#also like. seeing their personal growth both as a band and as individuals over the years since I got into them is totally irreplaceable

[protobrieile]

i swear i could be dead and if someone mentioned field music at my funeral i'd come back to life and gush about them

[cryptidize]

So lately, I've been job searching again. Not a surprise, I know... I'm usually looking for something new at least once a year or so. But the reason is because I keep leaping from sinking ship to sinking ship - every job, both corporate and small business, has been failing spectacularly in some way.

I won't be talking about specifics, but let me mention some themes I notice to determine whether a job is going under.

1.) Labor Violations

Of course, this is always a red flag. If they tell you not to discuss pay with coworkers, this is a labor violation. There are many protections you have as an individual who works. These protections are not taught in school, nor college, nor by your families, so it's good to become familiar with your rights. You may even discover after reading this that your rights are being violated. If you find that is the truth, please see the Department of Labor and their process for reporting this violation. You may receive additional compensation for doing so, simply because of the violation.

2.) The Invisible Growth

Some jobs will claim they're the "fastest growing" xyz in the industry. Some places will claim they've had to expand their facilities, their workload, their staff. Growth is not always a bad thing, but once you're there, you may notice their pitfalls. Maybe their facility is in disrepair with a leaky roof. Maybe their workload increased, but not workers and pay. Maybe they're margin pinching about cleaning products. These are cause for some alarm, simply because they are growing, but not sustaining. Not ensuring every growth move is accompanied by standard procedures and improving work conditions can be damning in the future. The enshittification of business.

3.) Confusing Time Off

Some businesses will make language around time off confusing. Where I work currently, we have PTO (Personal Time Off), VTO (Voluntary Time Off) and VTO (Vacation Time Off). Personal and Voluntary are not paid. You cannot use either of these methods until after your 90 days. AFTER 1 YEAR, you earn Vacation time. When this was originally pitched to me, personal time was a replacement for sick time, but they conveniently left out that I wouldn't be compensated. I also have to let them know 2 weeks in advance for every day I use, and 6 weeks in advance to take Vacation Time longer than 1 day. Places do this in order to give the illusion of having a work/life balance.

4.) No Experts

Certain jobs (warehouses come to mind) have a high turn-over for all positions except management. When this happens, you start to run dry on expertise. Workers tend to talk and ask each other questions. This is a normal behavior in jobs, especially if training is brief or lacking in areas, but if no one is knowledgeable on the work they're doing, wrong/incomplete knowledge is being passed around. The main way i can diagnose this issue is within a business' IT Team. How many people do they have for every computer? Is it just one guy with an engineering degree? How often is the technology updated or cleaned? The laptops at my work are being charged with Nintendo Switch chargers and killed slowly because we have 1 guy with an engineering degree doing all the general IT and it Sucks. This is a symptom of the turnover.

I know this may seem like a random post, but now more than ever, businesses are violating our rights and protections, as well as our kindness as people. I'm tired of it! Unionizing is great, I love to see people banding together, but individuals have power too! You have every right to complain to the labor board! You can fight for your rights with or without a team! I wish you luck!

[felixethereal]

10 questions: #Straykids interview for spacebar thailand (English translation by tooampm) | Rough and simple translations

Q2: What Stray Kids have learned from being An artist and a role model for fans from the first day till today?

🥟: Being an artist or an idol is good. Everything is always highly competitive. We have learned to work as a good team and to always improve ourselves in every skill in the performance, and we also want to be better and better every day.

🦊: I learned about love. If I want to get love from fans I have to let them know that the love that I have for all my fans is also unbeatable.

Q3: what are the goals that stray kids want to achieve in 2023?

🐰: for me, this year is 2023, I'm excited. To meet fans from many cities in the world, and my personal goal is I want to try going camping trip n add up in the long run and if i have the chance to do something in 2023, I would like to do this.

🐿: For my goal, this year I want the fans to see new images from the songs we have made and I also want all of us ,our members to be healthy this year. I also want to try setting goals for myself, which is exercising (😄).

🥟: As this year we will come and have a concert in Thailand. This is our goal and we want to come here often. Coming to Thailand is really a great pleasure for me. “KOB KUN KAPP” (Thank you in Thai).

Q4: What Stay will see of Stray kids this year?

🐺: This year is a good year to start something new including our tour that will happen soon WORLD TOUR “MANIAC” we r ready to show how fresh and fun our show will be different from the past.Hope to see u all year round.

🦊: In this year I want to try harder than ever. As the fans expected it. and want to make a good album as good as the fans are waiting for it too.

Q5: How are you preparing for the concert on 2-3 Feb?

🐺: It's time for us to come back and have a concert in Thailand. We prepare a lot of fun in this also such a great honor to meet Thai fans, kinda exciting for this tour, fans will see our new things & new productions.

Q6: About “Mirror Mirror” song / what Changbin wants to say to his fans who likes this song?

🐷🐰: working with Thai artists both Mili & F.Hero I feel that I have had a great experience. It's a song that I like to listen to a lot. It's very catchy. Thank you to all the Thai who like the song. Personally, i feel touched. It's full of very good feelings to have this song come out. (🙏)

Q7: The growth of Stray Kids from now on after the World Tour ends.

🐥 : SKZ always aims for our growth. After a lot of things happened That made the world stop for almost 2 years. We wanna have an adventure and grow further. The good thing about this year is that we've been able to travel around the world, go on tour, have concerts, and met with fans from all over the world (after the pandemic). It helps us learn more about our development. even after the tour ends, I will continue to develop myself better.

🦊: I always thought that I will try even harder as the fans have been waiting for. From now on, I want to be cool and be cooler. (😁).

Q8: Thai culture that #StrayKids would like to learn about. What does the band want to learn about some Thainess?

🐥: I feel that I would like to learn a lot about Thai culture, including Thai food that has a very unique taste. I watches a lot of tiktok about muay thai and is interested to try it sometime. Also tourist attractions in Thailand as well. I always search for those places, especially many food markets in BKK. If there is a chance, I would like to go to those places as well.

🐷🐰:( get up and act like he was boxing 😁)

Q9: Personal individual goals that you want to achieve this year.

🐰: For this year, im going to focus on getting fit, looking healthier, and taking care of myself both physically and mentally.

🐿: I want everyone to be healthy. I want both members and Stay to be very happy as well. I want you to have a great thing happen in your life throughout this year. For this year, im going to focus on getting fit, looking healthier, and taking care of myself both physically and mentally.

🐿: I want everyone to be healthy. I want both members and Stay to be very happy as well. I want you to have a great thing happen in your life throughout this year.

Q10: Anything to say to your Thai fans?

🦊: I would like to give a message to Stay who r still not sure whether to come to our concert or not. I want to say that “don't hesitate”. We have a lot of good shows waiting for everyone. So please come to our concert. ( 🙏😄)

🐥: I feel like this concert will be another one that u will never seen before .I want everyone to come and have a look, let's have a new experience together, I want everyone to come and experience it. Come and listen to our songs.

[bangtan]

BTS Have A Message For Their Fans: “Hope Is Everywhere — Keep Going

The kings of K-pop continue to break boundaries and expectations. Not only one of the most powerful groups to emerge from Seoul, BTS have become a global superpower and continue to manifest change through their unifying messages of hope and positivity. In June, the band and their label Big Hit Entertainment donated $1m to the Black Lives Matter movement, which their dedicated fans — the Army — matched by raising another $1m. The band’s latest single, Dynamite, an unreserved celebration of life, has smashed multiple records, including but not limited to the single’s video becoming the most viewed YouTube video in 24 hours. It also became the band’s first Billboard Hot 100 number one, garnering 33.9m US streams in one week and making them the first all-South Korean group to top the chart. The band is, quite simply, unstoppable. Here, in an exclusive letter written for Vogue, RM, J-Hope, Suga, Jin, V, Jimin, and Jungkook reveal how sharing stories have provided hope and comfort for both themselves and their fans during a difficult few months, which has seen the world grapple with the pandemic. “We all grow up with stories. Sometimes, they are fairy tales read to us as we are tucked into bed, coaxed into our blankets with the promise of magic or victorious heroes overcoming difficulties with remarkable resilience and strength. At other times, they are stories in the media: movies and sitcoms, news articles, or the latest release from our favourite artists. These stories are voices we hear day today as we grow up, instilling values within us, and shaping the way we see the world. “The world isn’t too perfect right now. Times are hard and fast-changing. We, too, have struggled in the hardships of this year and have had to abandon our plans. We were disheartened and upset. There would be no tours. Opportunities to share our passion and efforts with the fans who so fervently support us were seized from us for an indefinite period of time. We still think about our February album, Map of the Soul: 7, and how dearly we wish we could have performed ON on stage among blaring cheers, blazing lights, thunderous drums, and the shouts of tens of thousands singing along. We put in our all, and our fans would have loved it. We share with the world these feelings of disappointment, loss, and void. We understand the difficulties, even if we cannot fathom their depth. Regardless, we stand with you. “As seven young men telling our own story of growth through our medium of choice — music — we dared not imagine from the start that so many from all over the world would relate to and share our message. We have been deeply fortunate with the love we have and still do receive. It is love so great that it still sometimes feels surreal. How could we have imagined we would be touring stadiums across the globe and hearing uncountable masses of all ages and nationalities echoing our songs back to us? It’s a feeling more brilliant than words can describe. “We grew to become so much more than we had hoped. And as more and more people sing and dance to our music, we grow not only more thankful but also more aware that there are so many people out there who are influenced and inspired by our words and messages. We, BTS, are just seven young men growing and learning like everyone else in the world, but we wish to tell you: hope is everywhere — keep going. “Although we did not get to meet our fans in person, we were able to reach out to them through our online concert, Bang Bang Con: The Live. We were also able to find time to reflect and collaborate among ourselves, preparing for an upcoming album for which our members have put in more creative input than ever before. We also released a new single that has been loved and enjoyed by our fans everywhere. Dynamite is the joyful and energetic fruit of our struggles and a much-needed breakthrough that helped us to stop feeling disheartened. The song is our message of hope, and we are lucky to share it with so many. “For BTS, our stories are our music. Our happiness lies in being able to sing and perform, and our joy comes from our incredible fans, the Army, who give us the extraordinary experience of sharing our stories with millions. “As seven individuals, stories have made our world. Now, as a group of seven, we tell our stories to the world as a message of comfort and hope. And we hope this message reaches you as well.”

[caainhurst]

JUNE 1, 2021

Cities and towns are opening back up after their coronavirus-induced shutdowns. Job vacancies have surged to historic highs. Millions of Americans report that they are looking for work. Yet employers are struggling to fill available positions, leaving them with no option but to shorten their business’s hours of operation and pay overtime. Payroll growth has proved lackluster.

The familiar story about what’s happening goes like this: America is in the midst of a labor shortage. Businesses are unable to find enough workers, in no small part because of the country’s generous unemployment-insurance payments and repeated stimulus checks. This is a nightmare for growing companies, a trend that’s slowing the economic recovery, and a problem that policy must solve. Workers are “dampening what should be a stronger jobs market,” the Chamber of Commerce said, calling the situation a “very real threat” to the recovery. In response, 23 states and counting have slashed unemployment-insurance payments.

But what has rapidly become conventional wisdom is not necessarily wisdom at all. The labor shortage, so far as it exists, seems to have many complicated causes. Even if benefits are among them, policy makers should not rush in to help ensure a flood of low-wage workers for America’s businesses. As the pandemic abates and the economy strengthens, why not focus on creating good ones?

The evidence of a labor shortage comes both from hard numbers and from soft anecdotes. In terms of the hard numbers: Lots of Americans want work. Roughly 10 million Americans are looking for a job, and the unemployment rate is an uncomfortably high 6.1 percent. At the same time, lots of businesses want to hire. Employers report that they have 8.1 million positions open, the largest number in recorded history. Yet the number of Americans taking a job remains subdued: Payrolls grew by just 266,000 in April, when many economists expected a number as high as 2 million.

In terms of the softer stuff: More and more business owners are complaining, loudly, that they cannot find people to work. Restaurants are offering hiring bonuses to try to get potential workers in the door, Uber and Lyft are desperate for drivers, and Costco, McDonald’s, Sheetz, and Chipotle, along with many small businesses, have raised wages to attract employees.

The issue, many business executives and politicians claim, is that the country’s social-insurance and anti-poverty programs are providing more of a hammock than a safety net: Many workers are getting a $300-a-week bonus on top of their regular state UI payments, and are still flush from the rounds of stimulus checks sent out during the pandemic. Workers would rather stay home and collect the dole than go out and take a job, the argument goes. “Continuing these programs only worsens the workforce issues we are currently facing,” Missouri Governor Mike Parson said at a press conference, announcing a cut to the state’s UI payments. “It is time we ended these programs that have incentivized people to stay out of the workforce.”

But surveys of workers—and the simple observation of the strange and still-awful reality we find ourselves in—indicate many reasons why workers are hesitant or unable to take new gigs. The pandemic is abating, but it is not over. Many workers have preexisting medical conditions or a sick family member to worry about, meaning they cannot take a frontline, essential job. Millions of parents are still struggling with the closure of child-care centers and schools. More personal, less easily quantified impulses are at play too: After a year of immense personal and collective trauma, many people just want to take a beat before committing to a new job.

Wages are another pivotal factor. Workers used to making $21 an hour are unlikely to take jobs for $17 an hour—nor would doing so be good for the American economy. Workers used to making $17 an hour are unlikely to take a much more dangerous job for the same amount—nor would doing so be good for the American economy. And workers used to making $15 an hour, who now have a reasonable expectation that more $21-an-hour jobs will be available in a few weeks, are unlikely to take a job for $15 an hour—nor would doing so be good for the American economy.

Yet many employers are dragging their feet in raising wages to make their job offerings worth taking, given the economic climate and the risks of service work. Much of the “wage growth” evident in recent statistics is due to high-wage workers being much less likely to have lost their jobs than low-wage workers; once you account for that fact, wages have not risen much at all. This is part of what accounts for the “labor shortage.” The issue isn’t workers. It’s employers.

The country’s generous UI is likely playing a role too. In a recent survey by ZipRecruiter, job seekers reported feeling far less financial pressure to take the first job they were offered, likely because UI and stimulus checks buoyed family finances. But a large body of research has shown that UI has a more moderate effect on job-acceptance rates than one might think, because it offers only the lowest-paid workers more incentive to say no.

Moreover, UI helping drive wages up by giving workers the option of saying no to a bad job is not a bad thing. Ample UI improves what is sometimes called “job match,” because it gives job seekers the ability to wait for the right position to come along. It also has disproportionate benefits for Black and Latino workers, who have borne a disproportionate burden of both the health crisis and the economic crisis of the past year.

A more philosophical point needs to be made here, too: The job of the government is not to ensure a supply of workers at whatever wage rates businesses set. And workers’ having the power to say no is not a policy problem that the government needs to solve. For decades, though, Washington and America’s statehouses have helped rig the country’s policy infrastructure in employers’ favor.

The federal government has set the country’s wage floor below its poverty line, for instance, and has not increased the minimum wage to account for improvements in productivity and output over time. The current federal minimum is just $7.25 an hour, compared with roughly $10 an hour in Ireland and Canada, $11 in the Netherlands, $12 in France and Germany, and $12.50 in Australia and Luxembourg. Indeed, the United States has the lowest minimum wage compared with typical or average wages of any country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That helps explain why the United States has the highest share of low-wage work among the OECD countries. Fully one-quarter of American workers earn less than two-thirds of the median wage, compared with just 5 percent in Belgium and 12 percent in Japan.

The government has also proved complicit in the collapse of unionization and collective bargaining, making it easy for businesses to beat back organizing efforts and difficult for workers to band together to demand raises, benefits, and safe working conditions. The country has half, one-fifth, one-ninth of the collective-bargaining coverage of many of our peer countries. This has increased inequality in America, holding down wages while bolstering corporate profits.

At the same time, the government has declined to make companies compete against one another—for customers or for workers. Corporate concentration has increased, and any number of industries are dominated by just a handful of giant players. This pushes up profits and decimates wages, particularly in areas with fewer employers.

In recent decades, the government has also decided to allow the unfettered proliferation of Uber-type jobs, sacrificing the needs of low-wage workers in order to satisfy the preferences of wealthy, urban consumers and calling it all “innovation.” The central “innovation” of the gig economy is to call employees “contractors,” to avoid giving them benefits and a stable salary.

Even the American safety net exists not to eliminate poverty so much as to use poverty as a cudgel to force individuals into low-wage work. The earned-income tax credit goes only to people with earned income; food stamps and welfare benefits require a job-search effort. Over time, UI has become in some ways more and more like welfare; many states have made benefits shorter in term and stingier in size.

The government has long encouraged low-wage jobs and forced people into them. This is what we are seeing when governors rush to slash UI at the first sign of a real recovery and when policy makers describe workers’ demands as a “drag” on the economy. Uncle Sam is acting in the interests of low-wage employers, not the economy as a whole.

Perhaps the status quo is changing. The Biden administration has pushed a new New Deal designed to end poverty and provide greater economic security to the 99 percent. It is arguing that bolstered, extended UI should be kept in place for the benefit of American families. It is also promising to be the most pro-union government in decades. Part of this push must be giving workers the power to say no to employers—and putting employers in the uncomfortable position of having to compete for workers.

Maybe a labor shortage is a good thing.

[a-pretty-nerd]

Let's Talk About The Shigaraki x Indestructible Reader Troupe

I know it's not original at all but I really wanna try my hand at it because I think it has a lot of potential story wise.

I wanna dive into the character depth that this concept can provide, okay!?

Because it's not just, "oh they're indestructible so Shiggy can touch them and then he's cured of anxiety and also sexy times" no. Let's go deeper.

Spoiler Warning From Here On Out !

Also Religious Themes warning in case that is upsetting for anyone!

I'm really digging my Oc Magnolia right now because I'm playing off of the Savior complex that Horikoshi plays with, with both AFO and Shigaraki.

He's definitely using Christian themes of Jesus, the savior, with these characters. AFO acting as the Christian concept of God the creator, and Shigaraki acting as Jesus. His only son that is also him in human form. Sound familiar?

Shigaraki's mother also shares a shocking resemblance to the Virgin Mary in character. She is kind and matronly and patient. And much like Mother Mary, a victim of circumstances. When all hell breaks loose, the first thing she does is reach for poor toddler Tenko without hesitation. That's her fucking first born son.

And now AFO has his sights on using Tomura's body as his own, in the same way that Jesus says he his God in human form, it's safe to say the Christian themes are strong and here to stay. So I wanna talk about a piece I feel is left out of this story, or just not added in yet.

Mary Magdalene is character we often see in The Bible. She's used as almost a throw away character that comes and goes when the writers needed her to make Jesus look cool or have someone to worship him when other male characters weren't there. Unless Horikoshi plans to make Toga the place holder for the character, she has yet to be introduced if she ever will. If Toga is supposed to be a parallel to Mary, I think Horikoshi should delve into that relationship more if not just create a new one. I think Toga is better suited being another disciple for now.

So this is where the indestructible reader aspect comes into the story. I'm the kind of person to make self inserts and all that cringy stuff, and while I do has a self incert OC, I got lost in the character creation element of fanfiction writing. What a cool quirk indestructibility would be! Especially for a female character. How bad ass! Indestructible characters are always big buff dudes and its getting old. So now I wanna talk about the implications of an indestructible female character in the world of MHA.

When we think indestructible, we mostly think someone that could be thrown around like a rag doll and be unscathed. Someone who could be touched by someone like Shigaraki without being killed. But let's think about it more than that. If they are truly indestructible, then how would the mha universe take advantage of them? Because, they would. Especially a female character would be easily taken advantage of in this universe. Depending on the specifics of her quirk, the indestructible reader could be used in any amount of messed up ways.

Personally, I'm a fan of this character having a fast acting regenerative quirk that allows them to heal and replace very quickly. Like if an organ is destroyed it is simply grown back in a matter of minutes. Because that allows for the world to take advantage of her directly. The medicine world needs fresh organs to save lives and hell, they'll pay for it. The black market is always looking for an arm and a leg. And the prostitution metaphor goes on and on. Detailing new ways the world continues to take advantage of women's bodies and how a girl like Magnolia falls into it. Resigned to the idea and actively participating until her character growth occurs.

This is where her story begins as she starts to learn to value other aspects of herself and grow to use her quirk for her own purposes. Free of money and greed and demands from others. She becomes a villain, not because she hates heroes and wishes to destroy others, but to set herself and others free. To destroy an oppressive society built on taking advantage of the naive and weak, when that society should be helping them.

Now you're asking: "Ruby, wtf does this have to do with themes of Christianity and Shigaraki's hand holes?"

All great questions, really. Ya'll are smart cookies. Magdelne has been rewritten and rewritten over and over again to suit whatever agenda the writer has for the story. Sometimes she's Jesus's faithful disciple and used as a character for Christian girls to aspire to be. Sometimes they're childhood friends. Sometimes she's a sex worker who quits her life of sex work to join Jesus's traveling band of misfits. And most recently there is evidence to suggest that her and Jesus were romanticly involved.

This is where Magnolia comes in. My Oc Magnolia works as a parallel for Mary Magdelne both as an individual who was previously taken advantage of and forced to prostitute herself for various reasons, but also as Shigaraki's friend and disciple. And maybe romance partner but thats neither here nor there.

More fun character design ideas for her using artists on Picrew.

This is just my two cents on the topic. I really like Magnolia and I'd love to develope her further and write with her. So lemme know your thoughts and if you'd read a story with her! I might just write her in as a side character in Rebellion later on or something.

[yankingmyvajane]

Beauyasha Meta

For anyone who can’t read the pictures with the small text. I’m sorry about that!!

When Beau and Yasha met in that tavern in Trostenwald, Beau was immediately drawn to Yasha. Obviously a lot of that was just base level attraction to her, because let’s face it, Yasha is hot as fuck.

 But, there was just something about Yasha that drew Beau in. To me, it feels like both Beau and Yasha understood and felt that pull, but they also had an unspoken agreement that their dynamic couldn’t be anything serious. It was just playful and flirtatious. At this point in time, Beau had fully convinced herself that she was happier being lonely, if she never opened herself up romantically, she couldn’t be heartbroken again. So, she decided that she would be alone forever, and would use occasional hook ups as a band aid to get by. Yasha was sure that she would never move on from Zuala because she didn’t want or deserve to. If she moved on, Zuala would be gone. How could she ever love another person ever again when she was the reason that this woman was killed? There was too much regret and too much shame in her heart for that to ever be on her radar. There were moments where Beau considered hooking up with Yasha, but that might’ve made things weird and Yasha left the group frequently. As they started to get to know each other more, Beau was considering making a move, but then Yasha, Fjord and Jester were taken by the Iron Shepherds. Then Molly died, which fundamentally impacted and changed both Beau and Yasha as people. Yasha left again, and we know through the art book that Beau missed her and considered her a part of the Mighty Nein. Once Yasha came back, Beau was very gentle with her, making sure that she was okay. Making her feel safe. I think that it brought Yasha comfort to be able to slowly start to jump back into the way things were with the Nein. Whether she liked it or not, she had grown to care deeply for these people, and now that Molly was gone, they were her only family. So, their relationship slowly started to get back to the flirtation of the earlier campaign, except this time Yasha started to reciprocate. Then Yasha told the entire group Zuala, and Beau cared way too much about Yasha to ignore the fact that she was grieving. Beau understands loss, and she couldn’t just swoop in like an asshole trying to flirt with Yasha like she had before now that she knew Yasha’s struggles. But then there was that night in the barbed fields when Yasha initiated flirtation with Beau. That was the night that they opened up to each other about things that they hadn’t told anyone else about.Yasha is still the only one who knows the full story of Beau and Tori’s relationship. For the first time, this unspoken understanding of their pull to one another was made explicit. “I’ve seen you.” Which to this day, is such a perfect quote to summarize their relationship. Beau was making an off-handed comment to belittle herself, and Yasha flipped it to show Beau that she understands her, values her, and cares for her. This one scene has so much depth. Beau checking in on Yasha. Yasha reassuring Beau that no matter what she may see in herself, no matter what she’s been led to believe about her character, Beau is deserving of respect, of love, and Yasha isn’t the only person who believes that either. Yasha listening to Beau’s pain and making sure that she knows it is just as valid as her own. Beau making it known that she has been paying attention to Yasha, and that she can see that there is something truly special about her. Yasha makes sure to find a moment to make Beau laugh. These two women who have emotionally closed themselves off from the world, on multiple levels, opening up to each other about love and loss. Realizing that their lives have been connected long before they even knew the other existed. That they are more similar than they could have ever thought. A moment of understanding and recognition of the other’s experiences of love, and the pain of their loss. A then, a glint of realization that maybe someday, they could both find someone who is worth risking that same pain all over again. Or maybe…they had already found them. Beau’s response was subtle, though. Maybe Yasha was just being kind. It probably didn’t mean anything, and besides, Beau had made a choice. She had decided to back away, and she swore that nothing would ever happen between them because it was too complicated. Yasha was still mourning her wife, and as much as she cared about Yasha, maybe even because she cared so much, it hurt Beau every time Yasha left the Mighty Nein. Which she did frequently. How could Beau let herself care if Yasha wasn’t going to stay? That is exactly why she decided to be lonely. No feelings means no heartbreak. Everything changed once Obann took Yasha away from them. Beau began to realize how much she truly cared, because she felt how much it hurt that Yasha was gone again. She barely slept for several nights after Yasha was taken because she wanted to hear a storm. She wanted some confirmation that Yasha would be okay. Maybe the Storm Lord could bring her back to them.   As much as she tried to avoid confronting the pain of losing Yasha, Beau never gave up on her, and knew that what they were seeing wasn’t really her. During this time, Beau developed a crush on Jester. Once Yasha came back, their relationship grew similarly to the way it did after Yasha came back from leaving at Molly’s grave. It started slow and careful, but eventually began building back up to the ways things were. The playful flirtation between them started back up. No matter what Beau convinced herself of, she always came back to that connection she has with Yasha. She began to realize that her feelings for Yasha were stronger than her crush on Jester. She has been avoiding her feelings for Yasha because she has been avoiding confronting her future; with Yasha, it has always been more than a crush. She called her beautiful at the fish market, she blue screened over her getting stronger overnight, she watched her play her harp on the beach and smiled at her while watching her from a distance. At the same time, Yasha once again began to slowly initiate flirtation with Beau in her own ways. She always protected Beau in combat, and couldn’t help but get flustered around her. We know that she has been harboring guilt over what she did to Beau in the chantry, which probably held her back from doing more. I imagine that moment also motivated her to open up more as well, though. Perhaps she began to realize the fragility of life, and maybe she was struggling with balancing the knowledge that she needs to say something before it’s too late, and the shame and regret of the things she has done. Then they went to Rumblecusp. There was that night in Vo where Yasha played her harp and everyone could see just how much she had healed. We watched the layers of emotion hit Beau’s face. I think she started to realize in that moment that while Yasha had grown, so had she. They are not the same two people who met in a tavern before a carnival. They have both been through so much shit, and yet here Yasha was, playing her harp in front of everyone, displaying this gentle beauty that Beau knows has always been within her. It was in that moment that all of the feelings Beau had for Yasha began to click for her. Then, there was the flight. Ever since going to Kamordah and seeing the hag, Beau had been struggling a lot. The realization that one day she would lose the Mighty Nein was massive for Beau, because she realized that despite everything she had told herself, she is terrified of being alone. Flying with Yasha was the first time since going to Kamordah that we saw Beau carefree. She was even (trying) to say that she felt better than she had in a long time (good long time). In my opinion, that moment completely solidified Beau’s feelings for Yasha in Beau’s mind. This woman that she has been harboring feelings for since the moment they met just sprouted literal angel wings for the first time in her life for the sole purpose of catching Beau and taking her on a flight over a waterfall. Beau also knows that the fact that Yasha’s wings were no longer skeletal means something, and I am absolutely certain she could tell how much the moment meant for Yasha. To be the person that this woman gets to share one of the most important and symbolic moments of her life with is not a small thing. Combine all of that with the fact that Beau was starting to accept that her feelings for Yasha were much more than playful; everything that the two of them went through as individuals, all of their personal growth only brought them closer together. Beau knows that she doesn’t want to be alone anymore, in fact she realizes how terrible being lonely is, and now she also realizes that as terrifying as it may be to think about, she has started to think about what a future might look like with Yasha in it. And the best part? She actually feels like running towards that future instead of running away from it. In order to let herself fully accept this and say it out loud to someone, Beau needed to know that Yasha wasn’t going to leave anymore. Yasha’s absence was always the biggest setback for them. So, Beau asked Yasha outfront, and Yasha told her, with a knowing and loving smile, that she isn’t going anywhere. Wherever the Nein go, wherever Beau goes, Yasha goes. Despite this, Beau does not expect anything of Yasha, because she knows she has her own shit to deal with. Yet there is still that glimmer of hope in her mind. So she tells Fjord. Then she tells Jester. The ball has to be in Yasha’s court because Beau respects Yasha too much to overstep. And Yasha, who has been fighting with the parts of herself that are holding on to her mistakes and the part of her that cares deeply about Beauregard, is now coming to terms with the dream she had the night before. She had a dream, or maybe it was more than a dream, that gave her the tools to forgive herself for the things she has been holding on to for so long. Now that she is beginning to forgive and to let go of the guilt, what could her future bring? She has a dream about letting go and growing her wings, and the very next day she uses her newly feathered wings to catch the woman who she has developed strong and passionate feelings for, and gets to share this life changing moment with her. Then she talks to Caduceus and he echoes a sentiment very similar to one that she shared with Caleb. If you care for someone, you should tell them before it is too late. Who knows how much time is left. If you have the opportunity, why not make the most of whatever time you do have left. He tells her that she deserves to go for the things she wants. And she knows that he is talking about her feelings for Beau. So she tells Jester how she feels, she makes it real for herself. There is no going back now, and so they come up with a plan to tell Beau in the perfect way. And she writes the poem, but decides that what she wants to tell Beau needs to be more candid and real; more specific to who Yasha is, and to who Beau is. So Yasha writes a letter telling Beau that she sees her. Just like she did all that time ago in the barbed fields. She sees Beau, every part of Beau, even the parts that Beau thinks are bad or unloveable, and she tells Beau that she cherishes every part of her. She highlights her strengths in a way that she knows Beau deserves to hear. It is clear that Yasha understands Beau intimately by the words she wrote, and by the way that Beau reacted to what she read. The ball is now back in Beau’s court. As we know now, Beau is planning something for Yasha. She looked for flowers and wanted Caleb to change the tower somehow. These two women who have experienced so much loss and heartbreak, whose lives and journeys have mirrored one another and became intertwined the moment they met are taking their time and waiting for the perfect moments so that they absolutely get it right. Each of them knows that the other deserves nothing less than perfect. Yasha, who never got to share her love with the world, whose love was taken from her unfairly and cruelly. Yasha, who had closed herself off emotionally to protect herself from losing anymore loved ones, yet who protects and gives love without ever needing or asking for anything in return. Beau, who has been dismissed, undermined, and neglected by her family her entire life. Beau, who has given so much of herself just to feel valued and acknowledged, and who desperately wants to feel seen. To truly be loved.

[thinkingaboutrwby]

Slave to the Quill: Salem, Authorship, Control, and the Fallacy of Happy Endings

This post is part one in a four part series on Ozma and Salem called Greater Scale Forces, so expect more from me on the subject in the weeks to come. WARNING - in addition to RWBY, there are small references for the following series: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Bojack Horseman, and Community.

Once upon a time there stood a lonely tower that sheltered a lonely girl named Salem. She was freed by the legendary hero Ozma, who succeeded where warriors before him had failed. Salem wasn’t just rescued by the Ozma by chance. As Fairy Tales of Remnant reveals, Salem wrote her way out of her prison through story and narrative inspired by the fairy tales she had read in her adolescence. She tossed fliers out her window with her story and plight etched in ink to gain a hero’s sympathy. In this way, Salem not only asserted her agency but set up expectations for herself that motivated her grasp for control, inadvertently caused an apocalypse, and more importantly placed “story” and “myth” at the center of Remnant’s development as a fictional setting.

Salem was reared off fairy tales, a result of being trapped in her tower for her formative years. Her socialization was limited to inconsistent visits from her emotionally distant father and her kindly nanny, with no playmates her age. Fairy Tales of Remnant pulls no punches in elaborating on how this affected Salem’s aspirations for life. To quote: “[Salem] lived hundreds of lives through other people’s stories, and [dreamed] of venturing beyond the tower one day, finding true love, and becoming a kind and generous queen with her own castle and daughters” (106). Salem’s dream is a textbook fairytale happy endings, and she wants her life to play out just like the stories she’s read. When her dreams are confirmed in her rescue by Ozma, is it any surprise that his death shattered her in such a way to defy gods? Not only was Ozma her only living emotional connection due to her upbringing, but her rescue had all but confirmed that she deserved a happy ending, that she played a role in which freedom and true love were deserved as per story structure and narrative.

Salem’s actions all arguably move to appeal to fairy tale narrative archetypes in some way. In “The Girl in the Tower” she plays the damsel in distress, nudging her narrative onwards with her fliers but waiting patiently until the day she is rescued. When dealing with the gods, she at first plays the humble acolyte, praising both brothers to get what she wants as one would in a myth. When they curse her instead of raising Ozma, she picks up a different mantle of righteous leader and inspirer. Then after the earth’s destruction she becomes a wanderer, then a witch, and then a goddess. While she vies for freedom, a goal nurtured from her initial entrapment, it is ironic that Salem in some ways traps herself in the confines of the story itself, allowing story structure to trap her into roles that dissuade her from personal growth unique and separate from media archetypes.

In addition to being motivated by fairy tales and trapped in its narrative, Salem also uses narrative and media as a weapon in RWBY. This is addressed in Ozpin’s end notes of “The Girl in the Tower” in Fairy Tales of Remnant when he points out that Salem’s use of fliers to free herself from her tower as a technical form of “propaganda.” While used for a generally tame purpose in this case, Salem’s approach to media and fairy tale as a form of control, as a form of propaganda, only appears to evolve as her experience continues. Her method of influencing fellow humans to rise up against the gods is by storytelling. As we can recall from “The Lost Fable,” Salem lied and weaved a tale in which she stole immortality from the gods to convince other humans against the Brothers Grimm. As a goddess-queen with Ozma 2.0, it is likely she also acted through fairy tale narrative as well. She has statues built up of her and her husband. She depicts them as hero-ruler-gods. During the Fall of Beacon, she has Cinder hijack and take down Remnant’s communications’ systems so the media and narrative is controlled by her agenda. While Salem is ultimately harmed from her reliance on story and narrative, it is interesting that she also finds agency through authorship and through embarrassing narrative (albeit in a toxic way).

Salem’s personal entanglement with the structure of fairy tales is arguably further represented through the use of Remnant as RWBY’s setting. Remnant is a literal reflection of fairy tales with an added dose of realism. While its characters and culture call back to ancient tales, they live more mundane, less magical lives than those we know from the Grimm fairy tales. Being a hero is an occupation. Magic is commodified and sold as dust. In this way, Remnant reflects Salem’s dilemma well. Remnant forces her to further confront a world with wonder that lacks a “fair” narrative with a happy ending. I don’t know what came first, Salem’s backstory or Remnant’s concept as a fairy tale call back itself (likely Remnant?). However, I will make the point that Salem’s backstory fits well into the world of RWBY through her interaction with the medium of fairy tales. I commend CRWBY on this achievement.

I make note that the pattern of a character’s engrossment in story narrative is a recurring flaw in figures in serialized television. I can think of a few examples of this. Rebecca Bunch from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, for example, is an anti-hero influenced by musical convention and genre, drawing her expectations for romantic relationships from pop culture: musicals, boy-bands, and rom-coms. Her delusion with cultural media is shown through the show's musical numbers, meant to play out in Rebecca’s head. Bojack from Bojack Horseman similarly engages with celebrity, film, and Hollywood culture in a similar way, engaging with the media as a literal actor while coincidentally obsessing over celebrity as a child through his obsession with race-horse Secretariat. Abed Nadir from Community also bases his social interactions on the US pop culture he absorbed as a child. I think it’s interesting that all these characters who take their cues from the media of their childhood also had traumatic and abusive upbringings (I won’t spoil though). In this way, media takes adjacent blame with these characters’ guardians for misbehavior, ranging from awkward to harmful to world-ending. How these characters evolve through these shows and their changing relationship with the media they rely on provide meta commentary on our individual relationship with culture and story. Rebecca Bunch learns to use pop music as a way to counter romantic expectations for women rather than embrace them as pop music is usually used, a positive message about our relationship with story and media. Bojack’s ending is left ambiguous, but Hollywood’s sway on him is definitely a toxic presence, leading us to believe we should consider rejecting this institution. Abed learns to combine his pop culture obsession with real relationships and become appreciated as a person and better interact with others (also a more hopeful message about media and story).

Like all these character’s before, what does Salem’s story tell us? What will it tell us as more seasons of RWBY come out? Certainly, RWBY doesn’t have a toxic view of fairy tales. Our principal protagonists are positively inspired by them. Ruby wants to be a hero like in all the stories she’s read. Ozpin collects a book of stories from multiple locations from multiple stories. I think where we see the difference is how our protagonists interact with fairytales and how our antagonists (or specifically those under Salem’s mentality) do. Ruby, Ozpin, and our heroes follow fairy tales as a moral standard. The aspire to have good triumph and act to a higher standard through effort and sacrifice. Salem uses fairy tales as a form of wish-fulfilment and totalitarian  control. I think the inherent message of RWBY is that we need to respect the lessons learned through story but abandon the structure and endings stories give us. Act like a hero, but live a real life. And, at the same time, be wary of the narratives that surround you. Don’t just copy a narrative, understand the narratives produced and adhere to the best and wisest ones. Think through a text, don’t just take it at face value. That’s the lesson we should learn from Salem’s mistakes.

Let me know your thoughts and if you think I missed anything. Expect Part 2 -  The Circle: Oz, Identity, Myth, and The Hero’s Journey, within a week.

[warsmith-38]

How I would do RWBY pt. 5

Season Five.

Lingering drama amongst teams despite stable exterior.

Everyone’s a little wary of Blake on account of her cutting and running on them a couple seasons ago.

Everyone’s a little wary of Ruby and her insane berserker moment against Cinder.

Everyone’s a little wary of Yang and her being a bit of a dick recently.

Everyone’s a little wary of Weiss being a little emotionally fragile at this whole experience.

JNR is wary in general on the grounds that they didn’t sign up for this level of shit.

Everyone’s a little frazzled in general on account of recent events.

Qrow is giving them the rundown on Salem and Ozpin as far as he’s aware.

Says that they’re ancient demi-gods that have been fighting each other since before history.

He only knows so much because Ozpin is pretty tightlipped about his past and only gives certain individuals certain amounts of information.

Speaking of, Ozpin is there to greet them at Haven.

And teams CFVY and SSSN, leading to a happy reunion.

Haven headmaster is indisposed and can’t be present. (He’s on the phone with Salem)

Ozpin gives the skinny on what they know of Salem’s plan.

The exact plan still eludes them.

What they do know is that she has the remnants of the White Fang that follow Adam with the greater White Fang being uninvolved, a loose cabal of personal agents here and there, and literally countless grimm to bring to bear.

Easy odds, as far as they’re concerned.

They also tell him that Cinder has been beaten.

He doesn’t really care, seeing her as just another dime a dozen assassin.

He happier about Tyrian (Salem’s only truly competent assassin) being dead than anything about Cinder.

Ruby is quick to also say that being dropped down a pit doesn’t necessarily mean Cinder’s dead and if she shows up she gets first dibs.

Speaking of, Cinder is quite alive.

She is quickly found by Emerald and Mercury.

Cinder is wounded, but still powerful enough to kill the both of them should they piss her off.

Brief recovery period.

Discover that Salem isn’t returning her calls.

Salem’s decided that she’s gotten all she can out of Cinder and that she’s not worth further investment.

She can find another urchin, creep, or psycho to mold.

Brief moment of heartbreak is capped off with new plan to regain Salem’s favor.

Emerald and Mercury try to offer other options but eventually agree to come along because they have fuck all for other opportunities.

Get to Mistral and seek help of local crime boss for passage to Atlas to go about evil business there.

Crime boss restrains Emerald and Mercury.

Reveals that Neo already purchased their services.

Neo is angry at Cinder. Blames her for Roman’s death.

Cinder and Neo fight, Cinder wins, and shifts the blame of Roman to Ruby.

Neo acquiesces and teams up with Cinder and co. for revenge on Ruby. (Team CEMN for the win)

First act of new team is to kill local crime boss for trying to dupe 3/4 of them and steal their shit.

Neo just shrugs. No honor among thieves. They overcharged her anyway.

Set off for Atlas to cause problems on purpose to regain Salem’s attention.

RWBY + JNR take a well-earned moment of respite.

Catch up with CFVY and SSSN, fill them in on what’s been happening.

Ruby tries to bridge gaps by returning to being the designated weapon repairwoman.

Grills everyone for not taking better care of their shit.

Because how hard is it to do basic maintenance people?

Given downtime is able to upgrade Jaune’s sword + shield.

Sword has cooler design and shield can produce bubble shield effect now.

Ozpin takes RWBY and JNR aside to ask them to join his inner council.

He would have done it earlier but he was waiting to see if Ruby’s second semblance would ever awaken.

When they agree he elaborates further on Qrow’s earlier explanation.

He’s a great big windbag so he just info dumps everything (that they need to know) on them at once.

Explains that he is opposing demi-god to Salem. A deity of order and building as opposed to destruction and chaos.

Explains that he and Salem were created from on the whims of an ancient god of creation to guide the free peoples of the world and keep them all safe and sound.

Creator god fucked off after making the two of them on the grounds that it is explicitly a creator god not god of anything else.

It made the world. Caring for it is somebody else’s problem.

He and Salem disagreed as to how best to help people.

Salem thought that growth through conflict was the way to go and Ozpin thought that being the guiding hand from behind the scenes would work the best.

It eventually devolved into just trying to kill the other for getting in the way of each other’s plans.

Salem’s goal is to remove Ozpin from the equation and let people build and thrive in the natural way with a disaster, war, or genocide or two every now and then to keep them on their toes.

She’s basically the big evil boogeyman of the world.

Ozpin’s goal is to remove Salem on the grounds that he feels that the best thing he can do to keep order is not to allow said disasters, wars, or genocides and keep people alive for his later plans.

Either can only be killed by direct action of the other.

They keep themselves separate and ideally safe from each other.

Salem has been trying to find workaround for this for ages.

Salem created the grimm as a means of keeping humanity on its toes, fed by negative emotion in an attempt of dissuading such feelings.

They failed both at that and as a means to permanently kill Ozpin, but she now had an army for the rest of her plans.

Ozpin responded by creating and seeding the world with dust, giving the people a means to fight against the darkness surrounding them.

He never puts himself in the direct spotlight of history. Always the vizier, never the king.

Dust also had the side effect of eventually irradiating humanity and giving them aura and, furthermore, semblances.

These newly powered people, when dead and buried, eventually fossilize into more dust.

Most dust mines are ancient burial grounds. Creepy ain’t it?

Ozpin tried to capitalize on his success and tried to create super-soldiers to use said dust, aura, and semblances to protect humanity by combining human and animal traits.

Yep, Ozpin created the ancient faunus.

That and racism is indirectly his fault too.

He made the original faunus to be overseers and guardians to humanity.

In essence, they were designed to be feudal warlords with extra animal abilities that secretly answered only to him and ruled humans with iron fists.

Resulting human rebellions happened and Ozpin used his creations as scapegoats, letting them take all the blame and quietly …quieting anyone who knew the truth.

And that’s where the racism first came from. It has long since changed and muddied, but that was the initial reason.

He words all of this nicer and glides over the parts that make him look bad.

Salem and Ozpin have been picking at each other like that for eons.

Fall of Beacon only happened to try and distract Ozpin long enough for the latest scheme to kill him to be tried.

Destroying his pet project school was just a bonus.

Suffice it to say that that particular plan failed its main objective but still caused everything to fall apart.

Salem is now officially persona non grata, if she wasn’t already, among those present to the explanation.

Adam is trying to get more support from Sienna.

He has a small band of hardliners (psychos) with him but wants more bodies for his plans.

Gives big speech about faunus supremacy and the like.

Sienna tells him to fuck off, points out that he’s just repeating platitudes and doesn’t really care about the cause.

Reiterates his excommunication, citing working with Torchwick and Salem (despite the fact that she was cool with it at the time) as well as getting an unignorably large amount of his own people killed.

Collateral damage only goes so far, even for terrorists.

Adam vs Sienna.

Sienna wins and Adam slinks away, defeated but alive.

Adam’s hardliners get some more members but nowhere near what he wanted.

He’ll have to make do.

Salem wants him to do as terrorists do across Mistral.

Adam suggest that since Fall of Beacon worked fairly well… second verse same as the first?

Salem puts the kibosh on that plan.

She wants people to learn and thrive in a semi-natural way, she doesn’t want to just wipe them all out.

She’s fine with a little culling now and then but too much killing and they’ll never recover right.

Has new plan to try and kill Ozpin.

Has resurrected Tyrian, making a faunus/grimm Frankenstein thingy that she can directly possess at will.

All she needs is an opportunity to infiltrate him into Mistral.

Adam’s job is to provide an exploitable distraction.

He’s okay with that.

Yang has argument with Blake about running off like a punk.

Blake says it won’t happen again.

Yang says once bitten twice shy.

Ruby talks to Blake about Raven and Tai and the abandonment issues Yang has as a result of them both.

Meeting Raven and realizing that she was just a piece of shit this whole time only made things worse.

Says that Blake leaving like she did didn’t help.

Ruby also admits that her own leaving probably wasn’t great either.

Ruby wants her to know that she has faith in her but Yang has always needed a little more than faith.

Weiss airs some grievances to Yang about her dickish behavior.

Yang apologizes for her churlishness and reassures Weiss that the team is still going to be together but she is still mad at Blake.

Weiss tries to help smooth things over further but is interrupted.

Ilia shows up, is met with gun barrels.

Says she was sent by Sienna to take care of Adam, avoiding getting slotted by everyone.

Is kept at arm’s length but if she’s helping then, sure fine whatever, she can help.

Coco, Yatsuhashi, Weiss, and Ren try to talk to Ruby about not going crazy the next time she sees Cinder.

The best they can do is get her to agree that being so out of control insane while fighting her might not be the best way to fight.

They try and say that that’s really not good enough.

Ruby changes the subject via some odd noises she hears.

Haven headmaster (Lionheart? I barely know, or give much of a shit about, canon at this point) is part of The Cabal and is giving regular reports to Salem.

How else could CEMN masquerade as Haven students?

Almost gets walked in on.

Cheeses it but leaves the grimm thing that lets him talk to Salem.

Ruby has brief conversation with Salem.

Salem tries to tempt her, says that Ozpin is an asshole that only wants to control people not help them.

Ruby calls her a bitch.

Cites that Salem ruined her life and got some of her friends killed for this crap, not to mention her fucking mother.

Salem is just listening, still stunned from the audacity of being called a bitch right to her face.

Ruby finishes off by saying that even if Ozpin is an asshole, better the devil you know.

She then kills the grimm.

People now know there’s a turncoat and the only absolute they have is that it’s not Ruby or Ozpin (duh).

Everyone walking on eggshells, not sure who the traitor is.

Accusations are thrown around.

Eventually, after some shouting, everyone comes to the conclusion that it’s also not WBY, JNR, CFVY, or Qrow.

Logic starts to work its magic.

Lionheart tries to calm everyone down, IE: distract everyone from the growingly obvious.

Adam is up to his old tricks.

Blake and Ilia notice and point it out.

Lionheart breathes a sigh of relief as RWBY and JNR mobilize to stop Adam.

Adam is just a distraction.

Tyrian is slipped into the city via some bribes and carefully placed murders.

Adam has placed bombs across the city and broadcasts to the city that they’re doomed.

The civilians start to panic and draw grimm.

Mistral defense force is now busy dealing with said grimm.

Team splits up to stop the bombs.

Tyrian makes his move, attacks Ozpin directly.

Salem assumes direct control, hoping that this will count as her killing Ozpin herself.

SSSN and CFVY pop up and fight Tyrian!Salem.

Start getting their shit kicked in because it’s a fucking demi-goddess in a crazy scorpion demon body.

JNR returns.

Qrow finally does something too.

Ozpin even gets off his lazy ass.

Everyone helps take on Tyrian!Salem and win, killing Tyrian for good and pissing off Salem.

Ozpin got killed again to do it. (He’ll be back)

Blake and Yang find Adam.

Fight him, beat him, he runs away, we know how this song and dance goes.

Blake chases him alone.

Says that she has realized that Adam had been trying to commit suicide by anti-terrorism for a while.

Adam gets enraged and fights Blake again.

Adam final boss fight.

Blake starts winning.

Adam goes beyond the brink of madness.

In his anger he manages to destroy Blake’s weapon.

About to kill Blake but sees a little trinket he gave her when they were kids.

Sees his own reflection and sees a monster where he should be standing.

Realizes his own sense of self-destruction.

“I must already be dead,” –Vlad Dracula Tepes. It applies, says I.

Blake puts Adam down.

Yang arrives, worried that Blake ran off… again.

Blake has completely broken down.

Yang comforts Blake, who just had to kill one of her oldest friends.

Bombs and terrorists are dealt with.

RW see Blake is having troubles and embraces her along with Yang.

Blake, with tears in her eyes, swears to never abandon her team and friends ever again.

RWBY comes together and all vow to be there for each other.

Team RWBY are truly together once again.

Ruby uses parts from Adam’s weapon to repair and upgrade Blake’s.

Ozpin gets back up. (What I tell ya?)

Lionheart is found out as the traitor and calls everyone chicken shit for siding with Ozpin.

Says that Ozpin is a paranoid control freak who would strip them of all free will and thought if he could.

In fact, he says that that exact thing is Ozpin’s plan once Salem is beaten.

Salem at least promised freedom.

Ozpin doesn’t exactly deny these accusations by promptly and rather brutally executing Lionheart.

Reactions are cut short when a news bulletin plays on the TV about problems in Atlas.

WF-SDC war has officially stopped being a shadow war and there is now open combat in the streets.

They catch a very brief shot on the telly of something that looks a lot like a grimm arm on some chick.

Ruby has reacquired target-lock.

RWBY and JNR set off once again, this time for Atlas.

Season five done.

[furubabes]

Okay. Somebody Asked. @shoujobell and @cryptidaicat, y’all encouraged this. I’m gonna tag this #long post if you wanna filter.

So here. I got the urge to write and so I ranked the Fruits Basket couples from my favorite to least favorite. These aren’t my complete thoughts because I could honestly do multiple full meta posts on each pairing, but I tried to justify and explain all my choices. Standard disclaimer, this is subjective and we can agree to disagree.

Part 1: Just the reasonably popular ones

1. Kyoru: Someone’s gonna call me unoriginal for this but it’s fine. Kyoru is the main romance of Fruits Basket! They bring out the best in each other and build each other up as characters. Kyoru is basically my gold standard take on Sunshine Girl x Grouchy Dude, and I’m not even usually into that trope otherwise. Their romance is one of the few that feels so genuinely necessary to the story. They love each other and like each other. Kyo understands Tohru in a way no one else in the narrative does, and vice versa. They’re in love like soulmates and also like awkward teenagers. Kyoru invented romance. If it’s boring to like healthy romances with realistic development, I’ll be boring.

2. Tohrin: If Tohru didn’t end up with Kyo I would only want her to be with Rin. I guess they have some of the same appeal as Kyoru for me - Rin reads Tohru in a way a lot of people don’t. I also like how honest and raw they are with each other. They yell! They fight! Rin is down to just straight up knock Tohru over to keep her from rushing off. Also, they’re both absolute fashion icons. Goth x Prep rights. I firmly believe Tohru Honda is bisexual.

3. Yukeru: This is my favorite Yuki pairing. I followed @yunsoh way back when the reboot first started and her blog has got me absolutely hooked on Yukeru. I think Yuki’s arc would have just made a ridiculous amount of sense if he was gay. It screams comphet. Kakeru is an excellent complement to Yuki, and their bond feels incredibly natural. Honestly I feel like it’s the most organic romantic development outside of Kyoru. I think realistically they wouldn’t have gotten together until post-canon and frankly Yuki shines in his friendships much more than romances, so I’m not absolutely dying for them to be together, but if Yuki’s going to date anyone Kakeru is my pick.

4. Arisaki: Man... I just like them. They strike me as less of an epic love and more of a comfortable partnership. I also read them both as lesbians anyway lol. Honestly I think they both had feelings for Tohru at one point and bonded over it. The way I picture them happening is honestly just Arisa at 25 frantically googling “is it gay to hold hands with my girl roommate who I spend all my time with and also we never date men“ because Saki bought them rings that look like wedding bands but they could just be super close friendship rings and oh god she’s in too deep. They’re dating for four years before they notice.

5. AyaMine: But Jessie! You literally never post about this pairing! Yeah, you’re right. I never think about them actively. But when ranking the canon ships I realized that I like the two of them together because they’re chill and understated. They’re huge loud personalities on their own but as a couple, they just feel like two people who are happy together and like spending time with one another. No drama, no mess, very understated. No plot contrivances driving their relationship. Good for them.

6. YukiKyo: Okay, so I can be convinced to put on my YukiKyo goggles more often than not. It feels iffy because there’s debate about how closely related all the Sohmas are and these two are called “cousins” a lot in school, but since half of the Sohmas are dating each other anyway, I err on the side of them being more of a clan than a proper blood family. Anyway, YukiKyo is my designated angst fuel. I think it would realistically be pretty one-sided from Yuki’s side, since we see him wanting Kyo’s approval from a very young age, but I like exploring the what-ifs of their lives if they’d been friends instead of rivals. In canon, I like to think that after high school they’re not best friends in the traditional sense, but either one could show up with a dead body and the other would help them bury it, no questions asked.

7. Yuchi: Really? Yuki’s wife is my third favorite pairing for him? Look, I adore Machi, and I still like Yuchi. But as I’ve been watching the reboot and reading others’ metas, I think I agree that their relationship could have been very powerful as a platonic one, sort of running parallel to Yuki and Tohru. I like them together but I think there wasn’t quite time for a complete character arc for Machi and her growth sort of begins and ends with Yuki. I don’t object to them being a couple in canon and I think they’re genuinely very sweet, but once again, I think Yuki stands out in his friendships more than anything. I would have liked to see Machi strike out on her own a little more.

8. Haru x Yuki: I don’t have any particular feelings towards them but I love their dynamic already and I think as a couple they’d both be really easygoing and comfortable with each other. I think a childhood crush turned close friendship is honestly the narrative that works best for them so I have no need for the two to date canonically, but every time they interact in the anime it gets a laugh out of me. They’re cool. They’d make a very pretty pair.

9. Mayutori: I’m Mayutori-neutral. I think they suffer from Fruits Basket’s pair the spare syndrome, but out of the side pairings that don’t have too much impact, they’re one I enjoy. Mayu’s fun as a character, and painfully relatable, and I like that Hatori’s eventual romance isn’t with someone who reminds him of Kana or something like that. I also want good things for Hatori. Mayutori has serious heterosexual energy though. I’m not saying this as a pro or con, they’re just very straight.

10. Hatsuzu: Okay, Haru and Rin aren’t this far down because I hate them. I’m perfectly fine with them being together in canon. But I think their romance almost... functions better as individual motivation for their character arcs than it does as an actual relationship, if that makes sense? Rin’s backstory episode is heartbreaking and her motivation to protect Haru is compelling and sympathetic, but their actual scenes together just don’t move me that much. Their romance is the least interesting part of either character for me.

11. Hiro x Kisa: Yeah I never got into it that much. It’s cute, it’s a sweet depiction of childhood crushes, but I’m not a fan of the idea of them ending up together. Kisa’s a cutie and Hiro is entertaining but the two of them together don’t actually do much for me. The dynamic between them is almost like if someone did Kyoru with none of the nuance. Ultimately though, they’re kids. I don’t expect them to have a deep and complex romance.

12. Yukiru: I think it would be a disservice to their characters if they were a couple. People far more eloquent than me have already written plenty of meta on why Yuki and Tohru aren’t what the other needs romantically, so I won’t get into it, but basically I just think their canon friendship is so beautiful and meaningful that I wouldn’t want to change it. Yuki and Tohru support my thesis that not all soulmates are romantic.

13. Tohru x Momiji: Welcome to the subjective dislike corner! This pairing is reasonably popular among people theorizing who Tohru would be with if not Kyo, but for some reason it just sits poorly with me. I can’t rank it any lower because there’s nothing evil or morally wrong about it! I just really don’t like it. I’ve quit a few fics because this pairing came up and I just can’t enjoy it.

14. Kakeru x Komaki: Idk, I just think Kakeru latching onto the one girl who was nice to him and put up with his bullshit and then being with her forever isn’t compelling. Komaki’s also probably his beard. She’s likable as an individual though.

15. Akigure: There’s plenty to say about the age gap, Shigure being in love with Akito since she was a fetus because of The Dream, the implications of a 15-18 year old knowing he’d one day want to be with a then-10-year-old... yeah, you get it. But even if I was able to put all that aside because Soulmate Destiny Logic, I still don’t think I’d like Akigure. I think they’re interesting as bitter, codependent exes, but I don’t like the idea of Akito ending up with anyone who she abused or who abused her. I think she has so much growing to do as a character and staying in a relationship within the Sohma family to do it can’t be healthy for her. I can’t see them living happily ever after, nor do I really want to.

16. Kurisa: I think what frustrates me the most here is that I want to like Kureno and everything about this romance is written to dull his most interesting traits. First of all, the age gap. Yeah, it’s gross, I don’t like it. But even past that, the love at first sight, instant fixation with each other, and lack of actual chemistry just kills me. Arisa’s stated reason to like Kureno is that he reminds her of Tohru, basically piggybacking off the chemistry she and Tohru already have, and his total lack of agency means the plot just sort of carries him along. It frustrates me that Takaya could have done something pretty cool by making them simply friends who have a chance encounter and then build a friendship from there that parallels Kureno’s abusive dynamic with Akito. It would be neat if a stranger’s kindness was the push Kureno needed to get himself out of the Sohmas’ grasp, without all the nonsensical drama about them being in love. It would also be less of a disservice to Arisa, who basically just spends the whole series pining for Kureno after they meet and I hate it. I could write a whole post about this. Maybe I will sometime.

17. Kyoko x Katsuya: I don’t think their story is romantic. I think it’s tragic for Kyoko, and if it were framed that way within the narrative, I wouldn’t object so much to its existence. But... Takaya just really likes age gaps with a younger woman and an older man, so the narrative romanticizes this man marrying his student. Katsuya can be depicted as well-meaning as you want, but he’s still got a ridiculous amount of power over Kyoko. She was also still pretty young when she had Tohru, which doesn’t make things any better because it’s clear that the relationship turned physical when Kyoko was a teen, thus dashing the idea of Katsuya legally marrying her to save her but not actually doing anything creepy. I wish Fruits Basket framed this as a story of Kyoko escaping one dangerous situation by entering a relationship with a huge power imbalance, because that happens to girls all the time and it’s tragic and compelling. The events of the story could stay the exact same and if the framing changed I would be fine with it. But this is not that. This is just a really romanticized teacher/student age gap. I’m not into it.

Part 2: Rarepairs, weird shit, and others (oh my!)

1. Yuki x Kakeru x Kimi: OT3. I’m enamored with the idea of this hot mess polycule.

2. Momiji x Kimi: Chaos meets chaos. This couple would say uwu without any irony and also steal your car keys. They’re both perceptive and smart hidden under a layer of cute and I’d wanna watch them play 4D chess with each other.

3. Kazuma x Kunimitsu: Idk how old Kunimitsu is so if he’s like 20, strike this one from the record. But I saw one post once that was like Kyo slowly realizing Kazuma and Kunimitsu were gay and had been dating for years and it was funny as hell.

4. AyaTori: It’s cute. Opposites attract, black and white hair, and Aya only listens to Hatori anyway. It’s just fun to think about.

5. Megumi x Hiro: They don’t interact in canon I just think Goth x Punk-Ass Bitch is a great concept.

6. Motoko x Nao: They’re both loud as hell and Nao having a gf that towers over him is funny. Maybe Yuki would finally get some peace.

7. Machi x Kimi: I don’t see them actually being compatible in canon but I think they could have a really homoerotic college friendship.

8. Hajime x Mutsuki: This is just YukiKyo, the non angst version.

9. Akito x Hanajima: I’m so wary of shipping Akito with anyone but this is kind of fun. The two are friends in canon and Hana isn’t remotely afraid of Akito. Plus Akito never abused Hana. I can sort of see it.

10. Hiroshi x Yusuke: Makes no sense, wouldn’t be relevant, but if those two just never spent any time apart and continued being a pair for life it would be a really good bit.

11. Akitohru: I don’t think it’s healthy to date anyone who’s previously stabbed you.

12. Kazuma x Hanajima: Stop. Go to jail. Hana’s one-sided crush is funny though.

[fizzingwizard]

Episode 34 arrives and it’s a MUCH NEEDED breath of first air. I mean, this episode could have actually BEEN a 99 Adventure episode. I guess at least one person on the production team has actually seen the old show at least once!

In my opinion, it doesn’t quite equal the cuteness, silliness, and personality of similar 99 episodes, but it comes very close, and it’s certainly the best we’ve had in a long long while.

And it’s all because of these two.

More below!

The episode bizarrely begins with Tailmon barking to communicate with Komondomon. Which raises the question, if no one could talk with Komondomon before because he can only bark, how were they communicating? Did Lopmon just tell Komondomon everything he needed to know and tell the kids “just follow his lead” or something??

Also Tailmon’s opening line being her barking is pretty surreal. And yet, fitting for a cat Digimon who is a dog at Child level.

The kids are shown taking a break - the first sign that this episode is gonna be A Bit Different.

Taichi: Something feels weird. Why aren’t we fighting?

Sora: Taichi, don’t you think you should rest once in a while?

Taichi: I mean, I do, I just got the impression the rest of the world didn’t agree...

Sora: By the way, why do we like this world that constantly tries to kill us and never gives us any pleasant memories so much? Why don’t we just take our partners to the human world and leave this place to its fate?

Taichi: How else am I gonna get an outlet for my pent up aggression and adrenaline junkie issues?

Sora: That’s your backstory?

Taichi: I’m a complicated man.

Komondomon then randomly jumps... into the sea. “Oh no, they’ll drown!” No, they won’t, because Komondomon has the ability to build a dome over his back trapping oxygen inside. Submarimon I get, but Komondomon?

As they dive, Tailmon explains what we learned last week about Millenniumon trying to resurrect himself with a new body. Apparently a very large fragment of him is located undersea in a place called Farga (transliteration TBA). She thinks resentfully about how she was almost absorbed into Millenniumon’s most recent resurrection effort.

Hikari tackles her with a comforting hug, which Tailmon seems a bit discomfited by. But does not object.

Tailmon considers defeating Millenniumon for good to be her personal mission as a Holy Digimon. Patamon sees her determination and does his best to put on his game face too. It’s like being glared at by a sock puppet.

Tailmon: I can’t allow Hikari to be put in danger. It’s my job as the Holy Digimon -

Tailmon: - gosh darnit and she’s just so cute too!

They wind up getting hit by a rip current or something?? and thrown into another weird submarine sort of thing. They discourteously break a hole in it and wind up inside a self-sustaining underwater kingdom, apparently, which instantly goes on Red Alert as Manbomon come to attack them.

This is Daipenmon, or Big Penguin Monster. I love him. He is glorious. Gaze upon his expression of perpetually stoned haze.

Daipenmon: You try steering this thing every day in and out nonstop without turning to hard drugs.

She attac!

While fighting, some Mantaraymon break in through the hole they made and the Manbomon go to drive them off as apparently they are not welcome. Then MarineAngemon appears in all her creepy glory and they sort everything out.

MarineAngemon: Oh, Tailmon, I see you’re a Holy Digimon! I can tell by your Holy Ring. I have one too.

Takeru: Patamon, why don’t you have a Holy Ring?

Patamon: .... -.-’

Look! See! So cute! They are floating on bubbles! All the kids get their own and each has an individual design that shows their personality. Here Tailmon tries desperately to keep Hikari from falling off. I missed this kind of thing! Flashbacks to Monzaemon’s Toytown...

Turns out MarineAngemon is extremely small and the scene before was all “don’t pay attention to that man behind the curtain” type scare tactics. Not very effective since no matter how big MarineAngemon gets, she’s still extremely adorable. She invites them to stay the night. I really expected it to be a trap, but it wasn’t.

OH MY GOD IS THAT FOOD ARE THEY EATING ACTUAL FOOD OMG OMG

quick someone alert the producers! Someone’s having FUN with this show! I was starting to think that was illegal or something!

It’s not AS fun as when they went to Devimon’s illusory castle in 99 Adventure and stuffed their faces after starving and living on potentially poisonous eggs for a week... but I’ll take it.

Meanwhile an undersea band plays music and Taichi ACTS LIKE THE FIFTH GRADE CHILD THAT HE IS. For about 0.5 seconds but HEY he did something child-like! holy cheez wiz batman!

Hikari is mysteriously absent so Tailmon goes to find her. Turns out she’s asked MarineAngemon to heal Komondomon who is tired and wounded from their journey. Tailmon’s like, “Aw, what a nice person she is.” I’m all for exceptionally kind-hearted Hikari, but taking care of Komondomon should have been priority 1 for EVERYONE. At least Sora should have thought of it. I can see Taichi being too forward-focused, and Takeru a dumb eight year old, but Sora would definitely have thought about Komondomon.

Clearly the show wanted to establish how nice Hikari is, but I hate when shows inadvertently make all the other characters look like asses just to trump up the current star...

Taichi’s digivice glows and...

... MINI KOUSHIROU RETURNS!!! Hurray!

Um, what’s that Sora’s drinking? A mimosa? o.O

Well anyway, Koushirou just shows up to remind everyone of the situation with the satellites and that things are getting worse.

Taichi: Do you have any idea what we can do about it?

Koushirou: No, but I’ll keep you posted.

Taichi: Thanks for nothing braindead

Koushirou: That’s it! You’re not the man I knew in episode 3 anymore! I want a divorce!

Taichi: Fine with me it’s not like you’re ever home anyway!

Koushirou: Well at least I’m not cheating with YAMATO!

Taichi: I HAVE NEEDS!

*cough*

Uh, I know Taichi is shorter than Sora, but he looks... pretty tiny here... lol. Or maybe Sora’s just had a growth spurt again.

They spend the night sleeping in bubbles. Aw.

By the way, question: the kids seem able to walk and breath normally in MarineAngemon’s kingdom... but the fish-type Digimon can also swim around normally. And it seems the kids wouldn’t be able to survive in the ocean itself, but they and the fish can both survive here? And yet bubbles? What... what kind of scientific anomaly is this place??

So... MarineAngemon’s kingdom appears to be a Whamon’s corpse! X’D Wow that’s dark.

They are attacked by Anomalocarimon! For reasons. Actually, they did explain earlier that the ocean Digimon have been more aggressive lately and it seems to be the influence of Millenniumon’s stone in Farga or whatever.

Daipenmon: This sucks I don’t have health insurance

Tailmon frantically tries to fight off the intruders while also keeping Hikari out of danger. This entire episode is about Tailmon wanting to protect Hikari and keep her at arm’s length so she doesn’t end up in danger, while Hikari just keeps trying to stay close to Tailmon and support her.

Tailmon: I can’t take you with me, Hikari. It’s too dangerous.

Hikari: Fine. Big brother, will you bring me into the heat of the action with you?

Taichi: Sure thing.

Tailmon: ...

In his defense, Taichi does seem a bit freaked when Hikari TAKES A FLYING LEAP off MetalGreymon toward Tailmon.

(no I really love that Taichi immediately understands why Hikari wants to fight and takes her right to her partner without even a token “nuu but you’re still a baby.” I mean, if Yamato’s cool with Takeru being in danger all the time, Taichi shouldn’t be much worried about it...

Hikari has a flashback! Turns out she’s heard Tailmon calling for her since she as a little kid!

She caught one of Angewomon’s feathers back then too.

Hikari promises Tailmon that she’ll be by her side. Awww.

Hands again.

Crest of Light! I kind of expect that we’ll find out about the Crests and what they mean really fast at the end of the season... although I’m still kind of hoping Mimi is mining Crest crystals atm.

Hikari is able to magically produce a Digivice... I’d completely forgot she didn’t have one till now.

Here I expected Tailmon would evolve, but instead, the power of Light appears to give everyone a power boost like it’s done in the past. They all glow with their Crest colors, kids and partners alike (except for some reason Tailmon glows yellow???) and launch a joint attack on Anomalocarimon and defeat him. Yay.

Then they say goodbye to MarineAngemon and go on their way, I guess to Farga.

So... yeah! it was a nice episode. It had a theme. There was fighting, but it didn’t overwhelm everything else. There was character development. I really can’t complain about it. And it was SHOCKING that Taichi had so few lines (compared to what’s become the norm - a GOOD shock but still I was like “omg what’s going on!!”)

I am just confused because why is this sort of episode happening when we haven’t seen it in ages? What happened in that interim between when they all met up after the first team split up and just now that prevented the show writers from having fun with the show and just writing nonstop fighting all the time? I’m so confused. It makes no sense. Still suspecting that they couldn’t get anyone to come in and voice characters for long enough so they just focused on Sanpei Yuuko/Taichi, but without the others they couldn’t figure out how to push the show forward and make it fun too... Idk. It’s so weird. But oh well. We got a good episode, and maybe it’s a sign of changes to come. I hope so.

Next week...

We get attacked by a scary looking Digimon and Hikari... Idk, thinks she can block the attack somehow? haha. Aw but look how awesome she is protecting her brother and Greymon!

Hikari gets touched by the dark powers! Oh noes!

And more cuteness.

The episode title name-drops Angewomon, which surprises me because I figured they’d hold off on her and give Tailmon Nefertimon for an evolution first. But *shrug* whatever! Looking forward to it.

[lunarr-rrose]

Compensation and Incentives - Fernando Angelucci, The Storage Stud

https://u109893.h.reiblackbook.com/generic11/the-storage-stud/compensation-and-incentives-fernando-angelucci-the-storage-stud/

How do you compensate and how do you incentivize your staff and personnel?

For Fernando, this is a critical point in hiring and keeping his people happy.

Not everyone is incentivized by money or compensation. You need to know what drives them. If compensation is what drives your employee then make sure to give them the right package.

Know their goals. Sit down with your staff to really know and learn what motivates them.

Fernando O. Angelucci is Founder and President of Titan Wealth Group. He also leads the firm’s finance and acquisitions departments. Fernando Angelucci and Steven Wear founded Titan Wealth Group in 2015, and under his leadership, the firm’s revenue has grown over 100% year over year. Today,

Find out more at

https://www.TheStorageStud.com

https://titanwealthgroup.com/

Listen to our Podcast:

https://thestoragestud.podbean.com/e/compensation-and-incentives-fernando-angelucci-the-storage-stud/

-----------------------------------

When I'm coaching, other new business owners that are, starting to really build their business and starting to get it off the ground from the single operator portion to then start hiring additional employees to help out and build the business. One of the most common questions I get is, how do you compensate and how do you incentivize your staff and your personnel? This is a super critical point, when it comes to hiring and keeping your people happy. Number one, not everyone is incentivized by money or compensation or motivation. So, one of the very first things that you need to realize is, you know, give your people a personality assessment. We use Predictive Index and see, what drives them? If compensation is a major driver, then you got to really focus on that and make sure that you craft a package that makes sense for that individual.

Now, once you get into larger corporations, they are unwilling to work with people on an individual basis. And what they usually do is they'll establish these pay bands with certain incentive packages, and that doesn't really change much, but when you're in a smaller company, it's really important to sit down with that individual and see, not only, you know, what motivates them? But also, what are their goals? Right? They have goals that you're not even aware of, that you can help them along with it. Won't actually cost the company any money or any capital contribution whatsoever. And maybe, you know, Hey, I'm saving up to go to school. So, maybe we can help them go to school, or maybe we can change their hours around so that they have time to do school on the side while they're working with us.

One of the hierarchies, or one of the things that we look at too is, how are people motivated as far as autonomy? Do they have the ability to make decisions once they understand the role without having to constantly ask for permission? Cause that really beats down on you. Do they have a sense of purpose in that role? Do they feel like the work they're doing is it adding to the greater good or the company or the greater good of the community or both? As well as their own well-being. And then the last one is, mastery. Do they have the ability to master that craft and really excel in that position? What we found is these three things are really what drive fulfillment in a position. So mastery, autonomy, and purpose, but after you have identified all these things, these kind of non-monetary things, and it's, that's important to structure the compensation in a way that incentivizes that individual to help the company grow or help the company stay profitable.

So, I'm not a big fan of paying just straight wages or straight hourly, or straight salary because that doesn't incentivize that person to go above and beyond and really help the company grow. That just, it just is a place from the clock-in and clock-out, and then go on with the rest of their lives. So one of the things that we like to do is structure incentives around profitability. So for example, if a manager can drive revenue, that's great! But what if that manager is driving revenue at the cost of increasing expenses? So, we want all of our employees to be bottom line focused and that top line, I don't care about growth, gross revenue. What I care about is net revenue or profit margin. So, we'll tie in set to those types of metrics. Another thing that we love to do is just see what drives that department and then incentives to that as well.

So say for example, if somebody is in the marketing department, we won't buy incentives to deliverability rate or if it's a social media type thing, maybe interactions or clicks if somebody is in the lead management department, it's how many of the leads did, were you able to contact and get all the information for and move it as a completed file to underwriting or to the due diligence department? If it's the underwriting department, it's how quickly are you turning these files around and how close are you on valuation, on resale value on, you know, how close did you get to the appraisal once we order that? How many times did we have to go back and renegotiate because something popped up that wasn't caught in the beginning? With sales, there'll be appointments, there'll be phone calls, there'll be offers made, there'll be contracts accepted, dispositions department, same thing.

We're going to tie the compensation to spread to profitability on the sale. You know, we don't really care what we're selling a property for. What we care about is the spread. So, if it's going to cost us a hundred thousand dollars to make a hundred thousand dollars, that's just a waste of and money. But if it costs us a hundred thousand dollars to make 500,000, then that was a slam dunk. And then finance department, you know, how quickly are they turnaround budgets? Are we having to follow, you know, are we having to file extensions on our tax returns? Are we comfortably sitting with plenty of cash in case opportunities come up, that we need to move on quickly? What's our debt load looking like? So, these are the types of incentives that will tie to each one of these departments to make sure that people are doing the right thing. I'm a huge proponent, a huge believer in you. Number one, what gets measured gets done. And then number two, are the measurables, measuring things that actually help the business move forward? So, those are typically the few things I tell people to watch out for and to look at ,when they ask me about, how to compensate their people? How to incentivize them?

[littlecafe]

suband thoughts pt. 4

i didn’t publish part 3 because it got ugly in there but i still want to number things properly in case i want to ever go back to them in the future

i’m writing this after round 4 so we just got over the last round of individual eliminations, there’s now 6 fixed teams which will go onto the quarterfinal? semifinal? round where each team gets to perform 2 songs after that 2 teams will be eliminated and we will be left with the final 4

so this post will also include spoilers because i HAVE to talk about the final 6 teams omg

i can’t believe the show is almost over?!! i’m salty as hell for jtbc to end up with the same number of people as last year (27) despite eliminating less up until now, i thought maybe they wanted to have fixed 5 member teams since the first season ended with both 4 and 5 members teams so i was hoping that might be the reason why they were deciding to keep more around but nope we get to the end and they just had a huge 13 contestant elimination right before semis instead

i guess keeping more people around throughout the show is good for the musicians to gain more publicity but it hurts like hell to get eliminated right after the big rounds esp if you kinda knew that you’d be a goner because the judges have specific tastes that you don’t match anyways (just always getting criticism from them each stage cannot be fun omg), but maybe i’m just pessimistic lol i think most appreciate the extra time to perform and bond with other artists

my thoughts post pt. 3 was a big rant which is why i decided to not post it but a good chunk was on how i HATE HATE HATE the judging style of this season and it’s the reason why i’m having a harder time getting invested into the contestants on this season and the music they’re doing bc the judges have a very set standard on what they want and you can feel it while watching and that’s such a turn off to me

like my sister and i guessed eliminations after the ep that aired last monday (9/6) so we didn’t even get to watch all of round 4 stages but based off of judges preferences we guessed 11 out of the 13 they eliminated right, one mistake was we just let all the bassists pass by default since there’s only 5 of them but they ended up eliminating one (moon seonghyuk...) and the other one was nokdu who we like and didn’t want to eliminate sakfhjskdhf but we kinda knew it wouldn’t be possible to keep him because we basically eliminated all the “good” band combos for him so we were just like well fuck i guess he’s gone but we didn’t have the heart to cross out his name in our screenshot LMAO

so next point. nokdu was robbed i hate you (@ the judges) i can’t believe they were having a great time watching his stage and then just umm yea ok 93 :/ like?? excuse me??? i already knew from that that he’s most likely gone but i still didn’t want to face it ugh they should’ve kept him like the band variety now is lowkey stale (aka the variety is almost nonexistent and i’ll talk about that later in the post) let me just continue being sad about my city pop band for a moment longer

ok but my growth from the first episode where i said i didn’t like any of the vocalists (other than the two i knew already) and me just becoming a big nokdu fan like i don’t even like city pop that much tbh but i just really found myself enjoying his voice while watching all his stages like they were so wrong to tell him to stick to producing/they want to see him more as a producer than a main singer in his audition like let the man sing 

nokdu and hyunsang should’ve stayed together for this last stage i’m so sad i don’t know if it would’ve saved either of them tbh but i could only hope? imagine forever young team reunion with whoever else they wanted for their last person ahhh even if they go at least we’d get one last fun banger but nokdu junseo combination was good too

and danny koo..i cried...i’m so upset that classical instruments got the “talk to the hand” treatment even more on this season than the last, i love the violin and danny’s energy is just so!! it makes me so happy!! i knew this would’ve happened eventually but it still makes me sad

i can’t talk about every individual person who got eliminated so those were my personal fallen favorites but other than that i want to talk about is davii (and i guess in a similar vein, valo) because i felt the judges did him so dirty like every time he tried to do anything and work with their feedback he always got hit with the “sounds like something’s missing here” or “doesn’t seem like you suit the team” and i don’t know but that feedback hurt me??? lmao??? honestly after a while i just felt like it just boiled down to them not liking his voice tbh (reminds me of his audition where they kept probing him about if he really wants to be a vocalist on this show or just a producer...this already showed they would rather him not sing huh....), they mentioned it multiple times how his voice is more r&b style and it’s true his voice is a lot softer than others on the show so he doesn’t reach those same piercing high notes you find in rock music but that doesn’t mean that something’s missing from him....it makes me even more sad that he went on this show because he felt lonely just composing on his own but the judges kept telling him he doesn’t fit in 

valo honestly got the same dj treatment as the first season, he got a lot of critical comments too just because the judges don’t like edm and his specific “instrument” rather than him doing anything terrible (cue another dj, ludi, randomly getting eliminated in whichever round for no reason) which i still don’t understand!!! djs are cool and sound fine in a band environment imo and not to mention the ones on this season can play a variety of different instruments too like what’s not to like??! totally predictable that they only kept one dj around just like last season but i still hate that

back to topic of the judges being very specific about what type of music/bands they deem good ruining the band variety in the final 6...if you look at it, they’re all more rock orientated, i would say they’re all in similar styles to either people on the bridge or purple rain of last season which is so funny now that i think about it? like last season only 2 out of the 6 bands were rock focus and now it’s like the total opposite lol

with j.una’s team being the most different out of the 6 if i had to compare maybe they’ll be similar to hoppipolla? (probs due to the strings since his team is full guitars, mostly acoustic) and kitak’s team have potential to be quirky mone but we need to hear their originals first since they haven’t done any yet so for now i’d consider them people on the bridge category so yea...i’m a little disappointed about this and i guess teams can still pivot into different styles in semis but this is based off of the music they performed together so far

even though the styles of the teams are similar i still think the lineups are balanced, like yea we don’t have too much variety going on but i will give them the fact that they did make some very good bands:

j.una (vocalist, guitar), jang haeun (classical guitar), kim jinsan (guitar), jung minhyuk (elec guitar)

yang jang semin (bass), kim hangyeom (vocalist, guitar), jung seokhoon (elec guitar), jo kihun (drums), kim junseo (piano)

willy k (elec guitar), vince (vocalist), cyan (bass), danny lee (drums), oh eunchul (piano)

shin kitak (vocalist, guitar), lim yoonsung (vocalist, trumpet), byun jeongho (bass), kim seulong (drums)

leenzy (vocalist), jung nayoung (elec guitar), eun ahkyung (drums), hwang hyunjo (dj/producer)

kim yeji (vocalist), park daul (geomungo), hwang leen (elec guitar), hwang inkyu (bass), jeon seongbae (drums)

as a lover of purple rain it’s time to accept crackshot back into my heart (especially with the added addition of eunchul like hello?!), i truly did love all their stages but each time i wanted them to experiment so bad with other contestants and it made me upset to see them together again and again when they are an existing band already so they can easily just get back together outside of the show but i think willy k mentioned on someone’s ig live (was it nokdu’s?) that they stuck together at first since no one wanted to do rock in the first round so they naturally got left behind and decided to just stick it out together so i guess it couldn’t be helped...and the judges LOVED their first stage so i think they just continued working together bc they got good feedback

after hearing that and thinking about it more...i think the other contestants were really too scared to pick them individually....maybe since their “crackshot color” was too strong others didn’t want to pick them apart/try to work with it...so now i’m actually a lil sad about that....

crackshot have, individually, very good players and a lot of the other contestants enjoy a similar style to theirs so i don’t think they would’ve had too many problems on different teams considering the rock heavy influence of this season (round 1 was def just strange because jtbc forced teams into different genres randomly) but it just never fully happened i guess but at least cyan got to do some things and willy k found oh eunchul who he calls his music soulmate which is very cute!! if eunchul doesn’t officially join their band i hope they still do gigs together

next up i have to talk about yeji’s team like they are so fucking sexy like kinda obsessed with their lineup even though i’m sad hyunjo isn’t with them anymore, i did really like hwang leen’s old team which was him with inkyu and seongbae (i thought this would be his set team since they stayed together for 2 rounds) so now it’s crazy to see them back together again along with yeji and daul! like their ceiling is so high 

like my og biases where already strong so i knew yeji and demian would be my woosung of this season but like bias aside yeji’s team??? actually so hot like i love that for her omg she was experimenting a lot and made so many different teams that i didn’t know what she’ll end up with for her permanent team but i love this a lot ahhh kinda scared i feel like i need to lower my expectations because i’m over the moon with this lineup right now lol

hyunjo has the biggest brain so i trust her move and i think it works out best for the two teams since leenzy’s team definitely needs her there more and way more suitable for their dynamic than the two guys, leenzy’s core 3 have already worked together (and the song was an original too!) so you kinda already have an idea about what they do together but hyunjo added in is interesting, i wonder how she’ll mesh and how it’ll change their sound 

also super interested to see how junseo slots into yang jang semin’s team since this would be the first time they perform together (his team stayed as their round 4 team and adopted junseo after the rest of his team got eliminated) i think by now you know how i feel about keys in rock so yes always happy to have another pianist here

i’ve said this so many times already but once again i’m happy for my girl haeun!! since she plays classical guitar i was worried she’d get left behind since she’s grouped with the classical musicians (tbh even acoustic guitars got left behind this season...) but this team came through!! she seems so happy with them and thankful for j.una for putting them together even though everyone was skeptical of his team at the beginning lol they’re a very sweet team and their dynamic is cute and homely, minhyuk introducing haeun to guitar amps and helping her find one that suits her classical guitar is one of my favorite moments of the show asjhfjdksf

kitak’s team...pls every time i see them on screen i just...second hand embarrassment...this energy is too much for me sajfkhsjdksd they’re so!!!!! (i mean this lovingly of course) jeongho’s been my pinned since the show started so obviously big fan and i’m sure some of you have seen my deranged posts about him every now and then if not you are absolutely lucky i hope if stays that way for you LMAO but i also like everyone in their team too and you know kitak’s voice has grown on me so much

but i’m oddly not on board 100% with their band sound atm which is surprising? they have everything i could ever want in a band so i don’t know what’s not clicking for me so i’m waiting to see what style they come out with for their original song (the judges specifically asked about it so i think they’ll perform one for sure) omg but my sister said they remind her of a christian rock band or just a band of boys that met at church together is that why pls that has me crying asjhfusdhfs

summing it up with what’s been shown so far, my projected favorites (music wise) are yeji’s team and crackshot + eunchul team but i’m always excited for everyone how can you not be! idc if they do covers or originals like hoppipolla and purple rain performed only covers for their semis and finals stages so you don’t have to show an original, just show ur color well through arrangement and song choice

but lowkey with the judges asking for an original from kitak’s team....yea maybe we’ll have more originals being performed this year

i think that’s all for this thoughts post it ended up being longer than i thought because i rambled as always 🤠

randomly ending this with my final-but-not-really favs list, my top 4 have been the same the entire season but the rest fluctuates and i added on so many people throughout the season omg

my entire heart: yeji, demian, jeongho, haeun

i like you: daul, hwang leen, nokdu, hyunsang, eunchul, hyunjo, danny koo

yes: crackshot, kitak, seulong, nayoung, inkyu, minhyuk, hyukjin, valo

will eunchul make it to the first tier after semis? stay tuned and find out

actually daul, nokdu, eunchul should be at a 1.5 tier called “i have commitment issues” but why would i do that to myself 

[allsassnoclass]

the closest i’ve ever been to the heart of everything

Ficmas Day 9

Pairing: Calum Hood/Roy English 

Rating: General Audiences

Key Tag(s): New Years, introspection

Word Count: 1700

Read on AO3

—

The first morning of 2021 in the Hood-English household.

—

2021 arrives quietly in the Hood-English household.  Neither of them have plans, one last difference that 2020 has prompted in their lives, so they sit with Duke in the living room and turn on the radio, breaking out cards and board games to tide them over until the clock finally ticks over to a new day, new month, and entirely new year.  They cheer in the new one and curse out the old one loud enough for Duke to give them both reproachful looks for interrupting his sleep, then Roy heads to bed.  Calum has a few phone calls and video messages to send and respond to, throwing his love and well-wishes out into the world with a sigh of relief and hope for a brighter future.  Roy’s entire world is contained in that living room, and the rest of the universe knows that he has infinite time to make connections and spread light, something which he is more inclined to do early in the morning than late at night.

Duke follows him into the bedroom and flops down on his bed, unaware of how momentous this moment is for his two humans and everyone else who has been desperate to see 2020 go.  Roy is asleep by the time Calum joins him.

The first morning of 2021 begins in darkness for Roy.  He and Calum had left the house the day before to watch the last sunset of 2020, and Roy feels that it’s important for him to see the dawn break on the new year.  Calum had not been so keen, but that’s okay.  As much as he loves sharing bits of himself with Calum, it’s also important to keep standing on his own feet and meet the future head-on, and Calum will still be here, sleeping peacefully and contentedly by the time he gets back.

His hair is a tangled mess against the pillow.  He keeps saying that he wants to cut it, but he hasn’t yet, despite Roy offering to help do it at home.  Secretly, Roy thinks he enjoys knowing that he doesn’t need to particularly take care of it and be visible now.  Over the course of quarantine, Roy has watched him relax into himself more than he already had, giving himself time to exist without the pressures of being an international celebrity or strict schedules that sometimes come with the band.  They both have been on parallel tracks of self-discovery, taking steps on different paths while still holding hands, and it’s been one of the bright spots of the year.

Roy slips out of their house and begins his run.  The city wakes up around him in that hazy way that LA is prone to do, never fully asleep yet always groggy in the early hours, and the further from the heart of it he gets, the lighter the sky becomes around him.  He pauses where he would typically loop back towards home and looks up, sky a beautiful blend of yellows, pinks, and reds, slowly and steadily chasing away the dark desperately clinging to the day.  He closes his eyes and breathes in the energy of fresh starts and a bright sun, letting it fuel him for the way home.

Calum still isn’t awake when he returns, just like he expected, but Duke greets him at the door.  He lets him out to do his business and fills his food and water so Calum won’t have to worry about it, then slips into a quick shower.  It was cold out there this morning, winter permeating across California and here to stay for a while, but they have a gas fireplace that’s warm, and he grabs a journal and turns it on, taking a seat on the floor near it.  His morning mediation is brief today, but it does the trick.  Deep, slow breaths center him, helping him come back to inner alignment, and he rids himself of any tension and focuses his thoughts toward openness to the universe and whatever the new year might bring.  He is constantly trying to improve, but despite the made up classifications of dates and years it’s still nice to feel like there’s a starting point, especially when so many people need it right now.  A new year always breeds a thrumming, united, optimistic energy.  It reassures people that the future can be better, and Roy plans to continue harnessing that energy for the rest of his life.

When he’s done meditating, he picks up the journal.  Duke had joined him in the living room at some point while he had his eyes closed, resting his head on his paws.  He’s used to the rhythm they developed during quarantine, patient in the time between his breakfast and Calum taking him for a walk.  Roy feels like, in a way, he’s learned a lot from Duke this year.  Dogs find simplistic joy in so many things, not needing a lot to maintain their happiness, just love and companionship.  Duke has basked in Calum’s affections this year, overjoyed to have both humans in the house for the longest consecutive time.

Of course, Roy has also been basking in Calum’s presence this year.  It’s been the longest time they’ve been able to spend together since they met, and Calum’s presence has been priceless.

If Roy could summarize his past year in one word it would be growth.  He’s grown as an individual, more than he thought he would, and he’s witnessed growth and metamorphosis in so many people around him, too.  The human race as a whole has been through tremendous growing pains this year, in a way that makes him excited for the future.  None of that comes close to the growth he has experienced with Calum as a pair.

One of the many wonderful things about Calum is his complete support of positive transformation.  Roy has never felt anything but love and steady reassurance from him.  He is a great listener and has never laughed at Roy for his ideas and thoughts, and he understands the value of silence.  Silences with Calum never have to be filled, but somehow he always feels closer to him after an afternoon of separate existence and an evening of quiet company.  Growth happens in those tacit moments, but they also happen in the loud and obnoxious ones that they share, or the joyful laughter that Roy always manages to catch from Calum.

He would have gone insane without Calum around to keep him grounded, a strong anchor when he gets too close to floating away, and he knows that Calum appreciated his presence, too.  Being with Calum makes Roy feel the closest he ever has to his authentic self, a combination of all of the people Roy has been in the past and all of the ones he wants to be in the future whittled down to a singular being in the present.  It would make him uneasy to think that they’ll have to part ways again when tours finally restart if he didn’t know that music was what they’re meant to do.  

Besides, they have an unbreakable bond.  Roy wouldn’t have gotten a matching tattoo with him if he didn’t know even as early as Bali that Calum would be the most important person in his life.

Calum contains too many multitudes to try to journal about, so Roy turns his attention back to the new year and articulates what he wants to see in 2021.  For the most part, the things he writes down are simple.  Once he notices himself talking in circles, he squeezes his last thoughts out until he has no words left, then sets down his pen and checks the time.

Calum will be getting up soon.  It’s time for breakfast.

Roy has never claimed to be a master chef, but he orders pastries that Calum likes and warms some hash browns.  Toast goes in the toaster and fruit gets cut up, arranged into neat lines on a cutting board with a copious amount of blueberries because it’s the one they both like best.

Calum enters the kitchen right before the hash browns are done, dashing Roy’s hopes of giving him breakfast in bed.

“Morning,” Calum says, voice sleep-raspy.

“Happy New Year,” Roy says.  Calum hums appreciatively, pressing a kiss to his cheek as he passes, heading for the coffee pot.

“Coffee's on the counter,” Roy says.  “I got your usual order.”

Calum switches directions, noticing the rest of breakfast laid out.

“You didn’t have to.”

“I figured we’d start the year out right.”

Calum hums again, popping a blueberry into his mouth while Roy takes the hash browns off the heat and gets toast on their plates.  They move to the breakfast nook, located in a ray of morning sun that Roy always sits facing since Calum doesn’t like to squint into it.  Duke takes his place at their feet, eagerly awaiting any food droppings and greeting Calum in the same move.

Calum will end up giving him some toast.  That’s why Roy gave him two pieces instead of just one.

“What are you manifesting for the new year?” Calum asks after he has profusely thanked him for breakfast and eaten a good portion of it.  “More growth?”

Roy marvels at how well Calum knows him and the seamless way they understand each other.

“Yeah.  I want us all to continue awakening and expanding.  What about you?”

“I’m not sure yet,” he says.  “Give me the day to think on it.”

Roy nods.  He can give Calum all the time in the world.

“Do you really think this year will be better?” Calum asks.

“Yes,” Roy answers immediately.  “We can make it better.”

Calum smiles softly, taking another blueberry.

“I like your optimism,” he says.  “You make me have faith in us.”

Roy smiles back at him, an answer that Calum can read easily.  Roy has already told him that being with Calum keeps that faith in humanity growing.  He is an optimist because Calum gives him evidence of the good in the universe every day.  Another year with both of them together can only continue to breed good things, no matter what happens around them.

[thanksjro]

Eugenesis, an Overview: Let Me Get Weirdly Serious About This Book For A Sec

HOLY SHIT WHAT A RIDE.

So, let’s recap what we’ve learned over the last 282 pages.

In 2001, James Roberts published nearly 300 pages of fictional prose, based in the established franchise of Transformers, specifically the Marvel UK comic continuity. This novel tells the story of the Transformers, in their dwindling numbers, being attacked, not by their opposing factions, but by an outside force hellbent on revenge. Those who are captured by this force- the Quintessons- are stripped of their very individuality, forced into servitude until the moment they die of exhaustion. Everyone is pushed to- and in some cases beyond- their limits, the horrors of a literal genocide beating down on them like a tidal wave. Only by casting aside their differences and banding together can they hope to survive the nightmare that is the Eugenesis Wars.

But people don’t really talk about all that, even though it’s a majority of what the book’s about. No, people only talk about what happens after the Quintessons are defeated. People only talk about the robots getting pregnant, because honestly it is the most bizarre thing.

Not because the idea itself is terribly odd- I mean, at least it’s in line with the lore the comics set up. It’s bizarre in how we get to that point. All the torture, all the suicide and death and depression and destruction of entire belief systems, leads up to these robots getting pregnant. Almost like that was the whole point. And considering that this story is presenting to us a bridge for the gap between the classic Transformers and the Beast-Era ones, it could have very well been.

I won’t say fetish, because that doesn’t feel quite right, but our dear author seems to have a sort of… obscene fascination with the concept of mechpreg. A fascination that will carry on well into his career as a professional comic scriptwriter, setting readers on edge for the duration of his run with IDW.

Comparing Eugenesis to More Than Meets The Eye and Lost Light, you get an interesting view of Roberts’ growth, as both a writer and a human being. Eugenesis is the work of what Billy Joel might call an "angry young man”, focusing on the despair of wartime and the futility of one’s struggle against the flow of time and mortality. The theme of time only being perceived as linear, and being in actuality an unending plane where all moments are equal and eternal might seem oddly specific, but it’s reflected upon by multiple characters within the story of Eugenesis. Perhaps this is why he has Brainstorm and Perceptor collectively and completely jack up time itself in the Elegant Chaos storyline.

Character moments sprinkled throughout the narrative give us a glimpse of the relationships that would be written later on- some of the most compelling scene writing happens between Quark and Rev-Tone, two original characters who have such a delightful dynamic between them, they very quickly became some of my favorites. You truly believe that they care so strongly for one another, they would do just about anything to keep the other safe. And they do, in a couple cases.

Then there’s all the death. There’s a lot of death in Eugenesis, and none of it is by way of natural causes- you’ve either got suicide, murder, or suicide-by-way-of-murder. You really see Roberts shine in these death scenes, both then and now, as he captures the utter, raw tranquility as one stares down their own demise, and on the other side of the coin, the complete annihilation of one’s very heart as someone they love is destroyed. It’s downright poetic how he handles these scenes.

Still, there is a difference in how the aftermath is handled. When someone dies in the MTMTE/LL run, there’s always meaning and purpose to it- nobody dies just to die, and those who are left behind are left at least something to comfort them.

A message of love.

The return of a friend.

A chance to keep living.

A chance to be a better person.

You don’t get that in Eugenesis. In most cases, there’s no salve for the wound, only more hurting. There’s no time to even mourn, as the fight rages on and on and on. Any happiness pulled from the narrative for the characters is laced with a bittersweet understanding that these folks probably aren’t going to make it, and they’re just as aware of that fact as the reader is.

And yet there’s something kind of beautiful about that, in a twisted sort of way.

Eugenesis is a sort of love letter to those dark thoughts hiding in our heads, those deeply scary intrusive visions of everything we care about being ripped away from us. It’s a book make up of catharsis, of hurting that begs for some sort of outlet. The characters in this story are lost, and scared, and hollowed out before the mass extinction even arrives, and are put through wringer after wringer, like some sort of distanced facsimile of self-harm.

Perhaps I’m reading a bit too into this, but with how intense things get, with self-insert characters no less, I can’t help but wonder if the James Roberts who was writing Eugenesis truly needed this outlet in more than just a creative sense.

Which isn’t to say that there aren’t issues with this novel just because it was a vessel for catharsis. Pacing can end up going so rapidly it feels as if you’re being pushed towards the edge of a cliff, then stutter to a halt to the point where continuing on feels like an absolute slog. But it always seems just as you’re about to put the thing down and give up, something completely thrilling, completely insane and powerful and profoundly attention-grabbing happens, pulling you right back in. If nothing else, this book demands one’s attention.

There are also some other, more interesting issues with Eugenesis. Issues I wasn’t really expecting to run into. To highlight one such issue, we’re going to play a game.

The game is called Guess That Character Design!

Hey Transformers fandom, got a new quandary for y’all to fight over. Forget the Frenzy/Rumble color debate, forget the Bombshell/Skywarp is Cyclonus debate, it’s time for the What The Actual Everloving Fuck Is Quark Supposed To Look Like debate! Do we follow the comic and its script, which show him as being either about on par with Rev-Tone and Mirage or taller, but fails to note any sort of color because it’s in black-and-white? Or do we follow the novel, which states he’s short exactly once, and crimson? And if he’s red, where did the blue paint chips come from in Part Five? They sure didn’t come from Rev-Tone, who I know is mostly red- not because the novel told me, but because I’ve seen art of him outside of this. Honestly, other than him having big honkin’ shoulders and a bust to match, nothing about Quark’s visual aesthetic is concrete.

Now, I could tell you all about his quirks and mannerisms, how he holds himself, how he talks, how he interacts with others, all sorts of stuff. Nothing wrong with the writing there, characterization’s great! I just couldn’t tell you for the life of me how his body is supposed to look. Rev-Tone’s in the same boat, except it’d be even worse without the helpful input of some friends. Did you know he has a visor? Because I sure as shit didn’t until someone showed me. It’s never mentioned in the book. You can barely see it in the prequel comic art if you’re looking for it, and the script is less than helpful to me because I’m not Matt friggin’ Dallas, nor have I had the pleasure of reading Transtrip. All the information presented in the novel about his looks involves his mouth.

Hell, some of the writing in Eugenesis seems to imply that he actually just has normal eyeballs.

What I’m getting at here is that Roberts leans a bit too much on the reader knowing exactly as much as he does about the characters, the plot points, the lore. And he knows A LOT about Transformers.

This book essentially requires the reader to have the wiki open with multiple tabs at all times. Roberts put his heart and soul into the prose, but the world-building had his nerdy little brains smeared all over it, because there are some obscure references in here, not to mention the sci-fi jargon. You basically NEED an internet connection to get through this- I’ve never read a novel that pretty much forbid an acoustic reading, but here it is, in all its glory.

Eugenesis is a dark, morbid, conflicted story with the oddest little bright spots in it. Within five pages, you’ll go from some of the most horridly bleak death scenes to someone accidentally burning a hole in their hand like a cartoon character. But never once, in nearly 300 pages, does it ever stop trying. It may not succeed in what it’s attempting 100% of the time, but goddamn does it go as hard as it can. This isn’t something that was done for money, or fame, or anything like that. Eugenesis is a passion project in the purest sense, and you can really feel it in the way it’s been crafted. For all the frustration it put me through, never once did I think “man, this guy just doesn’t care.” The ambition Roberts shows in the prose, in the world-building, in all the funny little moments that show just so much personality within the story, truly were harbingers for what was to come just a decade later.

Ambitious. Bleak. Brutal. Weird. Ultimately unforgettable. That’s James Roberts’ Eugenesis.

But let’s get to the heart of the matter, shall we? The one question that truly matters for any novel: is it worth reading?

Well, that depends.

If you had a hard time with the darker parts of MTMTE/LL, I really couldn’t recommend that you read Eugenesis. You will have an awful time, because most of it is Grindcore x100 levels of depressing and brutal. There were a couple points where I had to take a break because things got so intense- and I’m not exactly squeamish. Maybe stick to a breakdown- like this one!- or try a group read-along. Friends make everything better, after all.

If you like Roberts work and want to see where he came from, like I did, I highly recommend you find a copy- digital of course, there are only a few hundred physical copies in existence. I recommend you find the 2nd edition, which includes Telefunken and fixes some of the more glaring continuity mistakes and typos.

It’s a good read. Just... it’s a lot at times.

Like, a lot.

Up next-

Oh, what? You didn’t think that was it, did you? This url is way too sweet to just be done with so soon.

Next, I’ll be taking a gander at Children of a Lesser Matrix, which is something that was never finished by Roberts, but is still floating around the internet because hey! It’s the internet.

If anyone has any other somewhat obscure writings from JRo, feel free to send them my way. Especially if you have any of the TMUK zines from back in the day. I wish to consume all the works.

[oneweekoneband]

Vacation

There’s a lot of clichés about artists burning out just as they come through with their brightest work, and in some people’s version of this story, that might be the frame for Vacation, BTMI!’s final album before breaking up. Personally, I’ve never bought into those monomyth-esque narratives about bands’ inherent career arcs, and so I’m not inclined to view the album this way. I will say that while I absolutely love it, I don’t think it’s necessarily the band’s best album. It’s also just not accurate to think that this was a point of “burning out” for BTMI!, since Jeff started writing for his solo career almost immediately following the band’s dissolution.

Still, Vacation does hew eerily close to a lot of these rock ‘n’ roll archetypes. It was a momentous album, it was probably the most publicized release the band had seen, it represented a new musical direction that seemed to present itself as the summary of Jeff’s experimentation with genre and songform over the rest of the band’s career, and the band very much did break up after its release (although, as with ASOB, it took a few years for that to become official).

About that publicization: while I’m somewhat sad that I missed out on most of BTMI!’s career (being, you know, too young to go to shows or even think much about punk for the first 5-ish years), I’m still glad I found them when I did, because the build-up to the release of Vacation was a really interesting time to be a fan. In 2010, almost a year before the release, the band began a roll-out of singles to get people excited about the new material, and it worked like a charm on me: the boisterous first single “Everybody That You Love” seemed like a sign of great things to come if its electrifying lead guitars and dizzying vocal hook were any indication. “Hurricane Waves” and “Can’t Complain” showed even more diversity to look forward to when the band released them in 2011 ahead of the album. In addition to that, Jeff launched a whole new label to sell Vacation (and much of the other stuff released through Quote Unquote) through, Really Records. Clearly, he was trying to communicate something about the step forward he wanted Vacation to represent.

And fans like me, despite knowing that “Side Projects Are Never Successful” and that Jeff was never in it for the fame, had reason to believe not only that this might have been the band’s big shot, but that they might actually make it big – or at least to become big enough to continue to exist as a full-time touring band that played music for a living. The Vacation singles were getting media coverage like no other previous BTMI! release had, and they marked a direction for the band’s music that, while retaining the punk integrity and musical ambition of the earlier albums, also proved more melodic, cleanly-produced, and accessible to a broader audience. While previous albums got recognition in the punk scene, Vacation looked like it had “crossover potential.” And when it finally arrived, there were even more positive signs: within half a year of the release, “Can’t Complain” made an appearance in “The Office.”

Of course, for all this to work, the album had to be good, and thankfully it was better than that – despite what might have sounded like my talking it down, it definitely represents a new high for the band. It’s Jeff’s own favourite BTMI! album, and I can see why: its complexity is something to be proud of. He had always been influenced by artists falling outside of the punk spectrum, but here those influences are more pronounced than ever, and the band finally breaks free of its ska-punk chains with a sound wholly its own. Brian Wilson-esque harmony arrangements and multi-part songs abound, and in a similar fashion to To Leave Or Die In Long Island, a couple motifs from individual songs (“Campaign For A Better Next Weekend” and “Sick, Later”) turn up in multiple places on the album for thematic cohesion. If SMiLE was Wilson’s “teenage symphony to God,” Vacation might be Jeff’s “adult symphony to punk rock.”

Many of my favourite songs off Vacation stand completely alone in the BTMI! catalogue, with little stylistic precedent. “Why Oh, Why Oh, Why (Oh Oh Oh Oh)” is a brash, thunderous fusion of Elvis Costello’s melodic sense and Bruce Springsteen’s maximalism, with a wealth of memorable melodies and lyrics that are all Jeff’s own. “Can’t Complain” is that rare song that manage to “rock quietly” – it’s both hushed and urgent in its muted acoustic chords and slide guitar lines, panicking at the pace of everyday life while simultaneously realizing how much there is to be thankful. And of course there’s the glorious, dynamic opener that slowly builds from a nostalgic piano riff accompanied by subtle, emotionally-charged chord changes into an explosive hardcore-punk charge, with vocals ranging from Jeff’s cleanest, quietest-ever singing to his more characteristic shouting to a group chant at the end.

But even when Vacation retreads familiar territory, it still feels like it’s moving forward. “The Shit That You Hate” stands in a long line of 3/4 5-6-minute slow-burn songs appearing on BTMI! albums, but it feels like a perfection of that particular type of song rather than a simple revisiting. Jeff’s weak, warbly falsetto note when he sings “Hold onto your hope” always gets me a little choked up. “Hurricane Waves” might recycle a melody from To Leave Or Die In Long Island during its bridge, but the rest of the song is all new, providing that melody with a fascinating recontextualization to great effect. The aforementioned “Sick, Later” has a zig-zagging riff in an unusual time signature combination that still manages to be incredibly hooky, as well as some of my favourite lyrics on the album:

The first time that I took you to the hospital,

I was tired and you wanted to die,

I drove off, and I couldn't understand at all

Fuck, I didn't even walk you inside,

I thought we all wanna die, we all wanna die,

And I thought that was fine, I thought that was fine.

One of the album’s most instantaneous joys comes from “Vocal Coach,” the shortest true song on the album. Jeff’s vocals were probably the most consistently difficult factor in terms of getting listeners outside of punk to take BTMI! seriously; they’re somewhere in between the traditionally-expected “bad” vocals of classic punk and the cleaner, more melodic style of singing dominant in pop-punk. Either way, they definitely don’t play to mainstream ears (perhaps this is why “Campaign For A Better Next Weekend” starts the way it does, and for that reason, Vacation might be the best place for a listener that’s not well-versed in punk to jump into the band’s discography). On “Vocal Coach,” Jeff takes on this problem with a healthy dose of irony, penning an ode to the imperfections he loves in music, the “dirty covers, dusty grooves and deep scratches.” But with a melody reminiscent of Pinkerton-era Weezer, he also expresses his own frustration with his inability to transcend the ugliness of his own singing: “I get embarrassed when my voice pops out and it’s not like in my head, / If I got a new vocal coach and I could hit the notes, you’d fall in love again.”

I understand that frustration – I’ve sung in more than one band, but before I even started playing in a band, I never thought I could be a singer because I thought I wasn’t good enough. But over time, I slowly realized that the reason I thought that was because I was comparing myself to singers who were already considered to be superhumanly-gifted, and that not every singer needs to be that way; there are thresholds of “good-enough,” and realizing where you fall in that can be a very freeing experience. I learned to sing by imitation Johnny Rotten and Billy Corgan, singers with definitively “bad” voices that nevertheless managed to communicate pretty much exactly what they wanted to in their songs. And Jeff Rosenstock was another big inspiration to me in that respect: he was a “bad” singer who nevertheless sang his songs defiantly, against popular tastes, because who else was going to do it for him? (Not to mention that as a “rock ‘n’ role model,” Jeff seems like a much better guy than Johnny or Billy.) But like Jeff, I know that there are times when singers wish we could do more with our voices than what seems to be within our natural ability, and we start wondering if it’s just a matter of putting in the right amount of work to “perfect” that voice. “Vocal Coach” brilliantly captures the nuances of this feeling in under two and a half minutes in an unforgettably catchy tune.

It couldn’t last, though. Even Jeff seemed to know it, as he sang on “Vocal Coach”: “ I'm aware that I'm kind of getting scared the love that I thought had no bounds is coming to an end.” Vacation proved that BTMI! could be made more accessible and reach a wider audience, but there were limits to that growth. Just what reasons lay behind those limits will always be a bit obscure, but after a while, it became clear that despite being their most successful album to date, Vacation wasn’t going to be a true “commercial breakthrough.” To be fair, I don’t even know if that’s what Jeff wanted. I haven’t been fully clear on why the band broke up, and strangely, Jeff even seemed a little vague on it in this interview, citing one member’s moving to Australia as part of it. It didn’t have much to do with a lack of commercial success (Jeff claims the band wasn’t even on as much of an upswing in popularity as fans had come to believe at the time), and I doubt he would have soldiered on with his solo career the way he did if it had. In fact, I suspect his solo career is probably more well-known by now than BTMI! was even at their peak.

In the end, I’m just happy the band go to do what they wanted to for as long as they did, and that BTMI! brought so much to my life and the lives of other fans like me. I’m also incredibly grateful I got to see them at least once, on their last tour before they broke up in what turned out to be my first real punk show. It was, in some ways, kind of a fluke: I was 16 and the band had planned some tour dates in Canada, including Ottawa, which was truly shocking, considering that almost no one big (outside of the Wu-Tang Clan – look that one up, it’s a strange story) comes to Ottawa. But it was even flukier than that, because it turned out that my parents had planned a road trip to Toronto for our family over the date BTMI! was playing! Of course, I checked the tour dates and sure enough, they were coming to Toronto too, so I got the tickets for that show instead and saw them for the first and last time at the loft above Sneaky Dee’s with my sister. It was an amazing experience, and I can’t think of a better way to have been introduced to live punk. I was caught off-guard by the mosh pit, but it was a friendly one, and I ended up spending most of the show in it. The band played almost every song I could have hoped for (“25”! “I Don’t Love You Anymore”! Every great song on Vacation!) and I ended the night a sweaty, dehydrated mess. As Jeff came down from the stage into the crowd after the show, I gave him a big hug and told him how awesome I thought it was. And while I hadn’t brought a blank t-shirt for the band to spray-paint their name on (a tradition from the early days they were still doing at that time), I bought one of their special “bilingual shirts” that I assume were made specially for the Canadian leg of the tour. I still have it: