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hintsofhoney · 3 years

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alright, *cracks fingers*. so. I’ve written up a transcript just to lay it all out for myself and get the most important parts. listen, everyone. for all intents and purposes and legal reasons, THIS WAS A DREAM. alright? I dreamt this. and he is literally the nicest human being ever so I don’t want to just like... put our whole convo out there like that, but I think he said some stuff that was important for people to hear so... here we go

my *dreamt* zoom call with thee crowley below the cut

The first five minutes (of my dream) was just a bunch of introduction stuff and talking about my favorite Supernatural seasons which eventually led to him telling me how they filmed the Season 8 finale (which they did over the span of three days, and in between takes the crew members were like dead silent, as to keep the moment going, which Mark thought was really cool. Said it was one of his favorite things they did on Supernatural.) Anyways, he eventually asked me if I had any questions, so, I’ll start there.

MARK: So, do you have any questions you want to ask me about aaaaaannyyyythingggg?

ME: Um, I guess the number one thing I wanna know… um, so, I know you can’t speak for Dean and I don’t want to talk about Dean because you’re not Jensen, but, there’s like a lot of questions I guess or subtext or whatever concerning Dean’s sexuality and what not, but I want to know about demon Dean and Crowley’s relationship and if there was, I don’t know, anything like, any implied –

MARK: Well I think – I think you’re talking about… there’s a massive difference between sex and love. There’s a massive difference between, um, well, they can intertwine perfectly, that’s not the issue, but I mean you would believe with all the things that Crowley did for the Winchesters, that he was – that he very much loved Sam and Dean or loved who they are or what they are. To reduce it to, you know, a crush, or to something that – I mean, I don’t know, I think Crowley is very probably pansexual more than anything else; I don’t think anything phased him. I think, that’s why the whole stuff with Lucifer and licking the floor was kind of really stupidly boring for me because Crowley did weirder and crazier things on his own. I mean, it became this joke of trying to humiliate somebody who can’t be humiliated. There’s nothing you can humiliate Crowley with. So, that never sort of made sense, that was just a sort of writer’s glitch of thinking, “oooh, this would be funny to knock him down into subservience” and that’s what he does on a Wednesday, I mean it’s like the most un-inspiring thing. I think so much is projected onto the relationship between, certainly the four main characters, um, and, you know, look, getting comfortable with one’s sexuality and one’s identity is a massively complicated things, and if you want to live vicariously through what you believe people’s identity is and you can relate to that, great! Who cares? I mean, can I be absolutely honest? Apart from – what I do care about, you know, don’t ever take this and piece me or misquote it, because it’s very, very specific – um, somebody stopping somebody being able to express their own identity or whatever is an issue for me. That will always be an issue for me. Um, we should all be treated equally, and we all have the rights to believe and follow those things that we wish to follow, but to project relationships onto characters is an odd thing to do. I mean, it’s wishful thinking in a lot of ways, I mean, actually it’s quite… it’s quite reasonable because in the past if you think about it, if you ask your parents or anyone else, the only way sexuality was used was to, uh, literally demonize somebody. It was only ever used to say somebody was bad because this who they’re in love with. You know, that’s, that’s the thing. And it’s a massive change in the world that we’re moving towards, I should say, uh – a lack of consequence for who one loves, apart from the obvious consequences of human nature. You know, political consequences for who one loves – I’ve just watched Pete Butteigieg being, you know, sitting in congress with his husband there with him; that’s the first time that’s ever happened in United States congress and I’m so proud of that. Not just because the man is gay and happily married – that’s not even the issue for me, it’s because he’s the best man for the job and one of the smartest people on the planet. You know, it’s like using sexual templates, as they were, or gender templates as they are, or orientation templates as they are, we always use to disclude people from things. They were always used to discriminate. You know, labeling somebody was a way of discrimination. And where as labels are very important, to ones self, and they’re very important politically and they’re very important socio-economically and they’re very important in all those aspects, I yearn for a time when nobody gives a damn. I really do. But I mean, we have to go through so much to get there. I mean, let’s be honest, you can’t, you know, right the wrongs of hundreds of years of oppression in 20 minutes by saying, “let’s all move forward”. It just doesn’t work that way, it never has. But there’s a responsibility there, that if you’re going to represent, that you represent all. That you don’t just represent you. So, one has to be careful with a television program or, or, you know, Misha or myself, or, not speaking for the boys, but just generally, um, you have to be careful that what you advocate is inclusive, not disinclusive. Not excluding people... and it’s so hard to frame these conversations, that they’re equitable, it’s so hard to do that. And so, you know, we spend years pointing out the inequity and the injustice and the unfairness of the whole situation, and… I don’t know if the trick is to rise above, or, uh, maybe it’s as simple as love and coming together as a human race and make it very difficult for people to discriminate and exclude based on gender, race, color, religion, any of the subsets of humanity that we’ve decided we have. So, I think personal responsibility is the most important thing, but if one is in a position of power on a TV show, you got to remember what you’re representing, that you have a, you know, you have to cover all or cover none. So, you know, but if you stick to a story and you have a story about a person or two people and their journey, that’s shining light on things. If you try to advocate for all, I think it becomes a little more complicated. Does that make sense?

so, i just feel like he said some important things there, but like I also don’t really understand what he’s getting at really, y’know? oh! also, he didn’t watch the finale lmao

also! there’s this:

MARK: Because if you come down on one side or another, you’re admitting the sides, and that has its own political ramifications. If you push the ball up in the air and say, “you decide”, I don’t think that’s copping out. I think that’s, maybe not fulfilling everybody’s expectations, or not fulfilling everybody’s hopes, but at least you’re getting the question asked. You know, at least you’re getting the question asked. At least people are relating to it and going, “well, what if?”. Because it’s all “what if”, I mean, it’s a TV show, so it’s “what if”, you know? It’s not Misha being in love with Jensen, I mean as much as he loves Jensen, I don’t think that’s his thing – I mean you never know – but I’m saying yet again, I don’t exclude anything from anybody (I LITERALLY CAN’T BELIEVE HE SAID THIS LMAO). But to force my opinion or my identity belief upon a situation has a cost. It may be right, it may be absolutely right, and it may be necessary in many, many cases. But, in that circumstance, I think… there are a lot of people in the world that say that Jesus, for example, was anti-homosexual and that he was – and none of that is true, and none of that is provable in the New Testament, and I’m not talking about Leviticus and I’m not talking about early Bible and I’m not talking about the fact that more than 25,000 words have been changed in the King James edition and all of this stuff, but these things that people hold so sacred, the confusion that arises from that is being told that a man loving a man or a woman loving a woman or a man loving a man and a woman or whatever combination being there is either right or wrong because you’re being told by a pastor or the leaders of your church, is a very difficult thing to break down. I think what you have to do is at least put it out there so it’s visible, and so it becomes less and less deniable. And you know, people change over years, that’s the trouble with youth, is shit doesn’t move fast enough. “I need a decision now!”, and unfortunately, when you’re dealing with centuries of prejudice and centuries of un-enlightenment, I think that sometimes the best thing to do is reach as many people as possible and pose the question. And sometimes it’s essential to make a statement, absolutely, no question. It is essential to make a stand, in some circumstances. But to polarize a TV show, can be very disingenuous to those who need to go ask their own questions, who need to go say, “well, where does Jesus say this is wrong?” you know, if that’s your beliefs.

he also said, when we went off on a tangent about doom patrol:

MARK: There are issues that are being addressed here [on Doom Patrol] that are not being addressed on other shows, and yet again, we have the format, and I don’t know that Supernatural ever had the format because it was on the CW.

anywho, in conclusion, fuck the cw.

also, again, for all intents and purposes this was a dream I had :)))))))

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interact-if · 3 years

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I’m sending this in because it seems like I could get good opinions from not only you but also the people who follow you. I have an idea for an IF, and I’m very excited for the story. My question is, would people be offended if I made the playable MC physically female that identifies as female and all the ROs physically male that identify as male? I have seen some out there that are strictly M/M or F/F, and I’m so happy they exist because I feel that population is underserved. I just feel, not having the experience, I could bring justice to writing LGBTQ+ (and I don’t want to offend anyone in that community by writing something incorrect), mostly when it comes to sex (which I plan on including in my game). I support games that have those relationships in them and admire them, even play those games, and I don’t care who plays my game. The more the merrier! I still want the characters to be diverse. One of them will be of a descent that is based on Japanese culture and many others, based on Persian culture. I also want the playable MC to have any skin tone/features the player wants. I just want to know if this…will have people coming after me? I want to tell my story, but I don’t want to be attacked for it, if that makes sense?

I really don’t mean to offend anyone. I just don’t want to cause trouble, and I just want to respectfully ask for people’s opinions on this.

Hello! So, before diving into our response, we’d like to emphasize that we are but five individuals running a blog devoted to interactive fiction. We are neither the end-all-be-all voice on this matter nor necessarily a representative mouthpiece for the community.

First off, you can write whatever you would like to write; as the author, you have absolute control over what you produce, so nobody is going to stop you from writing what you want to write. It’s also important to write what you enjoy.

That said, the community is, in our experience, very inclusive, and largely devoted to providing a space for the queer community. We can understand the desire to have an appropriately inclusive and diverse game, and why you particularly want to turn to characters of color to bridge the gap; however, substituting characters of color for queer characters to claim diversity in a project is possibly something that will receive the wrong kind of attention. Furthermore, assuming that writing characters of color well is any less complex than writing queer characters potentially suggests that said characters could end up underdeveloped or tokenized. (See Nines' and Roast’s response below for more context)

All of that doesn’t mean you can’t make a game that’s genderlocked and restricted to M/F romance, and I don’t think anyone will be offended by such a game, but it might limit your audience. At the same time, there are (many) other visual novels that have this format, so it’s not something unheard of. As far as CoGs and text-based games go, as far as we’ve seen, they are rarely genderlocked unless for plot reasons, etc.

There is also a chance that you may receive feedback requesting that the MC be un-gender locked, or for additional ROs to be added of different gender, or for the ROs to be made gender selectable. These requests may be gentle, insistent, kind, or aggressive, and they may only occur at the beginning of your work, or may occur throughout your game development. Maybe they’ll never happen at all. It’s impossible to predict the future, but in our experience, we have often seen this occur to games in the past with RO gender imbalances, locks, etc.

As for searching for feedback, if you’re looking for feedback but you’re not pursuing the CoG format, may we suggest the Reddit subforum? It’s a little difficult for you to get the feedback/dialogue going here that you’d likely like to get, so Reddit’s format may be more conducive to your needs.

In the meanwhile, those who would like to provide their thoughts are encouraged to respond in the comments of this post. Please remember to be polite with your discussion!

— — —

The above is our general mod response; a few of us wanted to offer some individual thoughts as well, and those can be found below. These are personal opinions and reflect each individual mod’s thoughts, rather than a collective response.

While it can be a little daunting to write about something you’re not familiar with, writing often broaches topics with which we don’t personally have first-hand experience. Additionally, queer relationships are ultimately still relationships between people—they’re not all that different from heterosexual relationships. If you’re worried about the way you’re portraying your content, that’s something well-curated beta readers/testers (from the population you’re trying to represent) can help test for, and give feedback on. And on top of all of the above, that’s not to mention the potential issues associated with substituting in POC to replace queer people, which is perhaps not what your intention is, but is what it feels like your intention is (see Roast and Nines for all the ins and outs on why this is an issue). Ultimately, I stand by the opinion that on the most basic level, most will not be offended by a game that’s about a straight, cisgender female MC—yet some, or even many, may be off-put by such a game. I know I, personally, am. (P. S. Also consider that the MC has to interact with the other ROs that she isn’t romancing, as friends, enemies, acquaintances, what have you—having selectable ROs, for example, also allows the player to “diversify” their acquaintance group, if they so wish.) — Dani

I understand that this ask is coming from well-meaning intent but I would just like to state that writing characters of color is not easier than writing queer characters. One of them isn't a substitute for the other. Writing characters of color and writing queer characters are separate matters entirely, and both come with its own difficulties. Wanting your characters to be diverse, while admittedly lacking the perspective to back such identities, is still a murky water to navigate.

Personally speaking, and I really do have to be transparent about this, the way certain sentences were phrased in this ask rubbed me the wrong way. Still, I understand that this isn't malicious, just someone who is asking for guidance, which is something I can't fault. We all have to start somewhere, you know? That being said, if you really want to write diverse characters, my general advice is to do research. Lots and lots and lots of research. No author is exempt from that, honestly.

Find helpful articles, journals, studies, video essays, etc. to aid you in writing your characters. If you still feel like that's lacking in some way, which is a valid concern, being open to feedback from the appropriate people is also a good way to improve. The integrity of a project is important, but so is reasonable criticism against, for, or about it. Keep an open mind, educate yourself, and don't be afraid to ask for help or clarification should it be needed. — Nines

Nines says it well that queer people and poc are not interchangeable nor any 'easier' than the other. The fact that you're willing to do research and include characters of color yet not include queer characters tells me that you're afraid yet misconstruing how much effort actually gets put into cultural research.

There is a 'purity culture' that goes around tumblr that claims that diverse characters have to be perfect, have to have no flaws, cannot die, cannot have trauma, cannot face adversity, they must be perfect and good and happy.

I think this is bullshit.

I also think the backlash from this 'purity culture' community is what is creating so much fear in authors (including queer authors!!) in making characters with different backgrounds and identities than their own. In making queer characters with flaws and tragedy and negative characteristics.

If we only ever wrote what we knew, what we've personally experienced, fiction would be a very boring world.

Being afraid of representing a community wrong is a valid fear, but it shouldn't stop you from trying. You can write what you want to write, but it shouldn't be limited by fear.

Do your research. Get sensitivity readers. Be open to feedback. Be willing to be afraid, but do it anyway.

If, in the end, you decide to gender lock, make it an informed decision at the very least, and if you are including characters of color, know that that is a heavy amount of research too, and should be handled with the same care as what we've said on queer characters.

And like we've said before, we are not the voice of the community, we cannot give you permission or our blessing or flawless feedback, we are just five people running a blog. — Roast

Alright this was already mentioned a bit before but I wish to add my two cents: M/F relationships are the norm anywhere else in real life, and if you feel like there's no space for you and your relationships in a mostly-queer community then you might want to recheck if this is the community you wish to have as your target audience.

No one's going to be offended if your story is cishet, as we said, but you are extremely reducing your audience by doing such. The appeal of interactive fiction is that a good bunch of us have played female-mc-straight-love-interest visual novels in the past, having to endure being misgendered or romancing people we might not be attracted to.

The current interactive fiction community we're trying to promote has opened a million doors for everyone to explore themselves, so don't be surprised if your story, no matter how good, is ignored due to this aspect. Most of us have no interest in being forced to play as something we're not.

Again, we cannot tell you what you can or cannot do. We don't speak for the community, we speak for ourselves and for this blog. Maybe every comment we've made was incorrect and your game turns out to be successful, really, but it's what we believe you should keep in mind. — Cruz

Honestly, I don’t have much to add since everyone here mentioned and discussed important facets of this ask! At the end of the day, we are not a group who can or will ever dictate what you can or cannot write. That is not the purpose of the blog or the reason why we’re working as hard as we are.

There have always been games with this specific set of characteristics: gender locked MCs and/or ROs. Some people may enjoy it, others may not, for whatever reason.

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee anything in terms of how people will respond to a game, because people will react to content differently. All we can do is offer our perspective and the potential things that may happen in the future based on the experience the lovely devs above have had. (fellow interact-if mods, my beloved ❤️)

It’s always admirable for people to reach out when they’re unsure, and I’m sure there are infinitely more opinions that vary or are similar to the ones in this response. But there you have it, some of our thoughts!

Goodluck with your project! — Mars

#interact-if asks #anonymous #long post

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rhinkthreeways · 4 years

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“You have no idea how much I want you right now.” (Smutty Version)

The heat had been building all day, and the skies were so thick with moisture, it felt inevitable they’d burst.

Rhett and Link cooled their sweltering bodies in the Cape Fear, as they had since they were kids.

Link was overheating from more than the weather as he watched Rhett’s form disappear beneath the surface of the river. He envied the water as it clung to every inch of him with less than surface tension between them.

It was nearing sunset, and even the sun burying itself incrementally behind the canopy of trees did nothing for the humidity.

Rhett and Link were in college now and didn’t have curfews. But the rain intruded upon their good time like parents telling them it was time to go home - with increasing insistence as it began pelting down, rippling the surface of the water like it was boiling.

The whimsy continued to shift toward seriousness as thunder scolded them. They didn’t see lightning, but they didn’t need to wait around for it to make an appearance.

They had entered and therefore exited the water in their undershorts; grabbing their rain-soaked clothes and bolting for the shelter of the forest.

“We’ll be dry under here.” Rhett’s explanation was hardly necessary, but when had that ever stopped him? “The rain won’t be able to break through the cover of the leaves.”

Link couldn’t help himself bursting into laughter.

“What’s so funny?”

“Dude! We’re drenched. Nearly nude! Holding our wet clothes, huddling under the trees for protection from what? We can’t get any wetter. It’s ridiculous!”

Rhett joined him doubling over in hysterics, and Link thought it was the best thing he’d ever heard. People told Link he was funny, but the only reason he bothered was to hear that sound…

When Link paused to catch his breath, his eyes went wide as he caught more than air between his lips.

“I’m sorry,” Rhett exhaled harshly, drawing his lips back.

“You should be. For stopping.”

Rhett kissed him again, with intention behind it beyond experimenting with if Link was gonna tell him he’d crossed a line.

He pulled Link by his rain-slicked shoulders into his arms and kissed him with the full force of his need.

Link pulled Rhett down onto the blanket of leaves; the soundtrack of the rain against the treetops the only sound that penetrated their isolated bubble of existence.

Link encouraged Rhett’s hands to be everywhere. Soon they’d peeled out of their wet underwear; nothing between them and the leaves.

Rhett’s fingers probed lower, and Link’s breath hitched with excitement that Rhett mistook for hesitation.

Rhett withdrew his hand, but Link held it there.

“Link. If this is not what you want. I would never. Never. Try to make you.”

“Wow. People think I’m clueless...” There was no mocking in Link’s voice as he stated honest facts: “You have no idea how much I want you right now. How much I’ve always wanted you. Wanted this.”

The sincerity of Link’s words melted into Rhett’s ears. And Rhett’s fingers melted into Link. Rhett tried to work his fingers smoothly inside of him, but the rainwater between them dissipated quickly with the heat of their friction.

Yet for Link, to be feeling Rhett inside of him at all was a dream come true on its own, and the endorphins going to his head left him with no inhibitions preventing him letting Rhett know he wanted more.

“I… yeah, man. I want to. But… we don’t have anything to like. Lubricate things? I just. I want it to be good for you.”

“Please, Rhett,” Link whined.

Rhett was visibly flustered. “I want that more than anything. But I wanna do it right.”

“I need you, Rhett. I need to feel you inside me.”

“I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“Maybe you’re giving yourself too much credit,” Link snarked.

“Oh, you really are asking for me to rip you in half?”

“I’d like to see you try.” Link’s eyebrows bounced over his sparkling blue eyes.

All teasing was gone as Rhett gathered as much spit and rainwater as he could, for all the good it would do, and slowly pressed the head of his cock past Link’s hole.

“Tell me if I need to stop.”

Link shook his head, gritting his teeth but refusing to close his eyes. Link knew he wouldn’t get off like this, not today. Rhett probably wouldn’t either. But that wasn’t what they needed right now. For now, the stretch of his body as it made room for Rhett felt cathartic. They always found space for each other. This was just another manifestation of that tendency.

Rhett didn’t thrust. He gently rocked his hips, generating the slightest friction, trembling to keep his body upright over Link.

Link always imagined that when this happened, it would feel like the rest of the world had fallen away, until there was nothing left but him and Rhett. But now that the moment had arrived, it felt different. This wasn’t exclusive; it was inclusive and universal. Link felt more ‘Good’, more perfect and one with all things, in ways he’d always prayed for but never found searching his soul or the walls of their childhood church where the answers were supposed to be written.

Link felt Rhett carefully withdraw, and he immediately missed that feeling of completeness. He was distracted by the emptiness as Rhett’s warm mouth wrapped around his cock and made Link’s body shudder the mess of wet leaves and stones, and erupt onto his own belly.

Link’s hazy vision focused on Rhett using the come he’d coaxed from Link’s spent cock to slick up his own and quickly jerk himself off before collapsing next to Link.

“I don’t care how far we have to go,” Rhett told him. “We’ll make an excuse and we’ll drive until nobody’s ever heard of us. We’ll get a hotel and I’m gonna fuck you thoroughly. Once we have the right… supplies, I’m gonna fuck you like you deserve.”

#rhink #rhink fic #rtw: smut #writer: likeaswitchinheat #prompt: you have no idea how much I want you right now #lemon

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ears-awake-eyes-opened · 4 years

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Valentines in Tibet: Celebrity is as celebrity does

(Newtina ❤️. Thanks @possibility-for-joy for the dialogue prompt, which inspired me to revisit Chamber of Secrets which was a muse for this one-shot. Writing this has been something different for me — fun and hopefully not too contrived. Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone.)

***

February 14, 1990; International Task Force Headquarters in Tibet; International Confederation of Wizards Summit regarding prevention of Muggle sightings of Yetis

***

“Orchideous,” with a whisper, Newt conjured a tiny flower in Tina’s palm.

“It’s beautiful.” She breathed in the flower’s fragrance and filled his hand with hers. For more than sixty years she’d been holding his hands. When their fingers entwined, it always felt like the first time.

“I appreciate you coming with me,” he continued to speak softly, “I recognize that the Tibetan Plateau is far removed from a typical February get-away.”

“When have we ever done anything typical? Besides, it would have been difficult to say no to a personal request from Albus.”

Years ago the professor invited the Scamanders to please use his given name. Tina took to it readily, but Newt still felt more comfortable with the age old formality of ‘Dumbledore.’

“Since the delegation is so small, he appointed someone to oversee the summit in his stead, but he wants us to keep an eye on Lockhart and make sure the Task Force receives accurate information.”

“Having read Lockhart’s books, I admit I’m curious to meet him,” Tina said, “Where is he anyway?”

“Perhaps waiting to make a grand entrance. Based on Skeeter’s reporting of him in the Daily Prophet, that seems his style.”

“You’re still reading that rubbish? I thought we were using Queenie’s subscription to line the Kneazles’ litter boxes.”

“You sound like me, Darling. I can’t seem to help myself. It’s like a train wreck — difficult to look at, yet more difficult to look away.”

Newt and Tina had already taken seats near the podium while most of the delegates and Task Force members milled about the room engaging in conversation. A fire burned in the hearth. The temperature outside was below freezing, and Newt’s bones ached a little. Some days he felt his age.

Tina caressed his palm as they waited. She felt so good, so good to him always.

The Acting Supreme Mugwump, Babajide Akingbade from Uganda, connected briefly with them on his way to the podium. “It’s wonderful to see you, Mr. Scamander, Mrs. Scamander. The Confederation is honored to have you travel so far to share your expertise.”

Newt reluctantly disengaged from the softness of his wife’s caress to shake Akingbade’s extended hand. “It’s good to see you too, sir. I’m happy to help.”

Akingbade greeted Tina with the same expression of gratitude.

“You received the agenda?” he asked them.

Just then, the door burst open, and Gilderoy Lockhart stepped inside with a flourish of his cloak. His personal photographer followed close on his heels.

“I apologize for my delay,” he announced to the room, flashing a broad vacant smile and extremely white teeth, “My publisher insisted I make a brief stop at the capital city to take photographs for inclusion in my upcoming autobiography... Magical Me.”

He paused for a moment to smooth his hair and adjust his lilac-colored ascot. Tina rolled her eyes. “Is this guy for real?” she whispered to Newt.

“I’m not sure yet.”

Akingbade greeted Lockhart and pointed him to his seat on the opposite side of the podium. Lockhart caught sight of Newt and Tina and approached, snapping his fingers, “Photographer! One with the Scamanders.”

Lockhart positioned himself behind Newt and Tina, and placed his hands on their shoulders. “Fellow heroes,” he spoke of Newt and Tina without actually saying hello. The camera flashed. “Fame is a fickle friend, ...unless you work at it, of course.”

He slapped them on the shoulders and winked at Tina. She feigned a cough to conceal emerging laughter. Newt watched with keen interest as Lockhart made his way to his seat.

“Everyone, please be seated,” Akingbade announced before diving into the Summit.

“Thank you all for being here. The Task Force has called our attention to Yeti activity which over the past year has become an increasing threat to Clause 73 of the Statute of Secrecy. In lieu of continuing to fine the region. the Confederation has responded by convening this meeting with two experts, Newt Scamander and Gilderoy Lockhart, who each have extensive experience observing and interacting with the Yeti. Our goal is to develop improved strategy for the Task Force to prevent the Yeti from revealing the Magical World. Our first speaker...”

Lockhart stepped up to the podium. “Allow me to introduce myself.”

The Acting Supreme Mugwump stepped aside.

“Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, honorary member of the Dark Force Defense League, inventor of Occamy egg yolk shampoo which guarantees locks of luminosity, and, thus far, three times winner of Witch Weekly’s Most-Charming-Smile Award. But I don’t talk about that. ...I didn’t tame a wild Yeti by smiling at him, now did I.”

He removed his cloak and tossed it into the audience. The witch who caught it blushed noticeably.

“We’re just going to listen to this idiot?” Tina muttered under her breath with fists clenched, “He uses unhatched Occamies to make shampoo?!”

“It appears we don’t have a choice right now but to listen.” Newt covered her hand with his and stroked her knuckles with his thumb. “It’ll be alright. It’ll be alright.”

Occamies had been in some respects the beginning of everything for them. An Occamy hatchling had been the first magical beast that Tina had ever held and looked at with wonder. She was very protective of them.

Lockhart continued, “Can everybody see me? Can you all hear me?” He glanced around the audience to ensure nobody’s view of him was obstructed. Nodding heads assured him.

“The books I’ve written detail my encounters with dark creatures and provide instructions on how to safely repel them: Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests, Break with a Banshee, Gadding with Ghouls, Holidays with Hags, Travels with Trolls, Voyages with Vampires, Wanderings with Werewolves, Marauding with Monsters, and Year with the Yeti. The latter may be most relevant to our task at hand, but I’m sure you’ll find the others thoroughly enjoyable. They can all be purchased through Flourish and Blotts.”

A wizard on the Task Force raised his hand and asked, “In your year with the Yeti, how did you tame them? They’ve been pushing at our borders. They devour everything that strays into their path, including Muggles. The only thing that’s been working to repel them is fire.”

“Well it was simple really. I gave them head colds, and they returned to their ice caves. For full details, see my published work.”

Realizing this discussion was going nowhere, Akingbade stepped up to the podium. “Thank you, Mr. Lockhart.” Several witches and a couple of wizards initiated a round of applause. Lockhart took a bow before returning to his seat.

“Now, Mr. Scamander, can you please offer us further enlightenment?” Akingbade asked.

Newt stepped to the podium. His silver hair reflected the firelight. How attraction could grow finer with time, Tina didn’t understand, but it was the case with them nonetheless. She loved to watch him work, in all of his capacities.

He looked at her before beginning his speech. Her eyes were reassuring, eternally reflective of the fire within her spirit, ageless in a world growing old.

“Hello. As we talk about the requirements of the Statue of Secrecy, we must not forget the primary intention of Clause 73 which is expressed in its introductory language, ‘Each wizarding governing body will be responsible for the concealment, care, and control of all magical beasts, beings, and spirits dwelling within its territory’s borders...’ The word there that I haven’t heard mentioned yet today is CARE.

“We have a responsibility to care for these creatures and consider their needs along with our need for secrecy and Muggle safety. Without the protection of this Task Force, Muggles would hunt the Yeti. Some already claim to. The Yeti would soon face extinction.

“During my time studying the Yeti, I observed that individuals have seasonal migration patterns and often must travel long distances to hunt and forage or else suffer starvation. Many also travel far to seek out mates. This ensures a genetically healthy population. Please consider the Task Force may be too severely limiting their natural range, and the Yeti are merely pushing those borders in order to survive.

“Also, consider the possibility that Yeti unrest is mirroring recent civil unrest in the region. My wife is more versed in Muggle politics. Tina, can you explain.”

Tina looked to Akingbade who nodded. She said, “When monks in the Drepung and Sera monasteries started protesting for the independence of Tibet, the Chinese government halted reforms and started an anti-separatist campaign. Last June, thousands of students demonstrating in Beijing with a hunger strike, sit-in and occupation of Tiananmen Square were massacred by their government. Muggles of the region are wanting more freedom, fundamental liberties, and so may be the Yeti.”

Newt added, “Also, with the exploding human population in the region and worldwide, more communities are pushing up into the mountains which are the Yetis’ homeland.

“Safer measures can be taken besides flaming torches to force the Yeti into reserved areas too small for their hunting, foraging, and reproductive needs, then slaughtering those that continue to venture beyond the boundaries set by the Task Force. Broader boundaries, wider use of protective enchantments, a larger Task Force including intensive training in memory charms...

Lockhart jumped in, “I have exceptional talent with memory charms.”

Newt ignored him. “Our responsibility to ensure the Yeti’s concealment, protection, and vitality is not simply dictated by this Confederation and Clause 73 of the Statue of Secrecy. ...We know it in our hearts. There is a strange beauty and resonance with these creatures. Though savage and untamable, they are an integral part of the ecology of this region. They have a right to the fundamental nature of their existence. ...Each of you must know that. In your hearts, you must know.”

The room was silent. Hearts and minds were opening. Newt’s means of gentle education was one of his most unique gifts, honed throughout his lifetime.

“That’s all I had planned to say.”

Akingbade began, “Thank you, Mr. Scamander, Mrs. Scamander—“ when he was suddenly cut off by a cacophony of hooting and screeching on the roof. A wizard opened the door and at least a hundred owls swooped in, dropping pink and red envelopes in the vicinity of Lockhart.

“Ah,” he said, “This happens to me every Valentine’s Day. Celebrity is as celebrity does, you know.”

Tina’s earlier question rang through Newt’s mind along with the incessant hoots and screeches. We’re just going to listen to this idiot?

They looked at each other. Tina’s eyes were burning with annoyance, a look which Newt unfortunately knew quite well. They had listened long enough.

“Well, we must be going now. Tina and I have another engagement. You’re welcome to contact us with further questions ...that is, when the owls are available again.” The birds continued to swoop overhead.

He held Tina’s hand.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“After putting up with this, Love, the choice is all yours.”

“As I said before, when have we ever done anything typical? The day is still young. Let’s get out of here.”

She apparated them to their next adventure.

#old newtina is my heart #newtina #newtina fanfiction #newt scamander #tina goldstein #gilderoy lockhart #fantastic beasts #valentines day #valentines #harry potter #chamber of secrets #occamy #dialogue prompts

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precuredaily · 5 years

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Precure Day 137

Episode: Futari wa Precure Splash Star 39 - “The Rare Miminga Cause a Fuss!?” Date watched: 30 June 2019 Original air date: 12 November 2006 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/c5YcJ7O Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

Mascots, cryptids, what’s the difference?

Here’s a fun episode with a weird moral and a finale that suggests folklore creatures are real after all! HUG does this once or twice as well and I find the concept to be funny.

The plot

While playing hide and seek by the Sky Tree, Flappi, Choppi, Moop, and Foop are spotted by Kenta and Miyasako, who came out there to practice manzai in private. They all freak out.

The next day at school, Kenta is trying to convince everybody that he found a miminga, a type of cryptid, and Miyasako backs up his story, going a step further by drawing what he saw.

With that kind of validation, word spreads throughout the town fast and everybody is excited. Saki’s parents bake miminga cornets, which Saki can’t bring herself to eat. Everybody thinks that miminga sightings could drive tourism and boost business. They bring in a famous college professor, who tries to warn them that professional consensus was that miminga were strictly the stuff of folklore, but nobody listens and the town mounts a search. Saki and Mai seem to have a plan to throw people off the scent, but things escalate too quickly and they’re roped into the search party. Even Kintolesky sees all the people out and about and asks what’s going on, and when he’s shown the drawings of the so-called Miminga, he recognizes them as Precures’ fairies. He walks over to Saki and Mai, who are overwhelmed by the hubub, and with a snap of his fingers he forces Flappi and Choppi out of their Crystal Commune forms and then draws attention to them.

Saki and Mai run away with their fairies, and Kin ushers them to follow him, but they say “We’re not falling for that!” so they make a hard right and.... fall into a pit. They end up in a room filled with weightlifting equipment and Kintolesky tells them it’s his training room, and they are welcome to make use of some of the equipment to improve themselves. They aren’t very keen on this idea, again reminding him that they’re not interested in his goal of training them. However, he has them trapped, so they can’t leave without fighting him. He creates an Uzainaa out of equipment but once again, he does most of the fighting himself. The girls have transformed into Bright and Windy, and they manage to go toe to toe with him. At one point Kin puts on some additional weights, and tries to get the girls to do likewise, to make the battle more interesting. They dodge the flying ankle weights, then Moop and Foop appear out of nowhere and give them the Spiral Rings. They use the Light and Wind attacks to down the monster, then Kin combines the rest of the weights into this Uzainaa, only for the Precures to perform Spiral Star Splash to defeat it. Kin quips that he’ll need to find a new gym before he makes his way off. Also, I don’t remember commenting on this before, but the fairies that appear from Kintolesky’s defeated Uzainaa are gold.

I’m probably late to figuring this out but it seems the inclusion of gold as an element comes from the Chinese classical elements: Fire, Water, Metal (gold), Earth, and Wood. You’ll notice each of these correspond to one of our generals, but the Kiryuus and their wind element isn’t present. They may come from the concept of Aether but I’m sidetracking enough by researching this. It’s just funny to me that Gold is lumped in with the rest of these elements. Maybe that’s western bias.

Back up topside, Saki and Mai decide to bring the search to an end: they hide behind a bush and bring out puppets that look like Flappi and Choppi, allowing Kenta to see them, and then when everybody gathers around, they reveal their “ruse”, claiming it was them all along, practicing for a puppet show. The professor tells everyone he had been trying to warn them that miminga weren’t real, but they weren’t listening, and everybody concludes that they had a lot of fun exploring and walking around regardless, and they should do it more often. All is well that ends well, and as everyone walks away, an actual miminga pops out of the bushes for a moment, unseen.

surprise!

The Analysis

it’s.... another filler episode, really. Ever since the girls got the Spiral Rings, the show has devolved. Unlike the early arcs, Saki and Mai are already close and they don’t have much that they can do to reaffirm their bond, nor have they encountered a threat to their friendship on the same level as when Cures Black and White were separated, and there’s not a supporting character arc for us to follow like the Kiryuus. There isn’t even a goal for the girls to achieve beyond collecting Miracle Drops and restoring the fountains, while FWPC at least had their attempt to find the kidnapped Wisdom and the power of the Prism Stones (as much as that arc dragged, at least there was a goal). The girls get individual episodes like Mai’s art struggle or Saki’s softball tournament that let them shine, but these are intermittent and don’t contribute to an overall objective. (incidentally, this is my overall problem with Smile Precure) So, you’ve got this episode about the fairies being mistaken for cryptids, and the result is that Saki and Mai have to take the fall for their fairies again, and everybody laughs it off at the end and says “well maybe we should go out more anyway,” and there’s some weird running gag about listening to people completely before jumping to conclusions that they keep harping on. I don’t want to call it a moral because, technically, they undermine it several times. Kenta and Miyasako didn’t technically see Miminga but they saw mythical creatures, and at the end they reveal that there actually was a miminga. Maybe the lesson is supposed to be about mob mentality but that doesn’t feel right either.

Moop and Foop are getting the shaft lately. They basically only show up to give the girls the Spiral Rings. Their predecessors in powerups, Porun and Lulun, were at least present in a meaningful way from their introduction through to the finale. We saw what they were doing, they even got character development. Moop and Foop don’t have that. They made friends with Saki, Mai, Flappi, and Choppi, and we heard how they admire the Kiryuus for saving them, but that’s been it for their character progression. In the last several episodes they have only appeared for short sight gags and to summon the Spiral Braces. Also, Saki and Mai no longer tote the Splash Commune around, nor do we see Moop and Foop actually enter it, they just play the stock footage starting with them already in the screen. The end result of this is that Moop and Foop are less memorable, which is sad since they had a pretty good idea with them being a little more mature and perceptive than Flappi especially.

Kintolesky is a delight as always, and here I think he leans a little more into his villainy. He’s not as out-and-out evil as his predecessors but he purposefully kidnaps Saki and Mai so he can have a fight with them, caring not for their circumstances. (okay he did something similar last time but it’s more direct here) In prior appearances you could argue that the duo could have left the fight, not that they ever would, but here they’ve been teleported to a room who knows where with no choice but to fight him. Honestly the Uzainaa feels superfluous and is only there to get knocked around so the girls can earn their Miracle Drop. I wish they’d come up with another way to do that for Kin’s arc since he’s so much more interested in fighting his own fights.

One thing I do like is a small continuity nod, there’s the obvious bit about Kenta and Miyasako continuing to practice manzai, but also, in their cover story, Saki and Mai claim they were going to put on a puppet show at the library like Kaya and Miyasako did way back in SS09.

This review feels a lot more cynical and condescending than I thought it would be going in. It’s a fine episode, but it’s very light on substance and it doesn’t advance any plot or character, not even the supporting cast. It’s got some good jokes but it doesn’t stick out in this series. Then again that’s normal for the 30s in these shows. We’re getting close to the endgame, though, so things should pick up soon.

Next time, it’s Mai’s birthday, and Kintolesky makes his last stand. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 0 Zekkouchou Nari!

Miracle Drop count: 6

#Precure #Pretty Cure #Futari wa Precure Splash Star #FWPCSS39 #PCD137

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bearpillowmonster · 4 years

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Rise Of Skywalker (NonSpoiler Review)

What's funny is that I changed my wallpaper right before I left because I'm superstitious and didn't want a wallpaper to come back to disappointed and the ending of TROS is very reminiscent to that wallpaper but you won't know what I mean unless you've seen my wallpaper ;D

For some background, I went into the theater and it was chilly because that was the only theater room with broken heat but it was the earliest showing for the day so they warned us but I didn't care...that is until I got there, I warmed up a little but then I had to pee so I came back and had to warm up again, affected a little bit of my experience, shaking the whole time.

Let me start with the opening, as much as people might complain about TLJ, one thing I can gather from a consensus of the fans is that the opening, though flawed with the gravity aspect, was a pretty good opening. This one's opening doesn't excite me quite as much but more just kind of jumps into it, which I can respect. They have a part where they have that ugly yellow alien, I guess his name is "Klaud", he is on one of the first poster leaks but he only pops in here, but he has no business being on the Millennium Falcon, why? That's one part I never understood.

I can tell they at least listened to some feedback with some of the inclusions and such but don't get me wrong, I don't mean fan-service, they have a moment or two of just nostalgia but I mean something like "Rey is too inexperienced to be that powerful." I never really had a problem with it but they, for one, explain it, and for two, have her training. That and some other complaints I've heard before. They do try to play "Oh, you liked this? Well let's put it in there." It does have Palpatine after all.

They don't really explain everything, like they'll just kind of brush over some stuff and then over others, I never felt like they went knee deep into anything. They had some really great parts and some great LOOKING shots but for one, it doesn't do too much that's "new" and I don't mean that as if it's like any particular movie, it doesn't seem like a retread.

And the stuff that it does do new, like I said, they just kind of brush over, such as new characters. Zori Bliss? Yeah she doesn't remove her helmet so don't get your hopes too high.

Why is Kylo's mask back? Well...to fit in with the boys. Which brings me to another topic, Kylo not being intimidating, nobody follows him. This is something that we have dealt with for quite some time, after the beginning of TFA, he just kind of stopped being scary, and in a way they take note of that but again, nobody follows him so it's kind of like "if Kylo doesn't follow the original plan then we're not following him." which doesn't make much sense and kind of just makes it seem like they wanted something to do with those characters. What about the beginning? They didn't seem to mind following him then, was that apart of the plan too? That's not rhetorical, it IS a possibility.

They do have a bit of a problem with a common trope movies fall for, I won't mention what it is but I mentioned it in my Frozen 2 review and you might be able to see it through that.C-3P0 is in a good amount, I'm surprised since he's an old character.

I thought about how each movie seemed to be focused on the single one and while that might be fine and is how even the original trilogy was done, it seems like it's not too clear of a vision or path between the 3 movies. Given the two different directors, it's in a way to be expected but also kind of hurts the movie because I can think of the path the prequels had, and yes it took time to fully realize it and everything as I'm sure this one will too.

One of the problems with the prequels was that it had good content and had the puzzle pieces but wasn't quite put together in the right way, you had to view it in a different way in order to get the vision in it's whole. They mentioned how a lot of the people that worked on the original trilogy made it what it is, that the source content was all there but it needed to be realized and cut in a specific way, this movie seems to have that same problem, it has the content but isn't sure what to do with it. It doesn't seem like it really drags, I'm not sure if it tries to cram things in there or what the problem could be pinpointed to but it was brought to my attention (afterwards) that some people think that this is JJ's telling of both 8 and 9 more or less summarized so that it will fit together. If you try to imagine this movie into two separate entities, I feel like it's possible but I also feel like there's a lot of content that was cut in order to fit the mark and be that mashup so it won't be clear until we figure that out.

I'd hate to admit it but part of the problem IS that it takes place many years after Episode 6, it makes it clear because there's a small flashback that I really liked and thought maybe in another world that that would be 7,8, and 9. But George also had scripts for these 3 films that would take place around the same time as the current ones, so I wonder if it would be any better or if it really is that kind of problem. So, LUCASFILM, RELEASE THE ORIGINAL SCRIPTS!

They take things from previous movies that might have been surprising and made them less impactful because they reuse those abilities. I suppose it's fair because a fan could argue "well why didn't they just do this?" so it's not a big deal.

"Is it surprising?" "Did it make me mad?" "Did it disappoint me?" "How does it stack up against The Last Jedi?" Well it does have genuinely surprising moments, none of that fabricating crap from TLJ imo. I didn't feel sour or mad like I did TLJ, I went in expecting stuff to happen, sure, some stuff kind of did happen that I didn't want to happen but what can you do? But there was some stuff I was hoping for that did happen too. They did, however, tease stuff while promoting the movie that I didn't see at all such as a connection to the Mandalorian, I will say that there is ONE thing from the last episode that I saw in this movie but it's not a character, maybe that was the secret, they don't flat out say it but I have a feeling that it connects to "why" they want Baby Yoda? I think it is better than the Last Jedi and before you ask, no, I don't think there are any parts like the Canto Bight sequence. I am...a little disappointed, not gonna lie, I don't regret that I saw it, I liked it but it's not the saving grace I might have wanted or "the best Star Wars movie", I did like The Force Awakens more. Probably the best thing about this movie isn't something I can say, it's an aspect, not a specific scene btw...

There's something that looks like a General Grievous hand in the droid shop scene we saw in the trailer. Also a weird little tidbit is that they put Colin Trevorrow in the credits, odd, I thought he "parted ways" as Disney would put it, and I didn't stay to watch them all, I think his name was as early as the second screen, I'm pretty sure it said "Written by:" This wasn't Trevorrow's take on Star Wars though, I really don't understand and I don't want to be the one to say it but did they do that to throw him under the bus? If not that then is this some kind of weird morph of Rian Johnson, Colin Trevorrow, and J.J. Abram's version? (It sounds scarier than it actually is but still...)

It's weird because I started reading reviews after the movie and they say completely different stuff, not from trolls or haters either, I know it's all a matter of opinion but some stuff like the "training" thing have been mentioned in reverse so these are my raw thoughts after going to the theater. I'm going to try and make a "spoilers" review, either when the DVD comes out so I can rewatch it or just later when I get a better formed opinion of it, as time goes on, my thoughts will be different, I'm almost sure of that, whether it's one way or another. If you're going into it, go into it expecting it to be a new addition, not the big bad end to "the Skywalker Saga", it's like ending it on a technicality. Big payoff to everything Star Wars has done? Not so much, a few things here and there pick up from other places in the timeline but nothing too big.

#star wars #the rise of skywalker #tros #sw

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sophygurl · 5 years

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WisCon43 - re: programming

I’ve been thinking about conversations (both online and off) held this year about WisCon’s programming - lack of certain kinds of diversity, reasons why that might be, and what to do about it. As someone who writes up a lot of panels, goes to a lot of panels, sits on a lot of panels, and although I didn’t mod this year - has moderated her fair share of panels, I’ve been thinking about it from all of those perspectives.

My perspective is also of someone who has a balance of ways in which I am and am not marginalized. I won’t list every single thing as that would be tedious and non-productive, but to share some of the biggies: I’m disabled, queer, and genderqueer; I am also white, cis, and neither an immigrant or the child of immigrants. If I get stuff wrong in any of the areas I’m privileged in, I very much welcome correction and feedback. Also, none of us these communities are monoliths - so conversation from all angles is always helpful.

To those who may have missed some of these conversations, my impression is that it flowed from a few starting points: 1) people new/new-ish to WisCon who therefore weren’t as aware of how programming works differently at this 100% volunteer-run con, 2) people unaware that certain demographics of the con (specifically mentioned were poc - particularly blpoc, and trans/non-binary folk) have grown tired of being The Diversity People on panels, 3) some incidents at last year’s con - while handled by safety and anti-abuse teams well - did contribute to folks from certain marginalizations either not wanting to come or at least not wanting to actively participate in programming this year.

I don’t have a lot of thoughts on those points. I have never been on the concom, don’t know a lot of about the behind the scenes stuff that goes on, and while there are certainly things we can do (”we” meaning both the folks officially doing stuff bts and all of us as a community who care about the con) to make the con feel and be safer for everyone and to encourage more people to participate - we certainly can’t make people continue to do frustrating 101-level work educating people about their own identities year after year.

What I DO have thoughts on are the other starting points some of these conversations flowed from, which I perceived to be: 1) this panel description touches on specific marginalizations but the issues affecting those marginalizations were not brought up by panelists, 2) when someone from the audience asked questions relating to those marginalizations, the panelists didn’t know what to say, 3) when there were people with and without certain privileges on a panel - sometimes the people with privilege talked over the people without them.

These are all very fixable issues, and indeed I have seen these issues dealt with in very positive and productive ways in the past, so I wanted to share a little bit about my experiences when I’ve thought it has gone well.

Panel Writing.

The first stage of programming at WisCon is submitting panel ideas to the programming department. I write a lot of panels up (ask the programming department lol), and I write up panels on a broad variety of topics from Important Issue panels to fun squee panels. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when writing up panels with a nod to intersectional feminism and diversity inclusion:

When writing a panel about a Serious Issue, make sure there is some language about the ways in which other intersections are impacted by the Issue. For example, if I’m writing up a panel about queerness, I might slip in a phrase also asking the panelists to think about ways in which race or class affect the Queer Issue at hand. That way it’s baked in. Hopefully (and you can’t control this if you’re not on the panel yourself - but hopefully), the moderator and panelists will take those intersectional issues into consideration in their discussion.

When writing up a more fun fannish panel, STILL make sure to include a statement or two asking the panelists to consider ways in which Fan Thing touches on issues of race, gender, what have you. For example, “yaddayadda fun thing! Also, how do we feel about the show’s treatment of race?” Again, the idea is to bake it right in there so that the panelists are already (hopefully) thinking about those things and won’t be caught off guard when the audience is wanting or expecting them to discuss it a little bit.

When suggesting a panel, you can suggest potential panelists. You can either do this specifically as in “Person A would be a great addition to this panel!” or more generally with a note asking “please make sure at least one panelist is X identity”. None of these things are guarantees, of course, but it helps programming see what you’re going for. Another idea for when it’s essential that a panel is comprised of specific folk is to hand-staff the panel. That means it’s not open for volunteers and only the people who have been pre-selected can sit on the panel. (I believe this is how panels at many other cons are naturally run?? It’s just not the default for WisCon where we like lots of volunteers and self-selection.)

Another thing to keep in mind is thinking about who your potential audience is going to be. You can delineate in the panel description whether this is meant to be a 101 or higher level discussion. You can bake in the idea that this panel is jumping off from a panel held in a previous year and the panelists won’t be doing much in the way of backgrounding that. You can say “this is NOT a panel about ...” to make it clear this panel is about Issue Y and only about Issue Y. There are lots of ways to make it clear what the panel should and shouldn’t be about, which again, is not a guarantee, but certainly helps move the panel in the right direction.

Panel formation.

When asking to be on a panel, you can make a note about why you want to be on it, or why you want to moderate it. This is a handy place to speak about your identity pieces (IF you want - nobody is forced to do this). For example, on a panel about disability, I might type in a little note talking about my specific disabilities and possibly how my queerness informs my disability. That way, if there are ten people with similar disabilities as mine asking to be on the panel - programming can decide that maybe I don’t need to be there. Or if no one else has mentioned queerness as part of their identity, they might put me on to make sure that’s a voice being included.

When you get assigned to a panel, you see the names and emails of the other folks on the panel with you. If you’ve been coming to the con for awhile, you might be able to see right then where a problem area might be - like, holy cow this panel about TV show with black main character is skewing very white! Or perhaps that panel about the intersection of X and Y has mostly folks with experience X and not Y! What do? Well, there’s a few things that I’ve seen done/have done.

One thing is to reach out and see if people from the underrepresented group want to join you on the panel! You can do this quietly by asking folks you know personally, put out calls on social media, ask programming to help you locate some folks, or even put up notes in the green room once at the con asking for folks with identity Y to volunteer.

I’ve also been on panels where none of the above happened, but I’ve looked out into the audience and seen friends with Identity Y who I know are usually up for talking at a moment’s notice and asked if they’d join us. (This can backfire if your friend with Identity Y is just sick to death of talking about their identity, but if you ask it in a nice enough way, hopefully they’ll feel comfortable saying nah, I’m here to listen this time)

This can also happen as the email conversations begin and everyone starts sort of awkwardly saying things like “well, I think we should talk about asexuality but I’m not ace...” and suddenly you realize you’ve left out an important part of the conversation. As in the above scenario, sometimes you can reach out and include that perspective. But sometimes you can’t. What do then?

One thing I’ve seen done/have done is to have the moderator acknowledge the issue at the start of the panel. “We all understand that an ace perspective, or perspective X, is an important one for this topic, but none of us are ace, so we’re just gonna do our best on that part and if we mess it up, we hope someone with that perspective will correct us!” This accomplished a few things: 1) it lets the audience know that you know there is a flaw there so they’re not sitting there wondering why tf you’re not talking about Thing X as much as they’d expected, 2) allows folks in the audience with perspective X the opportunity to speak up if they’re feeling like they want their perspective shared (example: “you mentioned that none of you are ace, I’m asexual and wanted to share that...”). It might be important for the mod to even seek out “comment not a question” in those specific instances.

Sometimes, as happened my very first time moderating, it turns out that someone in the audience has a very unique and important perspective and the rest of the panelists just kinda do chinhands listening to them for a bit and THAT IS OKAY.

You might even get all the way to the panel and not realize until someone in the audience speaks up that you are lacking an important perspective. What do??

This weekend, I witnessed a panel where this happened and the panelists all just asked the audience member if they’d come up and be on the panel with them! Now, like the example above of asking a friend in the audience at the start of the panel, this won’t Always work. Perhaps the audience member does not Want to share their perspective - they only want to make sure that perspective is being covered. That is 100% fair! No one should feel forced or pressured to insta-join a panel! But giving someone the option can be a great way around accidental gaps in inclusion.

Doing the panel.

Now, it’s not always possible to flesh your panel out with diverse perspectives. Despite trying all of the other things, perhaps no one with Identity X wants to sit on your panel. Or perhaps there are too many intersections for a panel of 6 to even cover all of them. Or maybe no one even realized how important Issue Y was to Panel Z until Panel Z got underway. But STILL there are things you, the panelists and moderator, can do!

The most important thing you can do is to make sure you’re prepared for the stuff baked into the panel. Even if you believe the make-up of the panel is sufficient to cover a specific issue, what if the 2 poc panelists end up unable to make it to the con or the 1 Deaf panelist got sick or the person you thought you remembered was Jewish - ooops turns out you had mistaken them for someone else? Listen, this stuff happens. So Be Prepared.

No, as a white person, I absolutely cannot and should not speak on the experiences of people of color. That would be wildly inappropriate. But what I can do, and try to do, is educate myself ahead of time on how the topic at hand affects or is affected by issues of race. If there are poc on the panel willing and able to touch on those things - perfect! Worst thing that happens is that I got a little more educated, which is the opposite of a problem anyway. But if it turns out that it’s only me and another white panelist and the audience is asking questions about race, I can at least say something like “from what I’ve read in this article/heard my poc friends saying/saw online from poc fans.... it seems like XYZ might be true but also could be a problem because of ABC”. Heavy disclaimers should abound, but, yes, it is possible to at least address an issue even if that issue doesn’t directly affect you. In fact, Tired Queer in the Corner might be really happy that you Straight Ally on the Panel did your homework.

If you can’t prepare - if an issue sneaks up on you - just be honest about that and still try to do your best! “Oh, wow, I just realized we never discussed in our pre-panel discussion how the issue of religion impacts this topic, but now that this audience member has brought it up - can any of us speak on that?” If it turns out that, no, none of us can speak on that - toss it to the audience. “Can anyone else address this?” Again, this is a potential backfire situation, but worse case scenario no one wants to address it, you can apologize, pledge to do better next time, and move on. The toss-it-to-the-audience approach also only generally works in smaller panels where audience participation is easily done. If you’re on a dais with a large crowd and no wireless mics - you might have to forgo that particular work-around.

Other options include post-panel discussions. Moderator: “We only have ten minutes left and we never did hit topic X. If anyone - panelists and audience alike - would like to discuss this, we can move into the overflow room to dig in deeper.” That’s one approach. Another is to take it to twitter, or other online discussion. “Sorry we didn’t get to any audience questions about Y - but please add your comments to the # and we’ll do our best to reply in the coming days!” Last year I moderated a panel with a lot of very intelligent and wordy panelists and we literally ran out of time right before I would have gone to audience questions. But that hashtag was busy and lots of us went to it after the panel and had some lovely conversations with some of our audience members that way. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s another way to try and get to the stuff that might otherwise be missed.

Also - be aware of your privileges and make sure you are privileging the voices of those you have privilege over. This weekend, I caught myself interrupting a fellow panelist of color and stopped mid-interruption, doing the sort of “no, continue” motion and set the mic down to make sure I didn’t do it again until they were finished. It happens to all of us, and most of us at WisCon are in positions where we have some and don’t have other privileges. As a panelist - try and remember where yours are and be mindful of when to stop talking.

As a moderator - you have to do this and Also keep in mind your fellow panelists intersections and possibly step in when you notice the white lady keeps monopolizing the conversation or the cishet dude to keeps talking over the queer woman. It’s part of the mod’s job to make sure everyone is heard, so if you don’t believe you’re capable of doing that part you need to either 1) ask someone to help you or 2) not moderate in the first place. [And BTW, asking for help is okay! We don’t all have the same skill sets, so asking one of your panelist buds to help you in an area you lack is not a bad thing to do!]

So those are some of my ideas on how to make sure more voices and types of voices are being heard in panels. I’d love if people added their own! Thanks to everyone who made it a priority for us to keep having these conversations.

#wiscon #wiscon 43 #cons #intersectionalty #wc43

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thecrackedamethyst · 6 years

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The Lovers: Choice, Sex, and SJW’s

I’ve been dreading this one, so I figured I might as well do it and get it over with.

This post will start out one way, and then go to something completely different, but I promise it will loop around in the end.

Whenever I pull the Lovers--especially this one-- I only ever think one thing:

“Oh god I’m gay how could this happen are you sure you’re gay? Are you really sure? I think you should dwell on this and go over every detail of your life in your head just one more time”.

I know that everyone on tumblr is gay but god it’s still so nerve wracking to post about it.

I have a husband, two kids, and I didn’t know I was gay until my late 20′s. I didn’t even figure it out myself, I had to have it pointed out to me. How lame is that. I had figured I was bi (thanks Orange is the New Black) but fully gay? Nuh-uh. I was bi, and then somebody asked me, “Jessica, have you ever considered you might be a lesbian?” I scoffed. No way. Then on my drive home I thought about it and my head exploded. Literally. There’s probably still skull fragments and brain matter on the seat. I don’t have a head anymore, that’s why I can’t do videos only write up posts.

Anywho. It’s been a couple of years dwelling and questioning and whatnot, and I am now...95% sure I’m gay. Most of the time. Until I see Eric Northman but you know how it is.

Okay part 2.

The main question I get about the Body Language Tarot is “you say the deck is all women, are there any trans women in the deck?”. The answer to that is no, there is not.

“Well you piece of bigoted shit, wtf is wrong with you, how dare you, you only picked conventionally attractive cis women, you are a horrible piece of nazi garbage!!!”

Okay no ones actually said that to me but it’s been implied. So why didn’t I include trans women in this deck? Honestly? I didn’t think of it.

Noel Arthur made the Numinous Tarot because they wanted a fully inclusive deck, filled with the people who are don’t see themselves in most media. And that’s great! That was their purpose and they made what they wanted to see! That was their goal, their intent, and their purpose behind the deck.

I didn’t have that purpose. My purpose, was to make a deck where a person's body language conveyed the emotional feeling of a particular tarot card, with tattoos supporting that feeling. It was fun.

When I went to the art gallery with a friend, we read the little signs and so much of that art has a purpose. They’re speaking up against whatever, this piece shows the pain of these particular people, on and on. That’s cool. I don’t wanna do that. There are many issues I feel very strongly about, but that doesn’t mean I have to make my work about them.

I make my art for me. I drew what I wanted to draw, and that’s not a bad thing. I like women! So I drew women! Just because that’s what I like, doesn’t mean I hate everything else. I don’t hate men. Naked men freak me out, but I still like them, just not in any kind of sexual way (and not naked). I have a man that I love very much, I have friends who are men, I just didn’t want to draw them. That’s it! I like pretty things, so I draw pretty things. Maybe that’s a bit shallow, but you know what? I don’t care. I want to draw flowers and I want to draw snakes, and I want to draw naked women, because that’s what I like to look at.

I have someone boycotting me because I find conventionally attractive women attractive, and to that I say, well yeah. I like pretty women. I like women who are thin, fit, and probably blonde (those are not hard rules). That’s my type. That’s who I’m sexually attracted to. If Anna Torv were to come to me and say she wants to be with me but she hates tarot cards, I’d throw my decks in a dumpster fire and go live happily ever after.

Tumblr can be so

about things you know? Like if you’re not doing what they think you should be doing then you’re wrong and deserve to be destroyed. But the hard part is, everyone sees things differently, and have different passions and drives and causes and I can not fully support all of them. Nobody can. Most people usually have one or two things that they lives their lives for, and they all think that those causes should be everybody’s causes, but it doesn’t work that way.

I’m a firm believer in live and let live. If you want to do something, then find other people who want to do that thing, and go and be happy. You live for you, and you let other people live for them, that’s it. You like apple juice? Cool, drink apple juice. That doesn’t mean that everybody needs to drink apple juice, or that people should be forced to drink apple juice, it just means that you can, and no one should force you to do otherwise.

You want onions on your pizza? Okay cool I don’t lets order separate pizzas. You want to be hit during sex? That’s weird but whatever, go find someone who wants to hit people. You were born a woman but feel like a man? Cool bro, I won’t pursue you for my lesbian relationship.

If other people feel a certain why, why can’t they just be? Whenever I see those people who get all mad about homosexual marriages, or transgender bathrooms, I just wonder, why the fuck does it matter to you? Nobody is forcing you to have a homosexual marriage. Nobody is forcing you to use those bathrooms, we’re just letting people be themselves and be happy why is that so bad?! If you’re not a part of it, just let it be.

I felt really trapped, a few years ago, but I didn’t know why. Then I found out I was gay, and it was terrible. I had a husband! And kids! And I felt so guilty about it, and stupid, and terrified, and so very, very free. I felt like taking my hair out of my bun letting it blow in the wind, I felt like putting on lipstick and going out into the world. It was horrible and it was amazing and despite how other people in my life feel about the issue, I know it’s the truth. So yes. I drew of deck of lesbians, because that’s who I am and who I like. If you don’t like it, don’t buy the deck. I mean, I personally would like everybody to buy it, but you know. If you like it, buy it. If you don’t, then don’t.

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beyondthetemples-ooc · 6 years

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horror movie ask with some DC mystics? Raven, Constantine, Zatanna, Swamp Thing, Traci 13, & Black Alice? (kinda mix of older & younger gens) love to hear ur thoughts on it!

(Oh, frick. your ask made me realize i have to imagine my favorites dying now. adkgja;lfh )

...then again, this is comic books, after all. Nobody has to die forever? ;P But here are my thoughts on the matter, anyways.

Disclaimer: I know Basically Nothing about Traci 13 and Black Alice, besides what I read on Wiki for the former, and what I was told about the latter by a big fan of Secret 6. (But I believe, Tracy 13 is going to be in Marv’s new Night Force, so she HAS to have SOME honestly Big Serious Power.)

And as much as you KNOW I’m enamored with your AU, I’m going to write this like it’s Canon Inclusive as Fuck, because that’s the only way I know how to wriggle a story out of such a wild crossover! ;;

It’s going to go down like a magical murder-mystery game of Guess Who. Nobody can trust anybody. They’ve heard of each other, for the most part, but the Fricking Phantom Stranger brought them together over something ~dreadfully~ wrong with the cosmic balances that keep Heaven, Hell, and Earth separate and functional, and the gods are getting annoyed.

John tries to be all, “Dealing with gods, I’m out.” But Zatanna won’t let him leave.

Traci 13 was our first victim. We’re going to pretend the canon in Flashpoint regarding All Of Her Magic Being Used Up is canon here, and the story goes, it left both her and her father defenseless against.... whoever, or whatever, came to kill her. (But there’s no body, because this is comics.)

So the Phantom’s team of investigators do what they’re apparently there to do: They investigate.

She’d tried leaving a mystical message in her death, but all they can make out is “--RA--”

(Making Raven the villain is too easy, too obvious. And too ephemeral for a whole movie not to mention, Complicated As Fuck because Trigon would get involved, and that’s all WAY overdone by canon.)

But Zatanna doesn’t know I’m petty @canon like that, so despite Raven’s adamant denial, and offer to empathicly share what she knows to be true with Zatanna (who’s like “hell NO, keep those powers away from me, nobody messes with my head”), Zee harbors an extra dose of distrust towards her from the start.

When they’re approached by a black-cloaked figure with a booming voice, Raven’s going to pull her Trademark(tm) heart-wrenchingly compassion move, and effectively sacrifice herself to save her.

Swamp Thing has basically Maximum Evasion. Horror movies always take place somewhere that’s Right On Turf. So regardless of what The Actual Justice League Dark Movie will have us believe, I’m still classically entrenched in the understanding that He’s a Force of Nature, and Cannot Die a Bodily Death like that.

Probably fakes it out, though. Once the battle transcends Earth, he’s out. He’s done. He protected what he’s meant to protect, and that’s all he needs to know. ~gone~

Enter: “Where the hell are we”, i.e. Purgatory.

They’re attacked again. John’s habit of sacrificing people who admire him to get his way bites him in the ass, when there’s a blast of magic that scatters everyone, and while Zee is able to block it and TRIES to get to him (because DAMNIT, she hates him, but she CARES about him), he’s too close to the blast, and he had already called in a couple of High Tier Favors to make it this far. He is eventually severely maimed by Cosmic Level power.

So we’ve got Zee and Black Alice left to solve the case.

Zatanna asks something... and Black Alice reveals: She doesn’t remember where she was when that happened. She doesn’t think she killed anybody, though!

Now: I hear Black Alice can get seriously messed up when she deals with messed up powers. So because she’d make a great Boss Fight, trading powers and tactics like Pokemon cards, we’re gonna pin the “killer” role on her. (She’s from Ohio, after all; there’s a LOT of deceptively-powerful weird shit going on here.)

The tricky part comes where they have to work together, to bring her down.

PLOT TWIST: Black Alice was being mind-controlled! But not by an outside force; more like, by the way she absorbed The Spectre’s abilities and got awfully black-out mindfucked. Because ~”God’s WRATH”~ cohabitates with its host, it didn’t completely take her over forever, not in its partial form, but because of its all-consuming power, she doesn’t have memories of what she’s done.

She completely loses herself on camera when it takes over this time.

And the Slice of Spectre is PISSED. Because none of the heroes you’ve presented me with are utterly innocent. The Spirit of The Spectre wouldn’t leave its host to take her, but it didn’t respond well to her trying to borrow a slice of its power pie, either.

This is when John Constantine saunters back into the picture, with his special brand of smooth-talking and total lack of Fearing God’s Wrath, because he’s faced the devil down and won, this shadow of an angel’s might doesn’t shake him at all. Oh yeah: He survived because ~”God’s Wrath”~ left him for dead, but he wasn’t there yet, and is too damn stubborn to give up.

He never thought he’d be telling God’s angel of vengeance this, but you can’t leave something like that to fate.

Oh yeah: He brought friends. Raven and Traci 13 aren’t actually dead (because this is comics!), brought back from the parts of purgatory where the Mini-Spectre tried to banish them. But powerful souls don’t get banished that easily, especially not when they’re NOT ready to go; they’re still intact, and now he’s made them MAD.

And I don’t have the spoons to write up a Full Outline Battle Scene, but Raven probably teleports in the Actual Host of the Spectre, everybody forces Alice to relinquish the power, and that’s how I imagine a horror story with this crew to go down. lD

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ayearofpike · 6 years

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Master of Murder

Pocket Books, 1992 198 pages, 14 chapters + epilogue ISBN 0-671-69059-0 LOC: CPB Box no. 1081 vol. 14 OCLC: 26075926 Released July 28, 1992 (per B&N)

Everybody’s reading the thrilling Silver Lake series by Mack Slate. With the last book due out in a few months, fans are excited to finally find out who killed Ann McGaffer. Only problem is, Slate — that is to say, twelfth-grade nobody Marvin Summer, hiding behind a pen name — has no idea himself, and hasn’t even started writing the book. It’s only as he works to close the distance between himself and his crush, Shelly Quade, that the grand finale starts to make itself clear to him, in ways that unexpectedly and gruesomely parallel his own life.

This might not be my favorite Pike book, but it has certainly had the most influence on me. I’ve always called myself a writer, since a fifth-grade teacher recognized my ability to craft a narrative and pointed out that somebody had to make books and I should think about it. In high school, it was my defining trait, and it wasn’t until I’d almost graduated from college that I realized it didn’t make me special. Everybody has a story, as Marvin finds out, and some of them are even better at telling it in an engaging way. It’s sad, in a way, that I identified with this book so much (like, I literally carried it in my backpack for my entire senior year) and it still took me so long to get that theme.

What I did get was an intense sense of connection with Marvin. Shy loner? Check. Separated parents who didn’t get along? Check. Younger sibling who wanted to be like me? Check. An English teacher hung up on prescriptive strictures of language who quietly cared about her students, and a language teacher who was more interested in building a classroom community than sticking to a scheduled curriculum? Check and double-check. Writing ability revered by peers? Check, even if my work rarely made it past my immediate circle of friends. Subconscious inclusion of issues I was going through in my work, to the point where it got me in trouble with the girl I liked? Well, not directly observable, but I mean, it’s hard to not come off creepy if you’re writing a love story to a girl instead of, like, actually TALKING to her.

I also really enjoyed the way Pike works with language in this book, and honestly, I still do. Modern YA gets a lot more respect, and deservingly so, but a lot of it is written in a direct, almost sparse way. It makes sense, considering how many contemporary authors write in the first person, and most people don’t actually think in metaphors and syllogisms and even (to some degree) descriptive adjectives. Master of Murder kind of goes hog-wild on this, kind of a leap from representational art to impressionist art. And I buy it. As Marvin is our POV character, it makes sense that as a writer he’d put some more florid prose into his observations and understandings of the world. Plus, this style kind of helps to establish him as an unreliable narrator, as we slowly learn how much he actually doesn’t know and, in fact, how much maybe he’s repressed.

That said, this story does have some holes. Let’s jump into the summary and I’ll get there.

We start out with Marvin in his English class, watching Shelly read his most recent book and thinking about their relationship. They’d gone out a handful of times a year before, but it stopped after the death of Harry Paster, another flame of Shelly’s who’d jumped off a cliff into the nearby lake. Marvin figures enough time has passed that he can ask her out again, but first he has to read the short story he’s dashed off for their creative writing assignment. Man, remember when creative writing was an actual COMPONENT of high school English class? And the only reason I got to do it was that I took a creative-writing-focused senior English course. I mean, I get it — public school English is about preparing you to pass the SAT or ACT, not teaching you how to reach and grab an audience. They save that for us, in post-secondary ed, by which time the interest in writing has already been drilled out of kids by making them do repetitive five-paragraph essays. Most of my students still don’t want to write, but I at least try to give them some room in the assignment structure to flex their creative muscles.

But anyway, “The Becoming of Seymour the Frog” is a legitimately good short-short story. It gives us a sense of Marvin’s author voice straight away, which is of course the same as the narrative, and it legitimizes how much Pike uses what modern writers would call excessive description. The teacher grades it right away (what? I give everything two reads, and this teacher is just going to LISTEN one time?) and tells Marvin he might be a writer someday if he learns to control himself. We both (the reader and Marvin, that is) know he’s already there, and Marvin completely discredits this advice. He writes best by giving up control and going into a state of flow, one where he can’t stop writing but also doesn’t necessarily feel that what’s going onto the page is coming from inside his own head. This is important later.

After class, he catches up to Shelly, but their talking is interrupted by the arrival of her current squeeze, Triad Tyler. Triad is a big dumb football jock who wants to buy Marvin’s motorcycle, which Marvin would never dream of selling. Before he can get around to asking her out, she ducks into the bathroom, and Triad complains that it seems like she’s always trying to escape. This is probably important later too. So already in the first 15 pages, Pike has nicely set up the major characters and their interplay with each other.

We jump to speech class, and I call BS. Like, we learn later that Marvin only has four classes as a senior. Why is one of them speech? My high school only required a half-day of seniors, sure, but our classes were English, math, world history, and economics. It turns out this class would be better called “communication skills,” which was required in ninth grade, but I’d still buy that more than speech. The teacher basically has them engage in conversational debate, and this day the topic they choose is Mack Slate’s Silver Lake series. It’s a good framework for sharing Marvin’s story, and showing the corner he’s painted himself into: Ann McGaffer’s body was found naked and tied up with barbed wire floating in Silver Lake, and five books on we’re no closer to figuring out who did it or why. The description grosses me out a iittle bit, but on the heels of the last two super-tropey thrillers, I’m going to choose to believe that Pike is poking fun at the intentional shock attempts of the genre.

After class, Marvin finally successfully asks Shelly out for that night, then goes to his PO box to pick up his fan mail. His little sister is already there, and once again we’re subjected to the jaw-droppingly beautiful small child. It was gross when it was fifteen-year-old Jennifer Wagner, but Ann Summer is ELEVEN and Marvin’s SISTER. Pike, isn’t it possible to describe a female one cares about without making it all about her looks? He does it with Marvin’s mom in a few pages too, when they get home. We get it — girls we care about are hot. Only problem is Marvin’s mom is an alcoholic who almost never leaves the house except to buy more booze. Dad is an alcoholic, too, but he’s not at home and his child support payments are erratic. Good thing there’s a best-selling author living in the house! But Ann’s the only one who knows, and it kills her to not be able to sing her brother’s praises and brag about how great he is.

They go upstairs to Marvin’s room to read his mail, and one of the last letters makes him pause. It has a local postmark, and the letter inside simply says “I KNOW WHO YOU ARE.” It starts to pull the book into more general thriller territory, but before we can think too much about it, the phone rings and it’s Marvin’s editor, asking about Silver Lake Book Six, which is four months overdue. I have some serious questions about the timeline of this series, but we’ll get there in a little bit. Marvin soothes her concerns, then goes to take a walk around the lake, trying to figure out where to start his book but not actually ready to start it before he picks up Shelly.

The date is successful, by most measures. They have dinner, go to a movie, and then stop on a bridge crossing a raging river because Shelly wants to look at the water. They sit down on the edge, Marvin landing on an old and weathered piece of rope, and watch the waters pound away down to their final destination — the lake. Then Shelly invites Marvin back to her house to sit in the hot tub, where they get naked and make out, but she suddenly gets sad and pulls away. I give Marvin props for being respectful and apologetic here rather than trying to force her to continue. Woke in 1992! But as he’s getting ready to leave, he learns the reason she’s sad: Shelly is thinking about Harry, which he expected, but he didn’t expect to learn that she thinks he was murdered. And she wants Marvin’s help to figure it out and clear Harry’s name.

There’s no basis for this belief, but Marvin figures he might as well listen and do some research, seeing as he can’t figure out his own murder mystery. He checks his PO box first, and finds another ominous letter that’s been mailed there directly rather than to his publishing house, so maybe somebody really does know him. He calls his agent (whose name is one letter away from a real literary rep, maybe even Pike’s) to ask about it. This insert, plus the editor whose name was close to the woman in charge of YA at Simon and Schuster at the time, made so many of us so sure that this was as close to autobiographical as Pike had ever gotten. I seriously chased leads from this book to try to figure out more about him, back before he started answering questions on Facebook and there was so much less mystery about it.

So then Marvin goes back over to Shelly’s house to talk about Harry. She has the police report and autopsy report, and Marvin looks them over, along with articles about Harry’s death from newspapers at the time. What it boils down to is Friday night a year before, a night when Marvin had taken Shelly out for her birthday, Harry and Triad were drinking beer together. Triad said that he dropped Harry off at home, and that was the last time anybody saw him until a fisherman found his body in the lake on Monday morning. Marvin starts to question the narrative that Harry jumped, because there are several physical symptoms that indicate maybe he was held captive. He talks to the fisherman and to Harry’s mom, and takes a look at the jacket Harry was wearing, and makes note of definite rope burn marks around the back and under the armpits. So Harry was tied up somewhere for a long time — but where? And how?

Marvin goes home to rest and digest this info, and has a dream about his book series that shows Ann McGaffer hanging from a bridge by a rope around her waist. He’s startled awake by Ann, who says that their dad is breaking things downstairs. Marvin gets down there just in time to watch his dad shove a lamp into the TV, and the resultant cuts to Ann and his mom from the exploding picture tube send Marvin into a fit of rage. He starts to beat the shit out of his own father, and only stops when Ann tells him to, even though the dude is unconscious. Like, holy shit, buried violent tendencies that will make you like your father? So Marvin gets the hell out of the house to give himself some space.

He ends up back at his PO box, even though he knows there couldn’t have been another delivery, but there sure is a letter in it. He follows this back to Shelly’s house, where he finds her making out in the hot tub with Triad. Marvin overhears her say that she was using him to get him to do something, and Triad tells her not to go out with Marvin anymore, to which she readily agrees. So now Marvin is scared, he is heartbroken, and he has unlocked some deep-seated rage that will allow him to strike back. He ends up on the bridge, where he starts to figure out what must have happened a year ago. There’s a rope, there’s a giant oil stain on the bridge right behind it, and there’s a dead boy with rope burns on his jacket who was maybe hanging from it rather than being tied up. Marvin figures that Harry was jealous of his relationship with Shelly and decided to stage a little motorcycle accident, but accidentally slipped off the bridge and ended up hanging himself, slowly suffocating to death until the rope broke and he washed down to the lake.

And it occurs to Marvin that this would be a perfect way to get back at Triad.

After a misadventure with two girls in a bookstore who accuse him of trying to pick them up by pretending to be Mack Slate, Marvin buys a new car and a bunch of motorcycle-dropping gear at Sears, then takes the bike to Triad’s house to sell it to him. Marvin says that he left the helmet in a motel in the town across the river, and that the manager said he was going to throw it out if Triad didn’t pick it up tonight. Then he hikes to the car, which he’s had delivered around the block, and goes to stake out the bridge. While he’s waiting, he starts to think about the parallels between his own series and how Harry died. And we learn that the first Silver Lake book only came out after Harry’s death — in fact, that Marvin didn’t start writing it until then.

So this is my timing issue. Master of Murder does have some gaping inconsistencies, I’m not gonna lie. There’s the variable height of the bridge over the river: it’s 150 feet when Marvin and Shelly stop on their date, and maybe 60 when they have the final showdown two nights later. Also, later apparently Shelly knows details of a book that Marvin hasn’t even written yet? But this, in my mind, is the biggest problem. We’re supposed to believe that in a year, five books have come out about Ann McGaffer and her loves and hates. We’re also supposed to believe that he’s four months late with book six, and that it takes at least three months for the publisher to turn a story around and get it into bookstores. We also have the information that the fastest Marvin’s ever written a novel is eighteen days. So by that logic, there’s no way he could have finished and submitted Silver Lake Book One before mid-December. So five books have somehow appeared between probably March and let’s say November (they say the fifth one just came out) — five books in seven months — but they’re going to wait another three months to release the sixth? Also, how does an author, even an experienced and acclaimed one, sell a six-book series to his publisher without knowing the beats and especially the ending? There are too many inconsistencies and timeline impossibilities for me to buy it. If I didn’t know better, I’d say Pike was a new author writing publication fanfiction.

But anyway, Triad races across to the other town. Marvin is too far away to see him, but he recognizes the sound of his motorcycle. He grabs his rope, his knife, his can of oil, and his binoculars, and hustles the probably mile to the bridge to set up his death trap. But as the motorcycle is coming back, he gets his first good look — and sees Shelly on the back. So he drops the rope, but Triad is already braking, stops short of it, and shoves Marvin off the bridge.

So now it’s Marvin hanging from his armpits by a rope under the bridge above a raging river that leads to the lake in his town, and did I mention he’s wearing Harry’s jacket? Shelly’s more annoyed than angry — it turns out she’s expected this from Marvin the whole time. In fact, she DOES know who Mack Slate is, and she’s already read about this scheme in the Silver Lake books. But Marvin doesn’t even remember writing it. She wants to turn Marvin in to the police. But Triad wants to untie the rope and drop him into the river.

And suddenly Marvin knows what actually happened. Harry wasn’t alone on the bridge a year ago. Triad was with him, and shoved Harry just as he shoved Marvin. Shelly doesn’t believe it until Triad knocks her out for trying to stop him killing Marvin too. Marvin manages to get hold of the underside of the bridge just as Triad unties the rope, then he kicks Triad in the face when he leans over to look and see whether Marvin has actually fallen. The semi-conscious wedged body of the football jock gives Marvin a ladder to climb back up onto the bridge, and he stomps out Triad’s bad knee when the dude wakes up and threatens to go after him again. Only the knife falls out of his pocket as he does so, and Shelly picks that moment to come to, and it’s a simple matter for Triad to grab both her and the knife and threaten her death if Marvin doesn’t help him get away.

What’s in it for Marvin, though? The guy who tried to kill him is holding the girl who tried to frame him for a death the guy is responsible for. He gets on his bike, where Triad has courteously left the keys in the ignition, and drives away. I don’t like that he’s left a vulnerable girl at the almost-complete mercy (he can’t stand up) of a confirmed killer. What I like least is that he doesn’t even call the police. But then again, he’s abandoned his new car in the woods near the scene and surely doesn’t want to be implicated if somebody dies. So Marvin drives to a seaside town, rents a house and a computer, and writes an entire book in five days, only stopping to eat and sleep. Of course, within a few pages of the end he has to stop, because he doesn’t actually know how Ann’s best friend, left in the clutches of the boyfriend’s jealous best friend, is going to escape, or whether in fact she does.

Marvin calls his editor and tells her the story is done and he’ll express-overnight it to her. He also asks her to set up a reading from it at his high school that afternoon. More BS? Like, how are they going to allow an author to read from a book that the editor hasn’t even SEEN, let alone put through proofs and galleys? Marvin has to physically print and ship the manuscript — remember, this is 1992 and most people don’t have email yet (and when it would become widespread in a few years, it still had a hyphen). But she does it, and Marvin goes home first to find out that Dad’s in jail and Mom hasn’t touched a drop since. More good news! He takes Ann with him to school, where the entire student body is in stunned disbelief about the identity of Mack Slate, and finally gets some personal acknowledgement from his peers and teachers.

But Shelly doesn’t show up. Neither does Triad. The kids he does ask say neither has been in school all week. Marvin can’t dwell on this, because he has a major book series to finish, but it’s precisely this reason that he hasn’t made it all the way to the end yet. He knows that he needs someone else’s story to finish his own. So he goes back to the lake, and makes his way to the top of the cliff that everyone thought Harry jumped from. As he’s thinking, Shelly shows up with his knife. She tells Marvin that she suspected him of being Mack Slate back when they were dating, and he would tell her stories that had the same voice as Slate’s published work. So she sneaked into Marvin’s room one day and snooped in his computer for proof.

When the Silver Lake books started coming out, she saw the parallels immediately, and figured the only way Marvin could have known so much about how Harry died is if he had killed him. She got Triad, Harry’s best friend, to help her set up a situation where Marvin would implicate himself, not realizing that Triad had always wanted Shelly and been jealous of both of the other guys and didn’t care who hurt if it meant nobody else could have Shelly. That includes Shelly herself: if Triad couldn’t be with her, nobody else would. He didn’t tell Harry that Marvin and Shelly were out together that night, and when Harry realized Shelly was on the back of the motorcycle he did like Marvin and dropped the rope. So Triad pushed him.

Triad obviously has told Shelly all of this, and Marvin figures the only way he would have is if Shelly somehow overpowered him. It’s an interesting twist that she told Triad about using Marvin to get him to figure out Harry’s death and Triad never realized she might use him for the same purpose. (I feel like Shelly has more strength than even the story gives her credit for, seeing as Pike describes all her agency as coming at the hands of her feminine wiles.) Marvin suspects that here, the spot where it all began, is the spot where it has all ended as well, and that the soft soil where he’s sitting is Triad’s final resting place. Shelly doesn’t say as much, but elicits Marvin’s silence before throwing the knife into the lake. But of course Marvin still has a book to finish, and Shelly’s OK with that as she’s apparently the only one who’s figured out the parallels anyway. The book closes with them in Marvin’s car, Shelly driving to Portland so they can get the manuscript on a flight to New York while Marvin writes the last few pages longhand.

I have to admit it: I still really like Master of Murder. Obviously I’m not in high school anymore, so I don’t relate to Marvin the way I used to, but I do connect to his being trapped in his own story and having to listen for others. The book has a lot of holes and inconsistencies in general that either I didn’t notice when I was a teenager or I glossed over in the excitement of having a character I could relate to so well. In particular, the YA publishing description is not without issues, and the ways the industry has changed after the Internet and Columbine and social networks and Trayvon Martin and #MeToo don’t jibe with the already-shoddy impression of how it works that Pike puts on display. The story is consigned to be a relic of its time. But for those of us who were there, who were trying to make our stories heard the way Marvin wanted to, it carries some warm nostalgia. Maybe I only like it so much now because I liked it then, but I’m OK with that.

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our-beginnings · 6 years

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Kim Crayton, Multipotentialite and founder of #causeascene

Kim Crayton works for herself. She is the founder of the #causeascene movement and a proud multipotentialite: a strategist, educator, consultant, writer, public speaker, mentor, trainer, curriculum designer and advocate for diversity, inclusion, and safe spaces in tech.

Thanks very much for doing this! I’ve been a Twitter fan of yours for a while.

No problem! I’m going out of my comfort zone a little more these days.

How so? What are you up to lately?

The videos I’m doing, calling stuff out, asking questions, starting conversations that we need to have. We’re not going to improve our communities until everyone understands that this is going to be uncomfortable.

Uncomfortable, how?

Learning is uncomfortable, period, and we need to stop devaluing the learning process. Self-reflection is hard. Anything which allows us to become better people is going to be hard, and we need to stop looking for simple solutions to complex problems.

So I’ve been just trying to test the waters, see what kind of pushback I get, what kind of support I’m going to get.

Have you gotten any responses that you’ve been surprised by, good or bad?

I’ve only had one negative experience, and that was just someone who wanted to force me to apologize for something I wasn’t going to apologize for, so she got really belligerent. But even when there is pushback, I can frame my response in a way that prompts them to reflect, and people often say, “Oh, your approach made me safe enough to think about this and I recognize that my response was not thoughtful.” Sometimes on Twitter, you miss the nuances of communication, though, and I really try to craft my message. For example, a guy pushed back against one of my Tweets and I responded, but I didn’t engage him in conversation because I didn’t think it would be a productive conversation.

Did you set out to engage in these conversations?

This was not a planned approach— I kind of fell into this. But because of the background and experience I have, I am perfectly able to have these complex conversations in a unique space. I do a lot of conferences, and my third or fourth slide is always my credentials, because I know that someone in the audience is already thinking, “Why should I listen to this Black woman?” Last year I did 19 conferences, keynoting 5 of them, and I felt like I’d earned my right to be on that stage sharing my opinion.

But I shouldn’t have to earn that. I have a masters degree. By the end of the year, I will have a doctorate in business administration. I know this shit. Many underrepresented individuals don’t have these credentials, and it enables me to say what I need to say and shut a lot of stuff down, without people questioning me.

my third or fourth slide is always my credentials, because I know that someone in the audience is already thinking, “Why should I listen to this Black woman?”

I’m also very adept at guiding conversations, because I’ve been a high school teacher. I’m used to reframing the conversation and bringing us back to the problem. I recognize defensiveness, attempt not to take it personally, and I structure my comments that allows me to say what I have to say, with an exclamation point, and I’m done. I control it.

What are some of the biggest problems or misconceptions you’ve encountered?

How people don’t understand how privilege affects marginalised people. I like to start with a definition of underrepresented and marginalized. Underrepresented is about numbers: there aren’t enough people. Marginalized people have been treated unfairly, and this doesn’t include white women. While they aren’t treated like white men, they still benefit from privilege, and until we can have an honest conversation about that, it will continue to be a big issue, particularly in the Black community and communities of colour. We say “We’re making progress with women in tech,” but we’re making progress with white women. Everyone else is falling behind. You invite a population of people who have already been mistreated into a community that continues to mistreat them, and they will leave.

We say “We’re making progress with women in tech,” but we’re making progress with white women. Everyone else is falling behind.

You cannot be my ally until you allow me my truth. White women historically have used their privilege to fall back on, and I don’t have that luxury. So when you say you’re an ally but you respond to me and make it a personal attack, how do you not see the disconnect there? I say this in my talks when I’m talking about white men who are my allies; I call them my League of White Men. They appreciate my honesty, and they have the keys to everything, so why not use them? Why should I break the door down when they have the ability to open it. I’m not blaming them, but I am holding them accountable. They didn’t create the system, but they do benefit from it.

You cannot be my ally until you allow me my truth.

Why do you think we’re so focused on finding someone to blame, rather than trying to re-learn how we speak about these things?

I can’t answer that, but what I’ve observed is that, in work disagreements, when the Black woman or person of colour doesn’t back down, they’re “being aggressive,” or “being defiant.” White women seem to fall back on emotion, thinking that we’re attacking them. They become intimidated and scared. That reminds me so much of Jim Crow. What it unconsciously communicates is a showcase of privilege. I have some wonderful white women who are my allies and they recognize that they do this. But they look at my videos and go “oh shit, I need to make sure I’m not doing this.” It’s not about blame; we’re not going to get the perspectives we need to improve our communities and organizations without listening. Right now there’s a lot of “you can talk, but don’t say that.”

At conferences, I talk about being a female in the south, and received feedback that I was “politicizing it.” It’s like inviting someone into your home and treating them like shit, and then wondering why they’re grabbing their coat and getting ready to go!

[Difference in perspectives] matters for ROI; it’s not political, it’s business.

And that’s just talking about gender and race. There are all kinds of other perspectives — people with disabilities, LGBT people. You have to at least have some perspective of their experience to create products and services for them. This matters for ROI; it’s not political, it’s business. CEOs don’t have to care about inclusion and diversity, but they can put the structures in place and get out of the way to allow the employees and partners and the people who do care to make something great. The CEO doesn’t need to understand or care about diversity to throw money at it and watch it do great things. You’ll see your customer base change, your employees change, your profits change. THAT will change the CEO’s mind. It’s about operationalizing diversity and inclusion. If people don’t have the resources or autonomy to drive change, then what have you done?

CEOs don’t have to care about inclusion and diversity, but they can put the structures in place and get out of the way

Sometimes, the best thing we can do is just get out of the way, and resist the urge to throw tech at everything.

So many people in this space do not have that skill. I hate the term “soft skills.” If my talk is related to tech, it’s a technical talk. I have very technical skills, ones that developers and UX designers do not have. My ability to communicate with people is devalued because I’m not writing code. If your only skill is coding, then you’ll be obsolete very shortly. There are other skills that you need to have: critical thinking, problem solving, and if you can’t do that, then there’s no need for you. The people with my skills will always have a job in this space. Humans will always need to be navigated.

Is navigating this space this where you expected to find yourself when you were younger?

Hell no! This didn’t even exist when I was a kid. I’m 49 soon, and call myself a proud multipotentialite. Growing up, I’d do something, get good at it, and move on to the next thing. People thought I was flighty and unfocused, but that’s helped me a lot.

I never saw myself as a producer of tech, but I just solved my own problems.

I’ve always been more than your typical consumer of tech, but I’d never seen myself as being a producer of tech because nobody in my community was talking about that. Although I had a computer before a lot of people I know, a lot of that came out when I was adult. I have an undergrad in interior design, so I used CAD in the 90s. When the new tech came out, I would buy it and be interested, but not just as a toy. Specifically, when Apple would have their keynotes, I watched the developer one because I liked hearing why and how they made what they did. When I wanted to build a website, I would google how to make one and follow Youtube videos. I never saw myself as a producer of tech, but I just solved my own problems.

So what made you take the leap?

In 2014 my dad died, and that was my greatest fear— dealing with the death of a parent. At the time, I was a teacher, but I was not happy. I thought, “OK, my dad died, I didn’t. Fuck it, I’m going to do what I want. I’m ready to stop being scared and jump off the cliff.” I went to Maui for a week after the services and I sent a text to a friend: “I’m leaving education and I’m going into ‘tech’” . The “tech” was in quotes, because I had no clue. I just thought I’d figure it out.

When I came back, being a Black female in the south suddenly became an advantage because people wanted me to go to these tech events. When I went to my first Javascript conference I didn’t even know what Javascript was. In theory, my next step should’ve been to learn to code, but I didn’t. As an educator, I have a real problem with how we teach coding, especially with underrepresented and marginalized people, because we’re spending money on programs that don’t work. When it comes to teaching, we need to teach computational thinking, and then allow people to go into whatever area of tech they choose to.

My first talk was at ScotlandJS in Edinburgh in 2016, and I did 2 or 3 more that year. I was figuring out that I didn’t want to code, but I had skills, and was finding how best to communicate that people were missing the boat. At that point, I was working on my doctorate, and I sat down every Sunday and at minimum filled out 10 CFPs. There were many I didn’t get, but by sheer numbers, I caught a few! I started going to Python, Clojure, Angular, Ember, Ruby conferences, DevOps days.

All of a sudden, I became this inclusion and diversity person and I was really pissed about what I was seeing. People want to hear me talk, but they don’t want to pay. They want consultancy, but they don’t want to pay. This goes with the hashtag I’ve been using, #causeascene. I’m passionate about bringing underrepresented and marginalized people to the business table. We need to stop being reactive, like with #TakeAKnee and #MeToo. These issues matter, but what is the strategy for effective change? You get outraged, and then you don’t hear about it once something else is in the news. People get upset, but nothing changes. Instead of being outraged and reactive, I want to be strategic and proactive. We need underrepresented and marginalized people people at the business table, so we need to teach them about business strategies. That’s what @biz4socialchg is: helping underrepresented and marginalized people understand the structures and systems that need to be in place to grow a business so that you can be at the table and you cannot be dismissed.

Was there a specific moment when you decided that this business-based strategy was what you wanted to hone in on?

Recently! When I grasped the business focus, the puzzle pieces came together and I realized I had a unique perspective. I saw that we could improve our communities and orgs by applying business practices. The open-source community is not sustainable. Node, for example, is not healthy right now. It’s blown up on Twitter a few times and at some point, there’s going to be a moment where the stuff you’ve ignored is bigger than the stuff you can save. There will be a tipping point when the codebase starts reflecting all of this, and that means you’re not getting enough issues, enough pull requests, enough people from enough backgrounds looking at the code. This creeps into the code of all of the organizations using node, and affects their business. The lack of diversity will have a ripple effect throughout tech. The issues may not show up in the codebase today, but business leaders will see them in a few years when it impacts their customers’ experience and their data, and they’ll be liable.

Now that I’ve realized that’s where I can create change, I’m so excited about it. What I want to do is make business school education available to the masses, particularly so that underrepresented and marginalized people can build scalable businesses.

Do you ever feel pressure to be a role model in the way that you are?

I would if I hadn’t had my experiences in education. Particularly being a special-needs teacher, I had to take on a family role as well, educating families on the system and how to maximize that system for their child. I really believe in self-care, because this space can be very toxic and I have to make sure my mental and physical health are paramount. At the end of last year, I was neither happy nor right, and now that I have found the space, in tech, that works for me, it's easier for me to focus on me.

This is especially true as a Black woman in the United States. People don’t realize just how much of the country’s success has been achieved on the shoulders of Black women. I no longer am the “strong Black woman.” I used to take pride in that because I thought it meant something. But now, I know it’s an excuse for people to use me. I am very aware if I don’t want to do something, and I’m honest about it.

With this new outlook of yours, how do you see your next five, ten years? What are you most excited about or afraid of?

At this point, I’ll be 50 in a year, and “no” doesn’t exist. I’ve been saying this a lot recently: I don’t care what your opinion of Trump is, but you can’t say he’s not confident. I gave myself permission to be confident, but I balance it with empathy in all the other skills I have. That level of confidence has allowed me to say “fuck it” and just do what I want. I unapologetically take up space, and it’s so freeing and cathartic!

I gave myself permission to be confident, but I balance it with empathy in all the other skills I have

I don’t have many fears. They’ll find me, so I won’t focus on them. But before, when I was speaking, I got burnt out quickly— five countries in a month! I look forward to traveling the world in a way where I can go to these countries and enjoy them, and not get right back on a plane. I want to enjoy my life! I just want to have fun. This is one industry where people can make a shitload of money, and I want my part of it, and I want to enjoy myself. I add a lot of value to the community and I want to make sure I’m living my best life.

Thank you, Kim, for your time, thought, and invaluable insight. It was an honour to chat with you!

Find Kim on Twitter, her website, and learn from her on Periscope.

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yeonchi · 6 years

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Dub Logistics Part 23: The Hypocrisy of Greed

“Why is it justified to call out anti-consumer practices in games, but greedy to call out the omission of dual audio options in Japanese games?”

If there’s one thing I’ve learned last year, it’s that there are fans of Western games who claim to be against “unfinished video games” which can be “completed” with pre-order bonuses, season passes and DLC while also being against the inclusion of English or Japanese voice options to compliment whichever language is in the game first. These are the types of hypocrites who should probably never touch a Japanese video game lest they embarrass themselves with their hypocrisy.

This seemingly irrational paranoia comes after a debate and feud I had with some people in that exact category last year, who I will not be mentioning by name. The fact that they disagreed with my views and opinions on game localisation, yet being against corporate greed in the gaming industry, was strange to me at the time, but in reflection, the events of the debate and feud were no better than mere pettiness, sock puppetry, baiting, flaming and virtue-signalling on both sides. Some of the points they made, though convincing, were questionable at best, so if you decide to revisit my older posts and see what they said, then I recommend that you take their points with a grain of salt.

This instalment isn’t about those guys, however. I couldn’t care less about them now and to the other party(ies) from the debate, I’m sorry if you were expecting to see more inflammatory comments about you being “dub haters”, but it’s not all about you - chances are that there could be other people who share the same hypocritical views you do. Just between you and me, however, I’ve heard about the recent Count Dankula case and sentencing. While it is great to hear that he only got fined £800 instead of being sentenced to prison, the fact that he had to go to court over a joke about a political ideology that should have gone extinct after World War II is absolutely outrageous. In spite of what happened between us, I think we should be grateful that we’re not in the UK, we’re not that famous (let’s face it) and that our feud hasn’t escalated to a point where either of us have to be put on trial for our bullshit. There are many other famous people who are worse than any of us and I think that the world should be focusing more on them and not on any petty things like these. That is all I am going to say.

Anyway, back on topic now. In the past, I had learnt that Western gaming companies, like EA and Ubisoft, are just some of many other culprits involved in anti-consumer practices like micro-transactions, season passes and “essential” DLCs for the sake of having a “complete gaming experience”. However, I honestly thought it would never happen to Japanese games until I learnt that Dynasty Warriors 9 and Dissidia Final Fantasy would be getting season passes. That is how blissfully ignorant I was until recently, when I realised that all gamers should be united against corporate greed in gaming, whether it be in the game itself or in localisation. The fact that people are still dividing themselves and others over voice preferences today is absolutely insane.

The reason why I wanted to write this instalment was because of a couple of posts I did in February regarding Dynasty Warriors 9. A week after I posted my crosspost from the English Dubbed Game News page, a fan of mine (and yes, if you, the people on the other side of the debate and feud, are reading this, I actually do have fans, contrary to your “popular” opinion) sent me a link to Jim Sterling’s video titled “The Dismal Degradation Of Dynasty Warriors” and I wrote a little follow-up post on it. In the video, he mentions Koei Tecmo’s negligence of English dubbing in their newer localisations along with the “money grubbing” DLC in Dynasty Warriors 9. It should also be noted that Jim has posted some videos regarding his views on corporate greed in the gaming industry.

At the end of the post, I said, “On a side note, it’s a shame that some people (or should I say, hypocrites) will agree with some points in Jim’s video while disagreeing with other points.” Someone who read the post was seemingly confused by it, thinking that I said that it was hypocritical to not agree with everything Jim said in the video. Though it was partly true, I clarified to him my view that people who are against “money grubbing” DLC, while also calling other people “greedy” for wanting games to be localised with an extra English or Japanese voice option, were hypocrites. The other person replied saying that even though both cases were related to the umbrella category of “corporate greed”, they were very different things - the former was about getting consumers to pay for a more complete gaming experience and the other is just the company being cheap in a way that doesn’t cost consumers any money.

Here’s my understanding of this logic - the original release of a game, whether it be in Japan or any other region, is the actual game itself, while localisations are considered re-releases of the game with “extra features”, namely extra subtitles or voice tracks. Realistically, publishers can go without localising some of their games, but I feel that in recent years, publishers are forcing themselves to localise as many games as they can in the shortest amount of time possible. This results in corners being cut from localisation and as a result, we get games that aren’t dual audio, aren’t fully dubbed or aren’t translated up to par.

And look, I get the argument about budgets and that, but that’s not the point here. The point is that localisations, translations and voice actors can have as much significance in a game (or anime or whatever) and its respective franchise as a whole. If it weren’t for that logic, a lot of games (and animes and the like) wouldn’t be as popular as they are today and a lot of English voice actors (and by extension, Japanese seiyuus) wouldn’t be revered today for the characters they voiced recently or even years ago.

Some people believe that voice languages are a minor aspect of the game and that they will play with (realistically) any language that the game gives them. Like with dub preferences, the choice is entirely personal, but when opinion-neutral people try to tell others that “the language doesn’t matter”, this is teetering on fanboy cuckoldry because it disregards the arguments made by people on each side of the debate. Just because you are okay with what you are given doesn’t mean everyone should be okay with what they are given as well. For everyone’s sake, people should be fighting against corporate greed of any kind in gaming, whether it be in regards to DLC or localisation.

I’m going to play devil’s advocate here for a bit. Let’s say that Western gaming companies are claiming, or allowing their fans to imply, that their budget has become a bit tight lately, so they have to cut corners in their games or result to money grubbing measures like implementing micro-transactions or releasing “extra” game content as DLC and letting fans imply that buying that DLC will give them a more complete experience. You’re not happy with the company doing this, so you make a habit of complaining about it on social media. Later, you find that some people are calling you greedy and entitled and that you should be grateful that the company has made the game in the first place. This is the kind of stuff that dub fans and sub fans are getting on social media just because we are asking for fair representation in the form of English or Japanese voice options.

Before you derail this topic with the typical cuck response, “But nobody owes us anything, so game companies don’t owe you anything as well,” just stop for a moment and think about this. Humility is a good concept to know, but it shouldn’t be taken literally on everything because you’ll never be happy if you don’t enjoy the things you like. It would be nice if people were humble enough not to chase up the debts of others, but I’m sure that when you lend something to someone, you would expect them to give it back to you. If someone does a favour for you, then it is in good faith that you pay that favour back at a later time. As for humility in the aspect of materialism, then it is expected that if you decide to buy something, then it will be of good quality and worth of its use until you decide to buy a better version of that thing later.

When you are a fan of something or someone, you would expect to be impressed with what they put out every time. You have a right to make compliments when they do something right and you have a right to make criticisms when they do something wrong. However, something that may be considered wrong by one person can be considered right by another and thus, that is how conflicts start. If you are a fan of something that receives a lot of criticism, think about what they may have done to disappoint you or the rest of their fanbase. I’m not giving any examples here because you need to think for yourself in order to do this; being part of the sheeple will not help you in the long run because one day, you may be disappointed over a thing that you like.

If “game companies don’t owe their fans anything”, then fans don’t owe game companies anything either. The mentality that fans are expected to support everything that someone does (whether they see it as good or bad) has the potential to be toxic and so, should be discouraged. On the other hand, some responsibility also lies on those who make stuff for their fans, including game companies - they are expected to maintain their fanbase by going the extra mile to keep them impressed.

If you like an aspect of something but not another, don’t put down other fans who may like the thing you dislike. Everyone is entitled to something, even their own opinion. That being said, if you like Western games and Japanese games, then maybe supporting fairer game content while acknowledging that not all companies have the money to dub, sub, or licence the original voice track of a game is not a good idea because you’re just going to end up sounding like a hypocrite. If you’re one of those people who like to think that way, then maybe you should refrain from talking about Japanese game localisations.

If complaining about any form of greed is a form of greed in itself, then the concept of being against greed is absolutely hypocritical.

Just another reminder that I will be ending the Dub Logistics series with Part 30 at the end of the year, so if you have something you would like me to cover before then, please inform me as soon as possible.

The fact that this instalment was posted one year on from the initial debate that sparked the feud is completely coincidental. It’s really funny that I never thought to talk about this hypocrisy back then, but better late than never, I suppose.

With regards to the Count Dankula case I mentioned earlier, feel free to read up on it and do some research, because I feel that this case has set a precedent for free speech in the United Kingdom and possibly, the world. The pettiness that led to Dankula being put on trial in the first place is the same pettiness that is causing YouTube videos and Facebook pages (along with memes) to be taken down in the name of “offensive content”. The reporting systems on social media have already been abused enough in the past few years; we don’t need petty things like this to be taken to court so that victims can suffer for a long time while they await their sentence.

#dub logistics #english dub #video games

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bleedingcoffee42 · 6 years

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Murder Mystery

Drabble request #31 “Stop it you're embarrassing me.” for Hyuroi. A House on Haunted Hill(1959 version with the vat of acid in the basement and pushy skeletons) AU I've wanted to do for forever.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Roy was looking out the hotel room window and trying to not check his watch again. They were in the Grand Hotel, in Central, dressed in tuxedos waiting on instructions for this 'special event'. He was watching the sunset and also watching Hughes and Edward in the reflection of the window as they prepared for the evening. “Hughes, this entire agenda reads like a script of exactly what not to do going into a potential hostile, highly suspicious situation. And it keeps getting worse.”

“I know.” Hughes said and slapped Ed's hand away from the bow tie he was trying to help him straighten. He was about ready to strangle the kid with it if he didn't stop trying to loosen it. “Which is exactly why we need to go.”

Roy turned to look at them. Ed was clearly uncomfortable in the formal wear and Hughes was intent on getting the tie absolutely perfect before turning the young alchemist loose to inevitably try to undo it once again. Ed was like a puppy who got his first collar and was only behaving because Armstrong was waiting in the wings to help if Hughes failed. “It was one thing when we were arriving as a unit, now they are separating us.”

“Well at least they're sending cars for us, I'd be more worried about someone getting killed if they were letting you drive.” Hughes said and sat up straight and slapped his hands on his knees. He sat on the bed and looked at his work, it looked good.

“I'm serious Hughes.” Roy said and his best friend gave him a smile and wink.

“I don't like it either, but I need to gain some ground on this.” Hughes said and looked to Alex. “We've been trying to find a way around going with the plans sent to us and unfortunately we have absolutely nothing to go on. The invitations sent to the guests have no fingerprints or return addresses, nobody saw them delivered into locked offices or homes. The guest list of state alchemists is worrisome, but if anyone is capable of defending themselves its you guys.”

“State Alchemist and one head of military investigations.” Roy said. Hughes was the one that worried him, the inclusion of the man who was involved in several open investigations that could ruin careers. If it was someone trying to gain favor or test the State Alchemists, well that was just your average social event. Hughes, he'd be the one looking into the aftermath of this event if it all went to hell. He wasn't famous like them. “All going to a murder mystery in a haunted house.”

“Rich people are weird.” Hughes said with a shrug. “Right Alex?”

“Yes, sir.” Alex said with a nod of pride.

Roy looked at Ed who was just standing there, dressed up in a tailored tuxedo Hughes had demanded he wear. The instructions were explicit. Formal wear, it was a elegant occasion. “You've been quiet, Fullmetal.”

“It's because I don't want to admit I agree with you, Colonel.” Ed said and tugged at his collar and stepped away from Hughes so he didn't get his hand slapped again. “This just reeks of a setup.”

“That's the point.” Hughes said and sighed. “Look, I need your help figuring this out. Do I like it? No. Do I like that they keep changing the plan? No. Do I think someone might be trying to kill us? Yeah. Am I willing to let this event go on with some other officers or citizens...no. Unfortunately it comes down to us to get to the bottom of all this and stop it before someone else gets hurt.”

“The last murder mystery was on a boat in Aquaroya.” Alex reminded them. “And all authorities found was a ghost ship floating in the lake the following Monday. Lights and music still going, running on generators as the engine had run out of diesel. Everything left without a struggle, as if the people had just been plucked from thin air and the party just waiting for them to come back. We have not found those people. We, as officers, are more equipped to handle this. As alchemists, especially concentrated in force, we are unstoppable.”

“That's what worries me.” Roy said and Ed made a face that looked like he was having indigestion. Looks like he had to admit he agreed with him again.

“Me too.” Ed said grudgingly. “Look, I'm all for rushing into the unknown and kicking ass, but I like the element of surprise. This was weird enough when that invite showed up in my dorm room. Then I find out the Colonel got one too? OK, I thought it was a Halloween party you were doing for Elicia, like real life Clue. Then the details keep coming out and taking control away from us. Like we have to check into the Hotel, in rooms reserved for us. Make sure we're dressed up. Fine. Cool. I mean a Hotel is a pretty public place, maybe it is just some weird rich people party.”

“Then the venue changes.” Roy continued. “And we're being split up and getting in individual cars to be driven to some undisclosed location.”

“We have your team and my team ready to follow the cars.” Hughes assured them.

“I'm not trying to back out.” Ed said. “I'm ready to kick someone's ass, especially if this is some elaborate kidnapping plot. I just...I guess...”

“We're all going to be worried about each other, Ed.” Alex said softly. “It is an element we were not prepared for.”

“Who else is going to this?” Ed asked. “Besides the four of us?”

“Basque Grand. Giolio Commanche.” Hughes answered. “They're excited.”

“I bet they are.” Roy said. Neither man shied away from blood or destruction. “Ed, Grand gave this operation the seal of approval. He's head of the Alchemist Corps.”

“Yeah, I know.” Ed replied, he might not care and tended to forget he answered to a higher power than Mustang, but Grand was a hard man to forget.

“Which means this also has the Fuhrer's approval.” Hughes added.

“Ah.” Ed said.

“I'm feeling a little nostalgic about our Fullmetal versus Flame fight.” Roy said and sat down on the bed beside Hughes. “The Fuhrer likes to flex the might of his human weapons when the expectation is to shy away from putting them in harms way.”

“So...what's the plan then?” Ed asked.

“It sounds like you have the Fuhrer's approval to destroy whatever the hell you want.” Roy said with a smirk. “And it's Grand leading this mission so it's on him. Have fun, kid.”

Ed smiled for the first time that night. “I guess you never have a hard time finding me after a fight, do you?”

“Nope.” Roy said.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Hughes was expecting the worst as a soon as they got into the black cars with tinted windows that had been pulled up on the curb in front of the Grand Hotel. Each guest got in a separate car and he knew that it would be hard for the teams watching them to follow these vehicles in Central at night. There was a dark window blocking him from seeing the driver and the other windows were impossible to see out of. Someone had gone through a lot of effort to make sure they couldn't see anything. Then again, it was possible an alchemist could have just changed the tint of the glass without much work.

So he tried to focus on distance driven, the turns made and the time elapsed. That would give him an idea of where they could be, a radius of distance traveled from the hotel and if they were still in Central. Of course he didn't have much time to study the maps of the city, he wasn't expecting the change in location, which was another point in the column of the mystery host.

When the car finally stopped he braced himself for anything and when the door opened he wasn't expecting Roy's smiling face.

“Hey handsome, looking for a good time?”

Hughes smirked. He was afraid the intention was to separate them and he was glad he didn't have to worry about that. He got out of the car. Things were already looking up. “What do you have in mind?”

“Maybe you'd like to explore something dark, damp and abandoned?” Roy said as the car left.

“Mmm...neglected are we?” Hughes mumbled as he looked in Roy's eyes. What was he trying to tell him? God dammit! Why did Roy have to flirt to get his secret messages across? Why the fuck couldn't he just use pig Latin or Morse code or something not even remotely sensual? Especially now, while they were in front of someplace in Central he had never seen before with more cars arriving behind them.

“Yeah, like that research we used to do on the floor of our dorm room in the academy.” Roy said and then turned to look at the abandoned building they had been brought to.

“Stop it, you're embarrassing me.” Hughes said and playful punched Roy's shoulder before going to open the door of the next car. Roy's research? Hughes ran through old memories of them, fond memories of young them exploring a lot in the academy but Roy was not thinking about sex right now. He was hinting about his old research, what he was planning to do if he couldn't convince Master Hawkeye to finish teaching him Flame Alchemy, what Roy was going to try to use to get certified. What he dedicated his academy years to studying in the event his dreams could not be brought to fruition. Research alchemy, based on oxygen. Oxygen in the blood. This was some kind of medical facility that Roy recognized? Had he been here before?

Hughes didn't need to ask, he just needed to know what he was dealing with. Roy felt it important enough to relay to him so that was all he needed. This place had historical significance in Roy's life, it wasn't just an abandoned building. More reason to worry. He went over to the next car to arrive to unlock the door. The back doors only opened from the outside, he check that on the way over. They had to wait on their entire party to arrive. “Roy, who let you out of your car?”

“My door wasn't locked.” Roy said and looked at the building illuminated by a few old gas lamps on the driveway and some lights within. It was dark and he could only see the outline of the building but he'd never forget this place, nor the feeling he felt when he first came out her for a tour of the facility when he was in the academy. A research hospital funded by the military. Staffed by research alchemists, populated by criminals and other people society wished to forget existed. If he only knew then what he knew now.

#hyuroi #drabble request #fic #murder mystery au

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years

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America’s Restaurants Are Worth Saving. Here’s How.

23 chefs, activists, restaurant owners, documentarians, and workers look into their crystal balls to envision: What would a utopian restaurant industry look like in five years?

The realities of the COVID-19 pandemic — which has devastated the restaurant industry and irreparably altered the lives of everyone who works in it — has forced a painful, impossibly forward-looking conversation to the front of people’s minds: How will the restaurant industry rebuild?

It’s not a premature or needlessly pessimistic question; the restaurant industry has been held together by a frayed thread since long before the pandemic. Recent months have revealed how precarious the livelihoods are of a largely uninsured and often undocumented workforce; the extent to which independent restaurant owners face paying unforgiving rents; and how deeply diners have been encouraged to devalue the labor that goes into growing, transporting, cooking, and serving their food. The culture of restaurants, too — long known to harbor a cartoonishly masculine, often hostile environment — came under a fresh round of scrutiny, years after the beginning of #MeToo, as a summer of social justice protests rooted in the Black Lives Matter movement inspired more and more restaurant employees to publicly expose racist, sexist, and abusive work environments.

The term “reckoning” has been bandied about in response to the intertwined awakenings, but this is just the beginning. In fact, to some, it’s an opportunity. The restaurant industry’s precarious position — one where survival is not guaranteed — places it in a position to actively imagine the terms of its own rebirth.

Eater asked 23 leaders to predict what a revitalized restaurant industry would (and should) look like five years from now, in (a presumably post-COVID vaccine) 2025. The images can feel utopian: Scenes of community-based food systems from the grower on down, of dining rooms and kitchens where every employee has access to health care and a living wage, of flexible business models that encourage creativity but place the needs of the immediate community first. But as these voices reveal, there’s an army of chefs, activists, restaurant owners, documentarians, and workers armed with big ideas and even bigger expectations. And they’re already making it happen.

The untapped promise of America’s restaurants means they are worth saving. Here’s how.

First, burn it all down…

“The tastiest, healthiest food, made from responsibly produced ingredients, that’s affordable to all, made by a well-paid, well-trained staff that are not overworked, will remain a pie in the sky unless we undergo nothing short of a revolution. As long as the Farm Bill incentivizes food that makes us ill; as long as our governmental policies perpetuate abuse and oppression of Black people, the Indigenous, immigrants, women, and the poor; as long as our government continues to allow corporations to destroy the environment, vast systemic improvements to the restaurant industry will not happen, and the sustainable food movement will only significantly benefit the rich.” — Bun Lai, chef/owner of Miya’s in New Haven, Connecticut, the first sustainable sushi restaurant in the world

“Dismantling of the brigade system. Dismantling of a singular concept driven by the face of a chef. Representation in a restaurant of the people that work there, not just a brand of a chef or a restaurant group... More needs to be done on transparency in pay at restaurants. Not just tipping, which needs to go away. It’s racist, it’s classist. It’s really about passing the buck, and that’s what this industry is about: never really taking responsibility 100 percent.” — Eric Rivera, chef/owner of Addo in Seattle

…to create a new, fair, inclusive system…

“Restaurants are creating a surplus of disadvantages for people that live at or below a certain poverty line. The issue of solving restaurants is the issue of solving hunger ... [and] the vast majority of the people who have those issues work in restaurants. Most chefs don’t eat the quality of the food in which they sell because of the hours in which they have to work to make ends meet to be successful. Servers who work in these restaurants often aren’t treated properly or make enough money to take care of themselves.” — Houston chef Jonny Rhodes, who will close his fine-dining restaurant Indigo in 2021 to focus on his grocery store and farm

“We need to totally redesign the way we think about service and compensation. I would love it if there was a world where all of the porters and dishwashers had health insurance. If we could just get the diner accustomed to what that actually looks like, in terms of menu prices. Dining out ethically means you’re going to be paying a lot more than you ever thought you would. There are hidden costs to that hamburger. That unpaid, invisible labor. I want to see a world where working at a restaurant is given respect and you get health insurance and you make a living wage. It would be great if they could be paid what they actually contribute to society, which is so much.”— Sohla El-Waylly, assistant food editor at Bon Appétit

“This industry was really built off slavery, essentially. That’s why it was a profitable business. Because they didn’t have to pay for labor. They didn’t have to pay servers. They didn’t have to pay their cooks. They just had to pay for their food. So I think taking a hard look at this industry, and what it’s really going to take to change is the whole industry waking up to that narrative. That’s not going to be easy. I’m not saying that I have the answers, but that’s what I would like to see and I hope we can figure out a way to get there together.” — Washington, D.C.-based chef Kwame Onwuachi

“I think workers will be paid and treated as the professionals that they are and that will result in a better bottom line for employers, less turnover, and a better dining experience for customers. It will be a world in which everybody gets a full, fair livable minimum wage. Nobody’s living off of tips as a part of their base wage, and that dramatically reduces sexual harassment in the industry and racial inequality. It will mean that the industry would have moved away from the legacy of slavery and toward a future of stability and equity for everybody.” — Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage and director of the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley

“In this most generous future, the pay wouldn’t matter because maybe your income isn’t as tied to your performance of labor. It wouldn’t be as dire or as important, being paid well or not paid well. I think from that standpoint, it would be interesting to consider restaurants as a place for performance, a more engaged performance of labor, a more engaged performance of diner — folks who are fully present. But I don’t think those things necessarily preclude conflict or tension, because those things are inherent in people, despite whatever system is in place ... but I do think that the framework, in my most generous interpretation of the future, would be more compassionate. And the folks who inhabit that framework would be faced with different challenges. It wouldn’t be utopian, but it would be egalitarian and rewarding in some way.” — Tunde Wey, chef, documentarian, and author of the essay “Don’t Bail Out the Restaurant Industry”

“In the long-term future, I think we will have to think about socializing the cost of health care. That is, we cannot run this business on the backs of people who are the most vulnerable politically, vulnerable socially, and vulnerable as people to healthcare risks, including COVID-19.” — Krishnendu Ray, associate professor of food studies at NYU and author of The Ethnic Restaurateur. Read more from our conversation with Krishnendu here.

… and a business model that’s both ethical and sustainable...

“Restaurants are mini capitalism petri dishes… everything about capitalism is sort of amplified in a restaurant, because everything is an extreme. And it really hurts me, because I think a fundamental thing about cooks and chefs is that we want to be generous. Yet the business doesn’t allow for that.” — Samin Nosrat, chef, writer, and Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat star

“I’m really hoping that there’s going to be different ways of structuring a business — from the ownership, compensation models, whether it’s cooperative or profit sharing, tipping or no tipping — various different ways of solving the problem of equitably paying people. A lot of the issues that workers face are due to low wages or lower amounts of leverage. People exploring innovative ways to structure their businesses is going to be the next way that people are going to get out of this.” — John deBary, bar expert, writer, and co-founder/president of the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation

“I’d like to see more cooperative and collective ownership. I think there’s a lot to be gained from that, particularly in a country where there’s been so many conversations about cultural appropriation. I think it’s time for us to put our money where our mouth is and give back to cultures and values that have built us as individuals and really disperse the benefits.” — Emiliana Puyana, program manager at the nonprofit San Francisco food-business incubator La Cocina

“The things that I find really exciting, too, are the ways in which the food industry has stepped up through programs like SF New Deal, Frontline Foods — to find other ways of existing outside of a retail identity. Not necessarily charity, but community-oriented work, is going to be a bigger emphasis. Because it’s so meaningful, because it really does help people, if you can find a way to square your operation and make it work with that model built in, I think that is really great.” — Soleil Ho, San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic

“If we’re really going to think about what transformation and opportunity look like, what does it look like within the context of having spaces that restaurateurs and chefs could afford? Does that model look like ownership? Does the model look like cooperative ownership? What does it look like to be able to be successful?” — Devita Davison, executive director of FoodLab Detroit

… which would help change the culture…

“I’m interested in seeing what food will look like if we allow all cultures to participate. Every culture that’s allowed to be elevated on a higher level in this industry, to showcase their techniques and cuisine, people pull from it. If you allowed African Americans to rise to that level, then let’s [ask people to consider]: How will European or French cuisine taste using a blend of West African spices and West African techniques, or Southern techniques? We’re missing a whole flavor profile of food by keeping chefs or a culture of people at a lower level where they’re not able to bring information and knowledge to this industry.” — Keith Corbin, chef of Alta Adams in Los Angeles

“Most of the industry’s still operating under an obsolete system that still glorifies long hours, misogyny, and the bullying of the queer community. I think it’s essential to get rid of these toxic behaviors and start working toward a more inclusive environment that takes care of mental and physical health.” — Paxx Caraballo Moll, chef of Jungle BaoBao in San Juan, Puerto Rico

“Being a little bit more holistic in thinking about how tedious and physical and also mentally draining it is to be in kitchen culture, restaurant culture, sometimes even for seven days straight for some people. I’m looking forward to seeing a care-based approach on how we support people that are working in this industry from the ground up.”— Francesca Chaney, owner of Brooklyn’s Sol Sips. Read more from our conversation with Francesca here.

“There is very little contact between the Thomas Kellers of the world and the Steve Ellises of the world. There’s a lot of things we can learn from each other that unfortunately doesn’t exist because there hasn’t been the platform or the incentive, up till this point, to have those conversations. Chipotle should be talking to the Cambodian noodle restaurant, and they should be helping each other out. Fine-dining restaurants should be in conversation with people like us.” — Lucas Sin, NYC-based founder and chef of Junzi Kitchen

“Instead of these big mega-restaurants, I see lots of small places, lots of small gathering places where there is a lot of exchange of ideas. Food just becomes part of that. It’s not just food. It’s not about coming and eating and leaving. It’s about talking. It’s about politics. It’s about everything else.” — Vishwesh Bhatt, chef of Snackbar in Oxford, Mississippi

“Right now we’re not really charging the correct cost of a meal. We as a business have to do our job to create that awareness. I think that’s the change that needs to be seen so people don’t question and will be more willing to pay for the true cost of a meal.” — Azalina Eusope, a fifth-generation street food vendor and chef-owner of Azalina’s in San Francisco

“I just really hope that even in six months’ time, that we have this amount of energy. If I could give anybody any advice, it would be: Keep going. Anytime you think that you’re not enough, keep going, because you’re going to be enough for you. And ultimately, as people of color, as Black folks, we have all the tools that we need to survive on our own; we’ve always been that way due to the structures of capitalism and the impact of these socialized systems.” — Zenat Begum, owner of Brooklyn’s Playground Coffee Shop

… fix the supply chain...

“The understanding of Indigenous food systems is the understanding of how regional food systems work, and I really believe that that is where we need to be moving toward in the future. We need community-based food systems, we need a lot more local community-based farming systems that can produce a lot of food for very particular regions.” — Sean Sherman, founder/CEO of the Sioux Chef and the Indigenous Food Lab. Read more from our conversation with Sean here.

“There’s still a lot of exploitation that happens at the farm level. I would say that’s probably the single biggest challenge and weakness that this entire industry has. The people who are doing by far the most labor-intensive portion of the entire supply chain are at origin, and they’re getting the smallest piece of the pie in terms of compensation and how the dollar is divided up. The level of exploitation and the level of poverty that exists for the farmers and producers is a tragedy.” — Keba Konte, founder of Red Bay Coffee in Oakland, California. Read more from our conversation with Keba here.

… and finally, save the world.

“Implement carbon farming. Globally, 1 percent of GDP [investing in carbon farming] would have society on track to solve climate change and lower global temperatures. That’s all it takes, sending 1 percent instead of 0.00 percent.” — Anthony Myint, co-founder of Mission Chinese Food and Zero Foodprint, a nonprofit organization that funds renewable farming efforts.

Interviews by Monica Burton, Brenna Houck, Nick Mancall-Bitel, Rebecca Flint Marx, Meghan McCarron, Jaya Saxena, Elazar Sontag, Lesley Suter, and Jenny G. Zhang

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/31MoIuK https://ift.tt/2EF14YG

23 chefs, activists, restaurant owners, documentarians, and workers look into their crystal balls to envision: What would a utopian restaurant industry look like in five years?

The untapped promise of America’s restaurants means they are worth saving. Here’s how.

First, burn it all down…

…to create a new, fair, inclusive system…

… and a business model that’s both ethical and sustainable...

… which would help change the culture…

… fix the supply chain...

… and finally, save the world.

Interviews by Monica Burton, Brenna Houck, Nick Mancall-Bitel, Rebecca Flint Marx, Meghan McCarron, Jaya Saxena, Elazar Sontag, Lesley Suter, and Jenny G. Zhang

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/31MoIuK via Blogger https://ift.tt/2DjsX7T

#Blogger #cooking #Eater #food #recipes

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toshootforthestars · 4 years

Link

From the report by Eric Levitz, posted 24 May 2020:

A decade later, “Dr. Doom” is a bear once again. While many investors bet on a “V-shaped recovery,” Roubini is staking his reputation on an L-shaped depression.

The economist (and host of a biweekly economic news broadcast) does expect things to get better before they get worse: He foresees a slow, lackluster (i.e., “U-shaped”) economic rebound in the pandemic’s immediate aftermath. But he insists that this recovery will quickly collapse beneath the weight of the global economy’s accumulated debts.

Specifically, Roubini argues that the massive private debts accrued during both the 2008 crash and COVID-19 crisis will durably depress consumption and weaken the short-lived recovery. Meanwhile, the aging of populations across the West will further undermine growth while increasing the fiscal burdens of states already saddled with hazardous debt loads.

Although deficit spending is necessary in the present crisis, and will appear benign at the onset of recovery, it is laying the kindling for an inflationary conflagration by mid-decade. As the deepening geopolitical rift between the United States and China triggers a wave of deglobalization, negative supply shocks akin those of the 1970's are going to raise the cost of real resources, even as hyperexploited workers suffer perpetual wage and benefit declines. Prices will rise, but growth will peter out, since ordinary people will be forced to pare back their consumption more and more. Stagflation will beget depression. And through it all, humanity will be beset by unnatural disasters, from extreme weather events wrought by man-made climate change to pandemics induced by our disruption of natural ecosystems.

Roubini allows that, after a decade of misery, we may get around to developing a “more inclusive, cooperative, and stable international order.” But, he hastens to add, “any happy ending assumes that we find a way to survive” the hard times to come.

Intelligencer recently spoke with Roubini about our impending doom.

You predict that the coronavirus recession will be followed by a lackluster recovery and global depression. The financial markets ostensibly see a much brighter future. What are they missing and why?

Well, first of all, my prediction is not for 2020. It’s a prediction that these ten major forces will, by the middle of the coming decade, lead us into a “Greater Depression.” Markets, of course, have a shorter horizon. In the short run, I expect a U-shaped recovery while the markets seem to be pricing in a V-shape recovery.

Of course the markets are going higher because there’s a massive monetary stimulus, there’s a massive fiscal stimulus. People expect that the news about the contagion will improve, and that there’s going to be a vaccine at some point down the line. And there is an element “FOMO” [fear of missing out]; there are millions of new online accounts — unemployed people sitting at home doing day-trading — and they’re essentially playing the market based on pure sentiment. My view is that there’s going to be a meaningful correction once people realize this is going to be a U-shaped recovery. If you listen carefully to what Fed officials are saying — or even what JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are saying — initially they were all in the V camp, but now they’re all saying, well, maybe it’s going to be more of a U. The consensus is moving in a different direction.

Your prediction of a weak recovery seems predicated on there being a persistent shortfall in consumer demand due to income lost during the pandemic. A bullish investor might counter that the Cares Act has left the bulk of laid-off workers with as much — if not more — income than they had been earning at their former jobs. Meanwhile, white-collar workers who’ve remained employed are typically earning as much as they used to, but spending far less. Together, this might augur a surge in post-pandemic spending that powers a V-shaped recovery. What does the bullish story get wrong?

Yes, there are unemployment benefits. And some unemployed people may be making more money than when they were working. But those unemployment benefits are going to run out in July.

The consensus says the unemployment rate is headed to 25 percent. Maybe we get lucky. Maybe there’s an early recovery, and it only goes to 16 percent. Either way, tons of people are going to lose unemployment benefits in July. And if they’re rehired, it’s not going to be like before — formal employment, full benefits. You want to come back to work at my restaurant? Tough luck. I can hire you only on an hourly basis with no benefits and a low wage. That’s what every business is going to be offering. Meanwhile, many, many people are going to be without jobs of any kind.

It took us ten years — between 2009 and 2019 — to create 22 million jobs. And we’ve lost 30 million jobs in two months.

So when unemployment benefits expire, lots of people aren’t going to have any income. Those who do get jobs are going to work under more miserable conditions than before. And people, even middle-income people, given the shock that has just occurred — which could happen again in the summer, could happen again in the winter — you are going to want more precautionary savings. You are going to cut back on discretionary spending. Your credit score is going to be worse. Are you going to go buy a home? Are you gonna buy a car? Are you going to dine out? In Germany and China, they already reopened all the stores a month ago. You look at any survey, the restaurants are totally empty. Almost nobody’s buying anything. Everybody’s worried and cautious. And this is in Germany, where unemployment is up by only one percent.

Forty percent of Americans have less than $400 in liquid cash saved for an emergency. You think they are going to spend?

You’re going to start having food riots soon enough. Look at the luxury stores in New York. They’ve either boarded them up or emptied their shelves, because they’re worried people are going to steal the Chanel bags. The few stores that are open, like my Whole Foods, have security guards both inside and outside. We are one step away from food riots. There are lines three miles long at food banks. That’s what’s happening in America. You’re telling me everything’s going to become normal in three months? That’s lunacy.

Some Trumpian nationalists and labor-aligned progressives might see an upside in your prediction that America is going to bring manufacturing back “onshore.” But you insist that ordinary Americans will suffer from the downsides of reshoring (higher consumer prices) without enjoying the ostensible benefits (more job opportunities and higher wages). In your telling, onshoring won’t actually bring back jobs, only accelerate automation. And then, again with automation, you insist that Americans will suffer from the downside (unemployment, lower wages from competition with robots) but enjoy none of the upside from the productivity gains that robotization will ostensibly produce. So, what do you say to someone who looks at your forecast and decides that you are indeed “Dr. Doom” — not a realist, as you claim to be, but a pessimist, who ignores the bright side of every subject?

When you reshore, you are moving production from regions of the world like China, and other parts of Asia, that have low labor costs, to parts of the world like the U.S. and Europe that have higher labor costs. That is a fact. How is the corporate sector going respond to that? It’s going to respond by replacing labor with robots, automation, and AI.

I was recently in South Korea. I met the head of Hyundai, the third-largest automaker in the world. He told me that tomorrow, they could convert their factories to run with all robots and no workers. Why don’t they do it? Because they have unions that are powerful. In Korea, you cannot fire these workers, they have lifetime employment.

But suppose you take production from a labor-intensive factory in China — in any industry — and move it into a brand-new factory in the United States. You don’t have any legacy workers, any entrenched union. You are going to design that factory to use as few workers as you can. Any new gactory in the U.S. is going to be capital-intensive and labor-saving. It’s been happening for the last ten years and it’s going to happen more when we reshore. So reshoring means increasing production in the United States but not increasing employment. Yes, there will be productivity increases. And the profits of those firms that relocate production may be slightly higher than they were in China (though that isn’t certain since automation requires a lot of expensive capital investment).

But you’re not going to get many jobs. The factory of the future is going to be one person manning 1,000 robots and a second person cleaning the floor. And eventually the guy cleaning the floor is going to be replaced by a Roomba because a Roomba doesn’t ask for benefits or bathroom breaks or get sick and can work 24-7.

The fundamental problem today is that people think there is a correlation between what’s good for Wall Street and what’s good for Main Street. That wasn’t even true during the global financial crisis when we were saying, “We’ve got to bail out Wall Street because if we don’t, Main Street is going to collapse.”

How did Wall Street react to the crisis? They fired workers. And when they rehired them, they were all gig workers, contractors, freelancers, and so on. That’s what happened last time. This time is going to be more of the same.

Thirty-five to 40 million people have already been fired. When they start slowly rehiring some of them (not all of them), those workers are going to get part-time jobs, without benefits, without high wages. That’s the only way for the corporates to survive. Because they’re so highly leveraged today, they’re going to need to cut costs, and the first cost you cut is labor. But of course, your labor cost is my consumption. So in an equilibrium where everyone’s slashing labor costs, households are going to have less income. And they’re going to save more to protect themselves from another coronavirus crisis. And so consumption is going to be weak. That’s why you get the U-shaped recovery.

There’s a conflict between workers and capital. For a decade, workers have been screwed. Now, they’re going to be screwed more. There’s a conflict between small business and large business.

Millions of these small businesses are going to go bankrupt. Half of the restaurants in New York are never going to reopen. How can they survive? They have such tiny margins. Who’s going to survive? The big chains. Retailers. Fast food. The small businesses are going to disappear in the post-coronavirus economy. So there is a fundamental conflict between Wall Street (big banks and big firms) and Main Street (workers and small businesses).

And Wall Street is going to win.

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