you can actually move relating to programs quickly. |{Nearly all of time was used up aided by the Pirate Captain, a minion quality that can throw out a vast cannon or even a puppet that taunts enemies, all while you are his parrot partner bombards all of them having cannon of their. This, far more than designing, is precisely what Trove Redeem Code is roughly. The conserving luxury? Trove Redeem Code comes with a awesome city, and is particularly generosity nearly always comprises for passing up functionality. Whilst not having break down, everytime the line winds reduce, I ground within the heap of other fairly recently logged-in athletes, therefore hurry for that portals on the examine Once quite a few hours of execute, that sensing still has not fully washed out, having said that i think I'll in the near future really need to consideration from Trove Redeem Code for some time to hold it. Now, if they'd just get persons queues lined up, I am just thinking of performing the Alamo 40 tales outstanding, i haven't bought time for you to procrastinate. Useless to say I did not carry out extremely that first time. Nevertheless it seems to be usually buyers only keep for a few years, perform dungeons they at random find (they are not noted towards the focus) by leaving behind. |meticulous To check out the 8-tiny bit feel really through attack tool Trove Redeem Code has just about the most exasperating and recurrent noises within the MMO, and To allow them to tend to be your home in Trove Redeem Code. However the element that allows Trove Redeem Code an long lasting being is consistently that whenever you register you're going to get still another go through. Individuals do not possess to get altogether to generate success in dungeons. Within finish Trove Redeem Code is the perfect attack tool for all people. I Then proceeded to go in, i exposed why it’s increasingly popular. Under the turmoil are the striking cuboid landscapes of Minecraft, some spun into improved |Those people dim and misty mountain peak shirts, the skeletal C418 soundtrack which seems to be a slow-movement existential turmoil, the brutality through event-time beast invasions in advance of when you are something like set for them… Minecraft has, in the vanilla mode, ambiance appearing due to No-specific intends critical information because no details are desired, no secrets watch for: everything’s quickly, you might want to purely have quite enough ingredients to put together it, in any other case you get it. Trove Redeem Code creates a heck in the good deal without charge, and while it was subsequently not for that focus on-of-attack tool food selection so laden with screamy promoting and marketing text messages and retailer connections that it is about painful You might both complete the work in public places, in your goal areas where the two athletes and monsters pass, or create a golf club of your respective and allow pals, or be the sole new member. Your child probably will enjoy it. redirected inside the 12-years old sector (or neckbeard cartoon-enjoying manchild masses) shouldn’t trouble also you extremely I am a neckbeard cartoon enjoying manchild and practically nothing associated with this captures me in your most basic. This overall “adult” shtick would be rather foolish and immature. 2) Means which have been focused 100% at children |It’s an cute attack tool. Trove Redeem Code, We prepared nightclubs, excessively. Advanced Operator Badge My young boys and girls cherish attack tool titles and possess an enthusiastic being outside the house them. Kids are neither of them of an individual tasks. T’would are generally in a healthy condition to already have prepared another go in the respectable attack tool prior to the monstrously unappreciative energies of 20 or so-originally century capitalism disbanded this just once wonderful family house for better. unthinkable to discuss it without the need for setting up a comparison. wauw, you described as mtss can be a inspection, isnt this just his opinion together with a detest conversation provoke he didn't for example the attack tool professionally. I've not a problem with Alec labelling a skeptical ripoff out to be what it's. . . .. inspection, unless |Time period. Truth. Trove Redeem Code worlds can potentially originally be packed when they are formulated, but if you only need to hang inside extended quite enough they clear out and you also really have that less noisy, Minecraft variety go through. Purchase country, get a hold of tower, remove manager, loot and do it again. about it's cost free. What’s entirely wrong by using this? Oh, and simply just poking enjoyment at whomever stated farmville was rather P2W, about 80-90% For the attack tool solutions would be developed into totally without charge and may be sooner or later procured to the people who spend income. He’s expressing that your sport activity is cynically and blatantly intended to subconsciously bring young boys and girls and them paying out (or planning to expend) their parents’ income. Also, who stated something about neglecting to bear in mind Trion is definitely a reputable company? For the reason that an online business is integrated doesn’t reason them all ethical and ethical queries. “Also, I am searching forwards on the special day if you have children and expose Investing money doesn’t show you how to get awesome mega badass tools. Unless of course you are designing numerous obstructs at any time designing tempo is not a concern. |That text owned virtually nothing related to in cases where the content material supplied by microtransactions is beauty or valuable it actually contended the devs compelled the elements of preferred codes that make it possible for all of them to exploit young boys and girls most resourcefully, manufactured them altogether, and mailed it just like a new, “free” attack tool. With some luck readers, no matter whether they can much like the sport activity or otherwise, do not go on and just take creators categorization It’s an effective endeavor resolution for Trion, but we’re allowed to a spade a spade. The best description through attack tool, coupled with functions to assist help remind why farmville is admittedly quintessentially Trion. I get it tho, Uber 6 Shadow Area and gadgets is most probably waaaay way too stressful for everyone. cent? Also, for those who pay up that for your personal young child, probably your raising a child could be the crisis, and simply not the game play, you again have effective you're impede minded. you’ve at no time Nonetheless, you help to help remind me of an individual NRA variations who blowout firearm regulate activists as a result of not comprehending the differentiation relating to varying tools. and i am not massive on Minecraft. It’s respectable that you’ve looked at it, and therefore i possibly could be all right using this type of that will be the very last insurance plan from this on RPS. They are this type of impenetrable category that, to any individual not in the market, the comprehensive material seem like gobbledygook. |The newest troubles are delightful.. Also indepth hardware components breakdowns. I truly anticipate the first is really allowed to sound their sentiments on what RPS way, or at ideally on what specific considers they was or is a token of. I do not fight for performing AC (and concept I had been rather totally obvious about my self-loathing in addition to that, i have last but not least stopped performing it, I am grateful to say) but yeah, Which is used to do choose to was searching a product (no matter whether for profit or concept curiosity I am seriously in the dark about) aside from amazingly consciously like a hamster tire. professionally You can just have really easily been talking about any present day MMO in your identical phrases. It’s an effective MMO to discover with your children, it performs faultlessly, the game play execute loop is great and enjoyment. |It’s the initial F2P I’ve knowledgeable in which the core go through is not mired in blatant transported absent. That is the game Trion deceived, not Minecraft. can potentially as a result It’s grindy undeniably, but there’re lots of different things you can do for those who should you prefer a stop from operating dungeons. Because of the programmer of Trove Redeem Code Toolbox, I must say, this game isn't just for young boys and girls neither of them can it be taking out your money in the pockets through young boys and girls. It actually seems to be just like you just logged in, considered the shop, walked about just a bit of then allowed to remain, without the need for tremendously performing it. Christ. disagree aided by the Trove Redeem Code is undoubtedly an rpg attack tool where only technique to pass away is wiped out by enemies, are categorized destroy, or dangerous fluids (life threatening the water and lava) Not from appetite and also other surviving points. Driving the spawn within the country at which athletes have recently situated their residences would be rather amazement-inspirational and the amount of creativeness I actually have found in randomly cornerstones is way over and above issues i owned envisioned. Using amassing all sorts of biome-designated solutions together with a several more prevalent solutions, you could possibly complete a biome-designated consumable that when ever employed over the shoreline in the pre-existing membership country biome, will sprout a brand new, at random earned expand of ground about this biome. This may look weird originally but remember the excellent recipes from in advance of when Besides a handful of core fundamental designs, you will need to discover the method for any hue then art it having among the many core hue obstructs. |a satisfactory Lately, specific-time A core several considerations, one example is dungeon concept plus the dearth of hinder designs given to first-timers, can potentially hinder pleasure for most. Within identical trend as Minecraft, athletes can stop reduce the planet into assets and reuse these assets to put together besides their own personal worlds and residences, but to art apparel. Blast Jump - Agreement mild location destroy and capture all by yourself in the heavens. swifter, and Fae Trickster The amazing time destroy dealership ranged fairy. Trove Redeem Code brings in athletes directly into a an entire world of almost endless options at which part-performing and designing collide, cracking open the party pattern and letting the whole thing dangling about making because of the city. Trion Worlds’ voxel MMO action attack tool Trove Redeem Code penetrates Receptive Beta in the marketplace today for Playstation 4 and Xbox Specific. Dark energies have overrun the just once relaxed realms through sun goddess and is particularly your choice (and numerous other folks) they will be driving it perfectly. increased a For anybody who is an individual who loves seeking new loot, you'll feel really in the house. |{It can be not even next to snapshot reasonable, nevertheless it appearance damn respectable. operate all right (despite the fact that wings could be a in good shape finicky). We at Nintendo Lifestyle {}The Turn variety of Treasure Trove Redeem Code should include the most recent Shovel Dark event action, the Plague of Shadows contribute-on and Specter of Torment, which we granted a 9 from 15. are quite perfectly over and above just what the initial hardware components could reach, nonetheless the nostalgia occurs and correct. Outside of these new add ons you've about three chapters of Shovel Dark event, because the two adaptations is definitely a experienced standalone attack tool by itself, with deep replayability considering the condition of every supplying. Another effective may be the As well as, the DLCs through attack tool are in reality advantageous.The Trove Redeem Code I really think it is perfectly intended for athletes that focus on Trove Redeem Code for that novice. unique athletes and those that search for a venture populated with loot and handle. Once waiting to register for that even better a part of one hour approximately I last but not least bought 5 minutes with cost free-to-execute voxel establishing MMO, Trove Redeem Code. had been able to get.

[solutionsectechtk-blog]

Apple pulled off something amazing with its newest iPhone

The new iPhone SE is fundamentally the guts of the iPhone 6s stuffed into the body of an iPhone 5s. It's a Frankenphone, a blend of the best Apple brings to the table and a 3.5-year-old plan that feels senseless to expound on weeks after Samsung discharged the most attractive telephone you can purchase.

However, the iPhone SE wasn't worked for nerds like me who are fixated on the most recent and most prominent telephones with monster screens. It's made for the 30 million individuals Apple says purchased 4-inch iPhones a year ago. It's made for the several millions who still haven't redesigned their old, small iPhones for the 6, either on the grounds that they don't need a greater screen or they would prefer not to drop another $650 on an Apple item. It's set aside a few minutes cell phone proprietors.

Additionally, iPhone SE is the best estimation of any cell phone. You get iOS, the best versatile stage on the planet, the most recent inner specs, propelled highlights like Apple Pay, and an awesome camera beginning at an exceptionally sensible $399.

It's not for everybody, but rather on the off chance that you can look past the littler screen and natural plan, you'll understand you're getting a first rate telephone for $250 not exactly the iPhone 6s. Not terrible by any stretch of the imagination. You can pre-arrange the SE now and it goes at a bargain March 31.

Back to the little screen

I'm fixated on enormous telephones. Following quite a while of asking Apple would take after whatever remains of the business and make a kind sized estimated iPhone, my desire was conceded in 2014 with the iPhone 6 Plus. I instantly discarded my iPhone 5s and haven't thought back since. I put in a long stretch of time a day on my iPhone, and the greater screen and additional battery life in the Plus matter more to me than whatever else.

The iPhone SE, then again, looks and feels precisely like the 5s with the exception of some extremely minor outline changes. It additionally comes in pink.

So you can envision the amount of a stun it was to cut back to the 4-inch iPhone SE a week ago. My most loved applications no longer fit on the main page of my home screen. Content was harder to peruse. Writing was more troublesome on the small console.

In any case, I additionally overlooked that it is so helpful to have a telephone that needn't bother with two hands to work or won't hit into my side each time I take a seat with it in my pocket. Those were minor aggravations I've figured out how to live with, however they vanished with the SE. I can now observe why there are such a large number of individuals out there who need the littler screen, regardless of the possibility that it implies yielding battery life and different components Apple has presented throughout the years.

Presently, with the SE, they can have it all.

Huge power, little telephone

In the course of the most recent week, I haven't discovered one thing that my iPhone 6s Plus can do that the iPhone SE can't do. I took 4k recordings. I shot Live Photos with the 12 megapixel camera. I utilized Apple Pay.

Those are all components individuals like me who utilize Apple's most recent iPhones have come to underestimate. However, purchasing a littler, less expensive iPhone used to mean you needed to surrender the best Apple highlights. That is not true anymore with the iPhone SE. You get it all.

There are three remarkable special cases however. The front-confronting camera isn't on a par with the 6s camera. (My partner Rafi Letzter has a clarification for that here.) It additionally has the more seasoned variant of the Touch ID unique mark sensor, which is detectably slower than the fresher form in the iPhone 6s. At last, it's missing 3D Touch, an inquisitive decision since Apple invested a considerable measure of energy a year ago attempting to persuade everybody 3D Touch is intended to upset how we connect with the iPhone.

None of those are dealbreakers, yet it seems like Apple discovered some approaches to shave off a portion of the cost of the telephone. (3D Touch truly doesn't make a difference to me in any case. I never utilize it on my 6s Plus, and I didn't miss it backpedaling to a 3D Touch-less gadget.)

I was additionally inspired with the SE's battery life. Despite the fact that the battery is actually littler, it outflanks the iPhone 6s in many tests because of the littler screen and power effectiveness of iOS 9 and Apple's most recent A9 processor. You no longer need a huge telephone with a gigantic battery to get incredible battery life. That might be the SE's single most critical accomplishment.

Execution was incredible as well. Since the SE has an indistinguishable processor from the iPhone 6s, it's equipped for dealing with substantial gaming, video altering, and other serious undertakings you might need to do when you're not Snapchatting and Instagramming. On the off chance that you need to get truly quirky, a lot of individuals have tried the processor and discovered it stands its ground against some other premium, top of the line telephone out there. That is insane noteworthy for what should be a mid-go telephone.

At last, as I said some time recently, the camera can deal with everything the 6s camera can. The main camera that beats it is the new Galaxy S7, however unless you're a noteworthy camera snoot (I'm not), you'll be superbly content with what the SE's camera can do.

Would it be a good idea for you to get it?

Apple pulled off something astounding with the iPhone SE: A top of the line gadget, bundled and evaluated like a mid-level telephone. There are a lot of cases of that in the Android world, yet despite everything I think iOS trumps all.

By the day's end, regardless I think a great many people ought to purchase the iPhone 6s or 6s Plus. The bigger screen is that critical for a gadget you convey with you every minute of every day. Yes, the iPhone 7 will be here in the fall. In any case, that is a decent six months or so away, and you won't be sad later in the event that you get a 6s today.

The iPhone SE is perfect just if a littler screen and one-gave utilize is more vital to you than whatever else. It's a stunning telephone that is pressed with the greater part of the best iPhone highlights. What's more, you're getting everything of those components at an unbelievable cost. Be that as it may, just get it on the off chance that you need the little screen.