#anyway the reason i mentioned that mutual is because their response i think really highlights the divide in opinion

[floralovebot]

Ive seen a lot of ppl say that Musa was whitewashed by the Fate: Winx saga, but while I agree an east asian actress should have been chosen, the actress Elisha Applebaum is jewish. From what Ive read, its controversial whether jewish ppl inherently count as poc or not so im not sure if I would call it "whitewashing"

Well, I'm not sure I'm the best person to talk to about this considering I'm not Jewish?

But from what I do know, this is an extremely controversial topic (like you said) that really doesn't have any one answer. There are Jewish people who fully consider themselves to be white (and Jewish of course but like... white too), and there are Jewish people who consider themselves to be poc. I think it's important to remember that a lot of the "Jewish people aren't poc if they aren't black/asian/dark-skinned/etc" comes from antisemitism. A lot of poc in the west specifically say this because of antisemitism so a lot of the arguments for it are... not great to say the least.

In regard to Elisha specifically, she's ethnically Jewish so I think you could argue that it doesn't count as whitewashing, but that's really up to Jewish people to discuss. It's obviously still wrong for her to have been cast as Musa, that's not up for discussion, but whether she considers herself white, whether Jewish people consider her white, whether non-Jewish people (goyim?) consider her white and how much of that response is linked to internal antisemitism is all very personal and case by case. I'm not sure if there's a specific term for when people sort of... race or ethnicity change a character of color to a different but still not white race so like...?

But anyway, again there is no One specific answer because there's so much discussion and outright arguing over it. A lot of Jewish people do consider themselves to be poc and often West Asian/Middle Eastern (depending on who you ask) but there are a lot of arguments among themselves as well. This discussion really should be left up to them!

It's funny you mention this because I was actually discussing this with a Jewish mutual years ago! Here are some really interesting articles (written by Jewish people (as far as I'm aware)) that I found really helpful at the time: one, two, three, and four. There were others but I can't find them now :(

(There's also the matter of people converting to Judaism which is a similar but ultimately very different conversation so I do want to clarify that I'm specifically referring to ethnically Jewish people.)

[sophiapathic]

Sk8: The Infinity - A Take on Love

Because my six unfinished assignments can wait until I throw this into the void, scream for five hours and after my voice gets hoarse, I resort to watching the beach episode on loop until next Saturday.

This was entirely sparked by the recap episode, which really pressed the reak havoc and theorize button in my brain. I am truly losing my grip on reality. Help. I apologize in advance, creatures of Tumblr. 

Me right now:

Anyways... 

I saw people mention here and there screaming that “we need canon relationships and they will get trust issues if a romance isn’t confirmed by the end of the series”. I think that mindset is harmful to have in this case. You can’t really avoid being disappointed if you get into the series expecting it to deliver on your wishes of gay romances. So, this might be controversial, but stay with me please. The anime and manga are both confirmed to be based primarily about the characters themselves and of course the sport -skating. I was hoping to take a closer look at what the series intends to do with certain dynamics and relationships according to yours truly. I also want explain my reasoning behind it not being queerbaiting, though it being inherently queer-coded, through the current lense of the canon.

Sk8: The Infinity is unquestionably a love story.

We need to state the genres this series is in, because some of us tend to forget. It is in fact not a shounen-ai, not a yaoi, not a romance, not even a josei. Say it with me it is a series in: COMEDY and SPORTS.

(Source is the official US Sk8 website.) The spotlight is udoubtedly on skating and what it means. Another important highlight of the show is how the definition of the sport relates to the characters, and how vastly different they are from what we expect. For example, when we see Shadow first, we pigeonhole him into this vulgar indecent rock and roll persona, only to find out later that he is actually a stweetheart at a flower shop. Joe is another very good case study. When we first see him we think of him as a womanizer muscle-head, later we find out he has a heart of gold and is very emotionally intelligent. We’re also quick to judge Miya as the cold, unfeeling prodigy then we discover how lonely and normal he is on the inside. And so on and so on. 

The show continues to defy our expectations of what each character should be like. In a way it is about breaking the conventional stereotypical roles we subconsciously assign to certain looks. We see that even in anime, multifaceted characters can exist without distrupting or damaging the delicate dynamics of a traditional sports anime. We successfully established the second focal point of the series as disproving stereotypes and presenting strong, diverse and unexpected personalities.

How about the defition of skating? What does it mean in the context of Sk8: The Infinity then? Where does a love story come into the picture? Skating is repeatedly described as a ritual of love within the anime, an idea that our villian, Ad*m, is obessed with. In a sense skating is a language of love canonically.

Then skating itself is love. Throughout the series we see varied styles of skating therefore different ways of expressing love, affection. We get to experience several metaphorical ways of “being in love” through characters skating with each other. Each dynamic shows us a type of love. Healthy, disfunctional, outright abusive. 

The way Reiki teaches Langa to skate can be interpreted as a direct metaphor for someone learning to love again after losing a person close to them. Langa’s father has died and Reiki literally brings him out of his shell again. It can also be interpreted as a queer kid’s experience of a world of romance that feels similar to his previous one, that being snowboarding, yet it still being new and different. Skateboarding. When due to Reiki Langa’s potential is discovered and his hunger for more and more develops, especially next to Ad*m, Reiki’s main frustration stems from them not being well-matched or on equal footing anymore. He feels like he cannot give Langa what he needs anymore. Which would obviously go againts the literal description of a healthy romance. Two people with mutual respect who both bring equal assets to the table. He feels like he needs to catch-up to be with Langa again. The only thing he doesn’t consider is Langa’s deep appreciation of him and the fact that literally he was the one who helped Langa experince the feeling of love again.

Kojiro and Kaoru’s relationships, to me, is very much representative of two people  wanting to be in each other’s presence, but due to their different language of love, miscommunicating horribly. Them bantering and insulting each other is the only way they know what to do with the other. The only way they can ensure the other’s attention and eyes are on them. This has worked so far. They are literal opposites, but both have a very clear definition of their form of love. To Joe skating, or love itself, is about the feeling and going with the flow. Being spontaneous. Whereas for Cherry, every move needs to be calculated and executed perfectly in order to be “efficient”. Their frustration comes from both wanting different things from the other, but not communicating their need properly. Despite this, they stick together due to a magnetic pull they obviously feel towards the other. The attraction is there, the trust is there, they are even well-matched in skill as we see them neck-to-neck constantly. They could give each other what the other wants. Only if they could express themselves well... This is why Joe pushes Reiki towards reconciling with Langa. he wants them to not fall into the same trap of not stating their  needs and thoughts properly.

Now Ad*m and Langa are obviously problematic and I don’t really want to have to explain, honestly guys. I really don’t  (since I have trauma regarding this subject), but I need to go into this a little bit. This is a textbook toxic predatory relationship. Where the older, twisted, damaged person, has an obsession with a young, outstading child. He wants to lead him into “Paradise” and show his “Eve” what love is really about. (Ain’t that disgusting you guys...) His form of love is inflicting pain, so I really can’t imagine a scenario where he and his “Eve” live happily ever after and everything is fine and dandy. He needs someone who he can torture. He literally is looking for someone who can handle his way of expressing affection, his “love hug”, who has the same type of crazy eyes for adrenaline and danger. His Eve. In his distorted mind, this all makes sense and Langa is that someone he was looking for thoughout the years. The problem is, he disregards Langa’s side where the relationship becomes problematic.

Cherry and Ad*m during their younger years seems to be a very innocent infatuation on Kaoru’s end. It is a one-sided relationship where someone is in love with the idea of a person long gone. They were discovering the world of skating, or the world of love together with Ad*m taking the lead. Cherry immediately became infatuated with him, wanted to learn his love language, wanted to be at the same level he was. It probably started very innocent. At first, Ad*m being gentle, because that’s how Tadashi was with him too, then after whatever happened between those two, Ad*m, disappointed in the way of love, or skating, Tadashi showed him, returned to what his aunts taught him. Maybe after injuring Kaoru with the “love hug”, therefore eliminating him from being his potential partner, started looking for his “Eve”, gradually became more agressive in love as in skating. Kaoru was distraught and wanted the Ad*m he originally learned love from back. Holding out some hope even years after. Trained to get used to his “love hug”, to literally condition himself to be able to get close to him. Ad*m, however showed Cherry brutally that he truly cannot handle his way of love.

Ad*m and Tadashi. *sighs* As of this post, I don’t really have enough information to give you a good overview of what I see this relationship representing. As far as I can tell Ad*m was abused horribly and to ease the pain and make him forget, Tadashi showed his another way of expressing affection. Skating or love. Basically a first love gone horrible bad, scarring an already abused child and turning them into a monster. Tadashi himself reinstates this during one of the episodes. It was his fault that Ad*m turned out the way he did. Their love slowly became strongly abusive throughout the years. Tadashi is stuck in it because he feels like he deserves it. This is a metaphor for  dangers of an emotionally and physically abusive relationship, where one person feels responsible and the other is using power. Tadashi’s guilt keeps him next to his master and he even endures abuse, now he is trying to break out and show Ad*m he messed up and I think this could potentially be a good representation of how difficult that process truly is. 

As far as Reiki’s, Miya’s, Shadow’s skating goes. Their main arc relating to love is first and foremost learning to accept themselves and aprecciating their uniqe way and style of skating. Only after can they become people who can truly be accomplished in love/skating (in Miya’s case I’m obviously talking about platonic feelings). Each of them had a preconception of their persona in love/skating, which gets questioned heavily throughout the series. Miya gets defeated, Shadow’s soft side gets discovered, Reiki... well. I get sad. :c Even though he taught someone to love again, to appreciate life again, he ended up discovering how dissatisfied he truly is with himself... These three all need to learn to love every aspect of themselves to reach fulfillment and to really experience healthy human relationships.

Sk8: The Infinity is unquestionably a love story, without explicitly being a romance, meaning that it is a tale about love, both romantic, platonic and everything inbetween through a queer-coded lens, showing both dysfunctional, abusive and healthy relationships, ways to express emotions and even delves into self-love and the idea of nature versus nurture in the villian’s case.

That is why I, personally don’t scream for a canon couple. To me, the show gets its main point about affection and love across, without making any of these relationships explicitly stated. Not to mention that it does justice to both of its assigned genres. Comedy and Sports as well. Yeah sure, I wouldn’t complain, but I think these dynamics are more than satisfying to watch, and much deeper than bishounens wanting to bang each other, which is, in my opinion, inherently sexualized. If they want, yeah they can confirm, make it canon without forcing it to be a center storyline. Hell, I would even be happy about it. I would clap with all of us. BUT, as the series currently is, I really see it taking the other route because of the above. This way audiences who want a yaoi or ikemen going at it, won’t be disappointed with the series when they find doesn’t revolve around that, straight viewers will just find it flamboyant, and people who look for subtext and want to read between the lines will certainly do that with the amount of crumbs and hints the writers gave us. 

We don’t need outright, written in black and white gay representation in Sk8 to experience very real types of love. The queer theme is secondary to me, just like queerness is, in most people’s lives. Yeah sure, it is a big thing, but not the only attribute a person has. My life doesn’t revolve around my queerness. I rarely talk about it. If I was a main character this would be a side-arc. Just like Sk8 doesn’t revolve around the characters coming out. It’s just them living their lives and possibly being queer while doing so. If you look at it this way, it is almost normalizing attraction between same-sex people by just showing it as regular love. If you can, why not interpret it this way, so it can be a liberating experience instead of a disappointing one.

Please don’t attack me! I am fragile and this is only my opinion. c:  *crawls back into her hole*

[littlemisssquiggles]

how do you feel about the idea that all the oscar as the little prince and ruby as the rose allusions and whatnot are correct, but ruby/oscar aren't reunited as a romantic pairing? i totally agree with all the points about oscar being the little prince, but the idea of him and ruby being together romantically has personally never really made sense to me based on their interactions and it feels a bit icky because of the age gap. just curious about your thoughts, thanks!

“…but theidea of him and ruby being together romantically has personally never reallymade sense to me based on their interactions and it feels a bit icky because ofthe age gap…”

“…and it feels a bit icky because of the age gap…”

…It feelsicky because of the age gap? To quote CRWBY Writer: Miles Luna himself,it’s just two years? As far as theaudience are aware, Ruby Rose is roughlyabout seventeen years old (more or less) while Oscar is fourteen probably goingon fifteen years old (more or less).

Regardless, going off of what Miles once confirmed, no matter how much olderRuby gets, Oscar will always be just two years younger than her. So evenif Ruby is currently 17 years old in the main series, Oscar is probably on thecusp of turning 15 soon since as, confirmed by Miles, the age gap between Rubyand Oscar is 2 and ONLY 2 years. How big of a gap is that really?

Riddle me this anon-chan, what is so weird or to quote your own words, “icky” about a prospective relationshipbetween two kids that are only two years apart? 

Because you’re not the first person I’ve hearduse the whole age gap as a means to imply why they don’t favour Rosegarden. Asa matter of fact, the age difference thing is a common argument amongst theAnti-RG shipping community and I’m sorry but I find this reason to be rathersilly to my ears.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to make you oranyone with this type of mind-set feel bad for having this opinion since you’reentitled to have it.

However, since I am giving my own opinion here, thissquiggle meister honestly finds this rationaleto be silly; to put it nicely. It’s even more ludicrous when Ihear people use it in debates against Rosegarden.

Maybe it’s because I was born in the 90s and grewup during the 2000s when times were certainly different than it is nowadays ormaybe it’s because I’m the youngest child of parents with a five year age difference or maybe it’s because I’m from a culturewhere this type of stuff is considered “smallting”---either way, I find it really ridiculous when people make a big dealover something like a measly two year age gap between two fictional characterwho are essentially both teenagers.

Realistically, two years is not that big of anage gap. Even at 17 and 14 respectively, Rubyand Oscar are still the two youngest members within our hero team whichputs them at being closer in age than any of the other characters. Not tomention that, 2 years is a common age gap used within the RWBY series. Ruby andYang are two years apart as far as siblings go. Not to mention that the twoyear age gap is shared not just by Rosegardenbut also with other more commonly known Ruby ships like Lancaster, Whiterose andNuts and Dolts.

That being said, I’m going to safely assume thatyou’re probably someone who feels uncomfortable shipping Ruby with anyone atall anon-chan, Oscar included, since if you take issue with the age gap betweenthe Rosebuds then I’m assuming youprobably don’t favour the rest of the Ruby ships for that same reason, right?

I hope you’re not one of those hypocrites whoonly find the 2 year age gap problematic for Rosegarden but not for Whiterose,Lancaster, Nuts and Dolts, etc.

But to each, their own, I suppose.

Anyways, to answer your main question---as I’ve voiced before, part of the core reason I started shipping Ruby and Oscar together was actuallybecause of their interactions from V5 and how strongly the series placedemphasis on it from the start of that season. Since their first meeting inV5, the CRWBY Writers have delivered well on showing a need to push Ruby andOscar closer together by having them naturally develop a friendship and strongsense of trust and respect in one another. On that part, all things considered,the show has down well on developing the rapport between the Rosebuds.

Oscar’s bond with Ruby gave me a much differentvibe than any of her other connections and vice versa. One thing I’ve talkedabout with Rosegarden is that I always liked how the show portrayed Ruby andOscar as showing a mutual level of interest in each other. Not necessarily inany kind of romantic way.  But it has been very evident since the firsttime they met that Oscar and Ruby do like each other.

Despite only being friends for a short space oftime, Ruby and Oscar share a comfort and sense of trust with one another moreakin to people who have known each other for years and I like that element totheir relationship.

From the get-go, the two have shown to get alongreally well and their friendship has only grown over the passing seasons.

I understand that you don’t get romance fromtheir interactions and you’re right about that---nothing regarding the pastRosegarden interactions has been all that romanticallycharged. While it’s been highlighted that Oscar and Ruby definitely care forone another and are willing to go above and beyond to protect each other, as aRosegardener, I’ll admit that nothing truly grounding has been dropped in ourlaps as yet. Like with any ship in RWBY, us Gardeners have gotten a couple ofcute and meaningful moments shared between the Rosebuds that has helped withtheir respective character development and mayeven hint at a possible futureromance between Oscar and Ruby. But nothing to really nip it in the butt asyet.

However, as I said, the potential for a future romance is there. You might not see itthat way anon-chan but for me, I can’t help but feel like the Writers have beenslowly setting something to happenbetween Ruby and Oscar for a while. Since V5. Will it be romance? I can’t really tell you for sure. Hence whyI’ve beem following the pair closely over the seasons, patiently waiting to seewhether or not the Writers will actually make that leap with these two.

As I’ve said in the past, I’m riding the Rosegarden hype train mainly because I really, really likethis ship. It’s the only Ruby and Oscar pairing that I honestly believe has thepotential to become canon and because of that, I genuinely wish to see where itgoes. If a love story is what the CRWBY Writers wish to do in the long runfor the buds then obviously I am all in for that. Oscar and Ruby are my twoall-time favourite characters in RWBY and personally, I think a romance betweenthese two kids can work and will be nothing but adorkable and sweet sincethat’s how the show has always portrayed them together.

However if romance isn’t in the cards for thesetwo then that’s fine as well. While I’d be totally lying to myself if I said Iwasn’t heavily rooting for a romantic endgame between these two smaller, more honest souls, at theend of the day, I just want to see Rubyand Oscar share a strong meaningful bond with one another that’s important tothem as part of their own individual stories and arcs since it would be thefitting payoff to the build-up between them from the past few seasons.

Why draw attention to keymoments and interactions between these two kids if the takeaway wasn’t going tobe something important like the two of them coming to terms with how much theyvalue each other in their lives or something along those lines?

Either way, I’d be happy with any kind of close bondbetween Ruby and Oscar, be it platonic (best friends/most trustedconfidantes much like their Oz counterparts) or romantic (lovers; strongly devoted to one another and responsiblefor each other; much like their Little Prince counterparts). For me, Rosegardencan go either way and still work tremendously well. Heck I’d personally love itif both were done since I’m a sucker for the strangers to close friends to lovers romance trope.

So long as Rosegarden continues to be a goodrelationship that the Writers continue to handle it with the respect that it’streated the two thus far then I’d be cool either way.

Personally I think it would be pretty sweet ifOscar and Ruby end up falling in love with one another and sharing a romancesince I’d imagine it’d be just as adorably awkward yet sweet and wholesome asthe show has always portrayed their relationship up until this point. Itdefinitely makes me excited to see how their relationship blossoms movingforward especially now that they are separated and unaware of each other’sfates, much like their Little Prince counterparts. If romance is in the cardsfor these two kids then the conclusion of V7 going into V8 presents theWriters’ with a golden opportunity to explore it if they so desire. But at theend of the day, it’s their call.

I’m just curious and of course, beyond excited tosee it all play out. To be honest with you anon-chan,I’m not quite sure what kind of answer you’re probably expecting me to givefrom this. If you were expecting me to respond like “If Rosegarden doesn’t become endgame then I will drop RWBY and I willhate the CRWBY Writers forever” then no.You’re not gonna get that type of response with me.

I do strongly believe that there is going to besomething to go down between Ruby and Oscar. I feel like the show has beenslowly building up to something significant to go down for these twokids---something that is unique to only them. A type of bond the two will sharetogether that will differentiate their bond from others within the series.

But as much as I adore Rosegarden as my favouriteRWBY pairing and even as much as I would love to see them end up together inthe end, I also firmly understand and RESPECTthe fact that by the end of the day, these characters belong to RoosterTeethand the story that I’ve been following with them and their allies are being controlledby people who have their own plans for them.

What that plan is, is what I, as the audiencemember, await to see with each passing volume; whether I end up enjoying what Isee or not.

 Will it be a love story? Will it be somethingelse? That’s the thing. I really don’t know what it will be and that’s where mycuriosity has mostly been peeked. I REALLY, REALLY want to see where theseWriters take these two.

 Hence why I jumped on the bandwagon of the LittlePrince. Through small moments that I can see were inspired by the story, I canget a small sense of where the Writers might be taking the Rosebuds. It’s whyI’m very excited for Oscar’s story for V8.

In the Little Prince story, the Prince had lefthis rose to go on a journey from which he was able to mature further and ultimatelycame to realize the true meaning behind his relationship with his one true rose.This is what I’m hoping for with Ruby and Oscar. I’m expecting this separationbetween them to force to them to see how much they truly value each other.

But it’s not just the Little Prince connectionsthat made me excited for the future of Rosegarden. There’s also the connectionto the God of Light. Right now, outsideof Salem, Ruby and Oscar are the twoother known characters within the series who share in the power of the God ofLight.

With Oscar, it is the God of Light’s power thathas fuelled Ozma’s reincarnation cycle. Not to mention that like many magi duringFirst Remnant, Ozma could wield magic which was known throughout the lands asthe “gift from the Gods”. That poweralong with the knowledge to command it has now been passed down to Oscar as wesubtly saw displayed in the V7 finale.

As for Ruby, she too possesses the power of theGod of Light through her Silver Eyes as hinted back during V6. And as far as weknow, Ruby is currently the only livingSilver Eyed Warrior in existence which makes her a very unique rose.

I would count the Maidens but the Maidens were a creation of Ozma’s magic---amagic that Oscar will ultimately inherit and could potentially take back shouldhe need to challenge Salem on his own again like Ozma once did during his lifeas Diggs.

Basically what I’m trying to say here is thatRuby and Oscar both share a predicament unique to them and only them.

Oscar is Ozma’s current incarnation. Ozma was thechosen champion of humanity, selected by the God of Light himself in the hopesthat he would help repair Remnant by stopping Salem. Ruby is a Silver EyedWarrior with the God-given ability to smite the Grimm whose current master isSalem.

Ozma fought Salem in the past and failed to stopher on his own (he managed to kill her but her immortality curse resurrectedher). Summer Rose, Ruby’s own mother and the last Silver Eyed Warrior toconfront Salem faced her on her own and much like Ozma once did, lost her life.

The only thing that hasn’t been tried is an incarnation of Ozma working togetherwith a Silver Eyed Warrior with the two fighting Salem together.

During his lifetime with Norman, when Ozma first asked Jinn about how he could stop Salem,he was told disappointingly that he couldn’t stop Salem. Perhaps, this was Jinn hinting to Ozma that his role was never tostop Salem. Perhaps ultimately,Ozma’s true purpose was to survive long enough to the lifetime where he wouldbe able to protect or more or less support and fight beside the very person whois destined to stop Salem once and for all.

What would be interesting is if ultimately,maybe…just maybe---Oscar and Rubyworking together; supporting each other as one with the light of God that theyshare; might be what can turn the tides against Salem. Maybe their union will the key in some shapeor form. Then again, this is just me spouting my theories as usual.

Overall, if Rosegarden as a fated pair is a direction that the Writers (particularly Miles andKerry since they are the two seniorwriters who sparked this bond in the first place back during V5) wish totake these two kids then that’s awesome. Brilliant even.

Obviously I’m more in favour of them falling in love andending up together-together. Hand over my kingdom of hearts, this squiggle meister is definitely rootingfor Ruby and Oscar to have their own fairy-tale love story (that would have ahappier ending than the first one) and I am unapologetically biased aboutthat.

I’m not even gonna try and deny my bias. Shoot,my bias has probably been showing since I started typing this response XD Whatcan I say? I love me a good, wholesome, fluffy lovey-dovey romance and I thinka puppy love story or union between our twosmaller, more honest souls would be…well…a match made by the Gods (y’see what I did thar? 8V)

Hoooooooooooowever…, for whatever reason, shoulda romance NOT happen for Rosegarden and in the end, they just end up being two equallygod-tier characters who support each other dearly and share one of the bestestfriendships in the whole series, then… I’d be fine with that too.

Not as flamboyant as “a match made by the Gods” but still sweet because it’s these twobeans.

Disappointing, yes, but not as catastrophically devastating as I’veseen other shippers react to not seeing their favourite pairs come to fruition.

Basically what I’m trying to say here bottom-lineis that I’m not going to lose my shit ifthe CRWBY Writers don’t make Rosegarden endgame.

Yes, my Rosegardening shipping kokoro would bebrokoro buuuuuuuuuuuut….that wouldn’t really stop me from adoring RG orshipping it any less than I always have. 

In the end, I’ll respect whatever direction the Writers decide to take thisfavourite ship of mine; platonic, romantic, somewhere in between or otherwise.

I’ve been in enough fandoms to know that canon endgame DOESN’T necessarily mean THEEND OF A SHIP. There are a lot of ships that I’ve seen survive and thriveregardless of the canon (for example: Zutarafrom Avatar the Last Airbender , Sheith from Voltron: Legendary Defender and Kachaako from My HeroAcademia).

So even if Ruby and Oscar doesn’t become a couplein the canon, it won’t really change my feelings toward their ship. The most Ican say is the same that I’ve always said about RG:

I’m here to see where Ruby and Oscar go in their current relationship with each other andI’ll support it regardless of whatever happens.

I hope this answers your question anon-chan.

~LittleMissSquiggles(2020)

[bubblegumlefty]

My thoughts on MITB... (Warning: VERY long post. Maybe.)

I was going to post them earlier, but after watching the first chapter of the last ride documentary, I needed a couple minutes to contain my emotions. (My head hurts from crying now 😂)

So anyway, I'd say it was pretty good. It was also the first MITB pay per view I have seen in years (the last one being when I was 'bout 8 years old). I'll go through a rundown of some of the matches and rate them on a scale of 1 to 10, including the main event(s).

Kickoff

Cesaro VS Jeff Hardy: 8/10

Overall, it was a solid good. There were obviously a few moments that were questionable. Examples include:

· Cesaro licking his finger and using it to rub off Hardy's face paint, which is kinda gross, pandemic aside.

· Unzipping his mesh shirt and giving a slap towards his chest.

· His overall dominance that just gives vibes that feel less then family-friendly...

(Whether this can be considered shipping or fanfic material or not is up to you. Take your pick.)

At least Jeff won in the end, so everything's all good. He really should get some medical attention though, it sounded like he fractured a rib from slamming into the apron.

Smackdown Tag Team Championship: 6/10

I'll be honest, I didn't pay much attention to this match. It's not bad or anything, I'm just not able to watch Smackdown thanks to our crappy cable service not providing FOX. And no, we can't switch over. I live in an apartment complex. So I wasn't too invested. 😂

MVP Lashley VS R-Truth: 5/10

Not much to say here. Just a short comedic breather. Lashley obviously won. Kinda suprised me that Lana didn't show up. At least Truth is still singing his own theme song despite there being no audience to recite it with. I just wish the commentators would've at least given some sort of response and not left him hanging. #Missed Opportunity. WWE apparently still has upcoming plans for the 24/7 belt, so that'll be something interesting I guess.

Smackdown Women's Championship: 6/10

This once again shows that I need to catch up on Smackdown, cause I wasn't as polarized as some fans with the finish. The commentary was pretty funny though, 'specially when both girls went up to the commentators and pressured them to clap. Overall OK match.

Universal Championship: 8/10

First off, why did Brey choose to fight in his firefly funhouse attire? That looks very uncomfortable. Also puppets. Puppets everywhere. He also seemed to be going through some sort of Vietnam flashback trauma (bad joke). Brawn pulled a fast one on him though and managed to retain the title. Also there was a moment where a few glitches appeared, which tells me that something in Brey has just snapped, triggering the fiend.

WWE Championship: 9/10

The banter between Drew and Seth was just perfect. Also loud groans and yelling. Lots of it being from Seth. He almost got himself disqualified at one point from attempting to bring a chair into the ring. Both men also managed to nearly kick each other's heads off back and forth at one point in perfect timing. In the end, Drew retained, and somehow managed to have Seth shake his hand in mutual agreement even after defeating him. It really shows how good of a person he is and I love it.

Main Event: Corporate Ladder Match(es): 10/10

I really don't know how to describe this. It was the most unique mitb ladder match I have ever seen, and they had managed to hit it out of the park. It started off very nicely with all the competitors coming out only for shenanigans to immediately ensue. Highlights include:

· Asuka standing on top of the balcony above the elevators, and basically pulling a Jeff Hardy onto the other girls.

· Corbin pinning AJ down with a barbell, causing him to call for Rey to help him. When he looks like he is considering it, he decides to just run off and leave him there.

· Corbin smashing a giant mirror and immediately pulling a look that basically translates to "Oh crap!". There's something about bad luck from smashing mirrors apparently.

· Several cameos including a couple wrestlers from the 80s/90s like Doink and Brother Love, a general manager, Stephanie, Paul Heyman, and Vince.

· AJ getting spooked by a picture of the Undertaker and having a vietnam flashback. He also gets trapped inside an office by Aliester Black, which I should mention the office has a casket. He does manage to get out though.

· Dana mistakes the office briefcase for the real briefcase and ends up with her upper body being trapped in a picture frame as a result. She also slips on the floor from a mop.

· There's a point where both the men and women run into each other and get caught off guard in a buffet. A food fight ensues, with Shayna almost nearly knocking Rey out in a sleeper hold, and he does get knocked out from Nia and Otis running into him. (I feel very sorry for the poor smockes who have to clean all of this mess up.) We also get a beat from Nia and Otis for a few seconds, which is interesting.

· Otis gets distracted in a cafeteria and pie face's a general manager.

· Both Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles ending up in Vince's office, and getting scolded like kids in a principal's office. They slowly exit, but not before pushing the chairs back in, because good manners. They blame each other for getting scared and immediately resume to fighting.

· Both Rey and Aliester potentially "kayfabe" died from being shoved off the roof.

· Asuka managing to fight the briefcase off Corbin, and giving him a kick to the face. It does make me question why Corbin was trying to grab the wrong briefcase though.

The winners in the end were Asuka and Otis, which are the two I least expected to win, and I was pleasantly surprised. Though tbh, the only reason Otis won was because AJ's freakin butter fingers dropped the briefcase after fighting for it from Corbin. He needs to make a mental note for leaving his gloves off during a match like this.

So after all of this, I'd give the pay per view an 8/10. This was probably one of the more ambitious matches WWE has put on and I think it pulls it off almost perfectly. I really wouldn't mind if they decide to turn this into a thing that happens every couple of years. I think the crowds would be very entertained. I'll probably fix any mistakes or typos in the morning. Now to mark my calender for Backlash. 👍

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Was reading your response to the Okumura Ryuji/Morgana fight, and the way the person worded Ryuji's character made me wanna ask... Do you think a bad fanbase is a fair reason to dislike a character? I've heard people say things like "no look at the character too", but... For example, I'm very neutral on Ryuji. When he's good, hes SO GOOD, EXCELLENT BOY, but Ann is my favorite girl. Guess who he pervs on exclusively and is rude to all the time? I've never seen his fans talk about (1/2 sorry)

His rude behavior, or his pervy tendencies, or his more selfish desires regarding the PT. That's fine!! Not everyone wants to constantly talk about bad things their fave has done!!! But people referring to him as a "woman respecting king" so insistently rubs me the wrong way, since he treats Ann Like That. That, and (more personal) i remember making a post/ask thing once about my grievances with Ryuji, esp his perv stuff, and the fans that interacted very aggressively denied his behavior (2/3)

And it even turned into a big discourse on the blog I submitted it to (it was that one confession blog). All the people that responded and just tried moving the arguments to "well Yusuke did this-" or even tried to push blame on Ann "she was asking for it" just kinda cemented my already growing dislike for Ryuji. Super sorry this is so long!!! Final question: is a bad fanbase a fair reason for disliking a character? (3/3)

Don’t say sorry about multiple sent asks, I don’t mind kfdsjla;fja As for the answer, I want to say yes and no, but really it’s just “yes with a side note attached.” Yeah, it’s ok to not like a char because of their fans, but I think it’s as long as you know why you dislike the char beyond the fans (well tbh, imo it’s usually the crazy fans so I think stans is a better word, but even then there’s diff stans). And tbh, I....can’t....think of a character I don’t like that the fandom/fanbase does....but I know nothing about the char all the while (closest and most recent example this....is....I know people dislike that grey haired moe blob on twitter even tho I don’t think they watched the show, and while I’m not a fan of the moeblobness I don’t know anything about the char so I’m personally not upset). I can only name chars I don’t like because of what happens in the text, fandom be damned (but sometimes they don’t help). Which is why it’s a yes with a side note. If you don’t like the char despite not knowing them.....probably get to know the char first even if your impression is clouded by the fandom....at least you gave the char a chance. 

Under cut cause length (first few sentences in the first paragraph under the cut/tldr at the end gives you the answer a bit more in depth, the rest is rants related to that and why I get frustrated in a similar sense too, but yeah sorry if I repeat myself, I kinda jumped all over + my tendency to try to nail a point home I feel like might’ve had me repeat a bit more than usual akslfjdakfjaf):

I say this because.....it’s hard....it’s hard to keep them separated, unless you completely isolate yourself from the fandom (which is basically impossible if you wanna keep up with news, even the comment section is part of the fandom tbh...and you might be looking down their for diff reasons). And then.....well...the big reason....sometimes seeing the fans really highlights the reasons you dislike the char. That’s what happened to me and Makoto, specifically cause of....a certain fan (and buddy if you happen to see this, nothing against you, no bad blood, def won’t mention your name I respect you and the debates we had)....AND TO THE TUMBLR READERS WHO GET NERVOUS: It wasn’t on this website in case anyone is freaking out so if you’re thinking “Oh god it’s me” it is most likely not you (tho I think we do know each other on here cause of usernames/saw each other in passing but we def aren’t mutuals last time I checked), and while I do respect that person.......my god did they highlight the reasons I had issues with P5 and Makoto. Ironically in trying to defend her and show off her good sides, I realized the writing issues more and more and her bad sides became more glaring. It turned my frustrating dislike and attempt to try to work out my issues with her and P5 (ironically “working out” in hindsight would’ve been me....denying and refusing to look at P5′s flaws) into....well......the salt factory you know today. (same thing happens with like......Yukari and Junpei fans too tbh...that’s more recent tho, it feels like they are just downplaying their negatives constantly and I’m not about that). Basically, you probably have issues already, they are just more pronounced now. 

As for “look at the character”....you kinda already are doing that, and that’s probably where your existing issues originated from (tho if someone wants a more in depth reason as to why, while you DON’T OWE them an explanation, it is also hard for someone to understand your feelings and reasons if you don’t try to explain). 

As for Ryu, yea, I getcha, I like the guy, I’m neutral positive on him....was my best bro but he’s 2nd best thanks to post-Kamo writing. I like him because of his positives, but I always keep his negs in mind because. Cause like while I agree with the fans IT MAKES NO SENSE! P5′S WRITING IS BAD! it happened, same as I agree that Anne kicking Ryu’s ass, along with the other girls, is shitty. Hate the scene, and I accept that it happen (low key gonna start some kinda 2nd wave war with this bs cause the fandom be like that, but I’m really surprised no one took Anne smacking Ryu behind the neck cause he was being too loud as super offensive and abuse.......it’s def something a friend might do, not like belting him just a tap, and it’s framed as chill and also as warning him to reign in the volume control, but high key surprised no one has tried to cancel her cause of that). BUT that DOESN’T mean it erases all the creepy stuff he’s done. Is he the goodest boi when he’s being good? The best. Is he always a good boi? No, he def is not. And hearing that he is can be frustrating to people that do see his flaws (cause they are there). And like....you are 100% able to like a character despite and because of their flaws, while also accepting they have those flaws. I do it with Yosuke, Ryuji (for the most part), Teddie, Shinji, Ken, Kanji (when he’s not around Naoto, then he’s in a trash can for me), P1/2 casts, Aigis, Mitsuru, as long as the flaws are within reason and are treated pretty well....then I’m ok with it. (again, Kanji/Ryu have moments when I’m like....NOPE! but when they aren’t doing the bad thing I’m cool with them). As long as the flaws are withing reason (aka they aren’t making a jerk person out to be the person in the right, or the writing is trying to sweep what they did under the rug, or trying to force us into empathizing with them despite what they did while also trying ot sacrifice empathy towards another char.....*cough*Makoto/Yukari/Junpei*cough* if the writing isn’t doing that...... I’m probs neutral to pos on them). 

Like I’m fine if they are criticizing the writing and being like “Him doing this makes no sense cause it conflicts with the good boi we’ve already seen!” That’s a-ok! Not only do you recognize your char has flaws, you also are able to identify issues with the writing. But saying “so I’ll choose to ignore that scene” isn’t....ok. Because sadly it did happen, as contradictory it did happen. AU it all you want, but you have to accept it happened outside of that AU. Like, I don’t like the Mika conflict in Anne’s CoOp, by which I don’t like how it went down (100% fine with Mika, and there being conflict with her). How it the whole thing started doesn’t make sense if you put MainStory!Anne in her CoOp. MS!Anne can read the room and other people’s emotions (only other person capable of that is Haru, or at least with Mona), hell she was so good at it she noticed something was up with Shiho without Shiho telling her about it! The issue was the fact Anne’s not a mind reader and could only assume the issue Shiho was going through that Anne was aware of (and that was her spot on the team). Now MS!Anne is not like Yosuke, she doesn’t put her foot in her mouth. She’s not like Naoto who can’t read the room. She’s not super eloquent, but can empathize and when she can interact with people she can do it pretty well. So why the hell does she basically not think before talking and insult Mika? Sure Anne’s not GREAT at school, but she’s not a moron, she can talk to people. But her CoOp makes her a moron all around, 100% airhead, and that’s how her issues with Mika start, by not thinking before talking and accidentally insulting her via blatantly “not caring” about the job to a full time person......it’s stupid, it makes no sense, I hate it. But it’s there, the flaw might not be present in the main story, but for the all around character (cause CoOps are included) it is now and I just have to deal with it. We can bitch about it all day (and trust me I will) but it happened. Basically never frame it as “it didn’t happen,” but instead “It SHOULDN’T HAVE happened.” One is denial, the other is critiquing the text. 

Anyway my rant aside, yeah I hate it when...well Ren/Ryu/Yusuke (no one’s said Mona yet, cause....well yeah...which is good they haven’t labeled him as it yet tho), are labeled as “drinking respect women juice” and I’m like “I have one to a few women who would disagree.” I know some people will argue Goro is drinking it, and imo he’s not....he’s just eating the “I don’t discriminate sandwich” which is different. And yeah the “But Yusuke-” yeah yeah we’ll get to him, but right now we’re talking about RYUJI. I’m not a fan of derailing a topic *war flashbacks* *shivers* anyway. But yeah I remember that debate, I was probably one who was like “We’ll get to Yusuke but right now we’re talking about Ryuji” and pushing the blame onto Anne is disgusting and Kamo Arc!Ryuji would be very upset. >:( (btw high key I think I was the first one who started the first anti-makoto war wave with me saying “yeah Anne shouldn’t have apologized Makoto started it and blah blah she was an ass” not the exact words but basically just calling her out on her shitty behavior cause the game certainly didn’t......tho as Miley Cyrus would say.....”I didn’t mean to start a waaaaaar~!” I actually wrote my first Persona Problems on that topic.......but it got lost in the drafts....my photo examples kept getting messed up which is bad considering the whole post really relied on them....I should try to dig it up tbh....)

Tldr/short answer: Yeah, you probably already have issues with the char to begin with tbh, and the fanbase can highlight those issues more. It’s also hard to escape the fanbase (I see stuff I don’t wanna see despite trying my hardest to avoid certain circles, it just happens).

[audi-nos-bitch]

Rules: answer the questions and tag others to keep it going, it can be as many people as you want! and if you would like to add more questions when tagging people, feel free!

Tagged by @spneveryseason​, thank you for making me feel popular :)

Sibling status - Youngest of 3

How long have you been stanning for - I was a Dean girl when I watched five years ago but on my rewatch (started May 2020), I was a Sam stan right away, which became obvious during my Sam apologism in s4.

Favorite Sam era - Like, all of them, but narratively and in theme the s2 Sam era was so strong.

Favorite spn season, but if the only criteria was Sam’s hair - Controversial opinion, but s8. It was a goddamn mane and it was beautiful.

Favorite Sam-centric episode - Hmm probably Swan Song because of the magnitude of his sacrifice, and the redemption from his s4 demon blood arc.

Any ships you may like to mention - Sam/Cas is my #1 but I love one other unnamed Sam ship a lot and lowkey ship almost every other Sam ship but I will not go into it because ships are a touchy topic

Favorite song you would/have put in a Sam playlist - Maybe Boston’s “Don’t Look Back” or Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper”?

If you could steal one thing from Sam’s wardrobe, it would be - Carhartt hoodie <3

Complete the sentence: If Sam cishet, then WHY.... - “How about Sastiel? Samstiel?”

Favorite unhinged Sam moment - Listen, I should probably find a new one but for some reason this one always sticks with me: “You're too weak to go after her, Dean. You're holding me back. I'm a better hunter than you are. Stronger, smarter. I can take out demons you're too scared to go near.” (I guess it just highlights his transformation from hesitant hunter to a goddamn ultra-powerful hunting machine, which I like, and the arrogance is kind of hot for some reason.)

You must have some intense headcanons you need to talk about, tell me one Sam hc that drives you insane - Sam kept The Voicemail and listens to it every once in a while, especially throughout the trials in s8 

Tell me something about the hbo Sam that lives in your brain - I read this one about how demon blood/angels don’t mix so Cas can’t heal Sam and they can’t touch without it being painful and being around Cas makes Sam feel sick or something like that but despite all that they would die for each other and anyway I think about that sometimes

Oh no, the writers forgot to give Jess a personality! Now it’s up to you. Tell me, what was Jess like - They really did forget, didn’t they? I think she probably balanced out Sam so she was more light-hearted and less serious; she was more artistic while he was more analytical; she came from a very grounded background (supportive family, grew up in the same house her whole life, etc.) as opposed to Sam’s moving around a lot and not having consistent friends or always-present family.

Biggest injustice Supernatural committed against Sam (be as brief or as ranty as you desire) - If we’re talking about Supernatural as in the showrunners: Early s8 Sam giving up his responsibilities - not helping Kevin, not even looking for Dean (?!), it was so out of character sometimes I just pretend it’s not canon. If we’re talking about Supernatural as in the biggest injustice within the show: I mean, besides his entire life? Probably the s9 Gadreel possession. Particularly because Sam thought he was going crazy when Dean kept lying to him about it. 

And finally, just say something about him that makes you smile - His relationship with Jack :)

Tagging: I think(?) all of my Sam stan mutuals have been tagged before but if not please consider yourself tagged

[crazy-grrrl-on-the-computer]

Love Never Dies is not the fix-it fic I was expecting

Recently, I found out there was a sequel movie to that 2004 Phantom of the Opera movie with Gerard Butler in it. And since I’ve been on a Phantom kick... I watched it.

It's called Love Never Dies and it basically reads like someone's "fix-it fic" where Raoul turns out to be an abusive gambling drunk and Christine actually DID have sex with the Phantom once and WHOOPS the son Raoul thinks is his own is ACTUALLY the Phantom's son and in the end she fucking dies, so her dying wish is for Phantom to raise the boy.... and I guess kiss her corpse one last time because That Happened....

ALSO ABOUT 30 MINUTES INTO THE MOVIE PHANTOM AND CHRISTINE START SINGING ABOUT HAVING SEX, SO I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW AND BE PREPARED FOR THAT BECAUSE IT IS BOTH HILARIOUS AND EXTREMELY AWKWARD.

Seriously, I had to keep pausing the movie to laugh because I swear they started having sex with their voices by the end of the duet. My major question after all that is... when did they actually HAVE time to do the devil's tango during the first movie? Like... at what point exactly did this take place? What did I miss? XD 

Bearing all that in mind, I’m going to take anyone interested in this on a little adventure through the highlights of this movie. Because I already essentially live blogged this to several people as I was going through it and I feel like it’s worth sharing.

There is a plot twist at the end of this “fix-it” - trust me it’s worth it, please keep reading you’re in for a treat~

~.~

WELL ANYWAY THIS IS THE LOOK ON PHANTOM'S FACE WHEN HE REALIZES FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT CHRISTINE HAS A SON

This, mind you, is directly after the scene in which they've just sung a duet about how they bonked each other way back when.....

Like... they literally transition from "GRAPHIC VOICE FUCKING" to "Sing for me again, Christine! I'll pay you double what you were offered by that Hammerstein fellow!" to "OH HEY LOOK A CHILD!" asdhklf

That's not the face of a man who's like "OH SHIT I HAVE A SON"

That is the face of a man who's like "OH SHIT MY RIVAL GOT MY CRUSH PREGNANT, NOW I HAVE TO KILL THE BOY" because he hasn't fucking figured it out yet and I'm cackling this is awful.

Flash forward a few short scenes and

THIS!!! THIS IS THE FACE OF A MAN WHO JUST REALIZED "OH SHIT THIS IS MY SON!"

"this boy... this music... he plays... just like me" he figured it out... because... the kid plays piano.... I just

Breaking News: latent piano talent is hereditary Amazing XD

Meanwhile, the kid’s just:

"uh, dude? you okay over there?"

Also, I feel like I have to mention that Phantom's hair is all sleek and black and full right up until he discovers he has a son, decides to test him to see if this boy could truly be his.... and then takes off his mask to the sound of his son SCREECHING BLOODY MURDER BECAUSE APPARENTLY ACTUAL DEFORMED HUMANS IN GLASS CAGES ARE BEAUTIFUL BUT A BUBBLE SUNBURN SCAR FACE IS THE MOST HIDEOUS THING THIS CHILD HAS EVER SEEN WITH HIS 10-YEAR-OLD EYES.... and that's evidently enough to make Phantom's hair go thin and grey and start falling out of his head because he looks like he's Been Through Some Shit right after that.

Poor dude can only take so much rejection, it seems. That child aged him by at least 50 years all in the span of a few minutes.

Meanwhile, I'm still vexxed by the fact that the Phantom in this movie is somehow still convinced his non-birth deformity couldn't possibly NOT be genetically passed on to his child.... because it's... you know... not a genetic deformity in the Phantom cinematic universe of these two movies unlike in the original source material...

His bubble sunburn scar face was obtained through abuse he received while being caged for a freak show since his childhood... so why is he somehow convinced that it's impossible for his offspring to be born without a deformity? I mean, I get what the movie is trying to go for with his initial denial that he could produce something so beautiful... considering he has internalized the idea that his outward appearance is ugly, he could never be beautiful, and it's the reason for his loneliness... but I'm just too distracted by this discrepancy.

I mean...

Movie Phantom: *is surprised non-genetic deformity isn't hereditary* Also Movie Phantom: *thinks latent musical talent/interest is hereditary*

Aah, yes. It all makes sense now. Everything is genetic but actual genetics itself. How foolish of me. XD

~.~

And then the second half of this movie is really something.....

16 minutes in to the second act and Raoul has gambled his wife away because he was drunk and Phantom saw the perfect opportunity to swoop in and hit him in his "manly pride spot"

Phantom, out here in full fuckboy mode: "Alright, Raoul, let's settle this once and for all, you drunken bastard. How about we take a gamble?"

Raoul: "Dammit, you know I can't resist a gamble!"

Phantom: "If Christine does the singing gig she's being paid to do, it means she loves me and you have to disappear forever! But if she decides to drop her career for some reason, it means she loves you and I'll leave you alone."

Raoul: "Sounds perfectly reasonable to me! So, I'm going to charge right into her dressing room 10 minutes before she's due to sing and then beg her to drop her entire career for me without informing her of this stupid bet we've just made! That'll totally win her heart and not come back to bite me in a classic misunderstanding at all!"

Phantom: "Excellent, you stupid boy! You go do that!"

Phantom then proceeds to convince Christine that Raoul is a selfish bastard who wants to hold her back from reaching her potential like the shitty sexist husbands of the time.

Raoul:

~.~

Now it's the end of the movie, Christine is dead, their son is sadly laying in her lap.... and Raoul just arrived on the scene, so Phantom lifts his hand off the boy's head after trying to have A Moment and does THIS

I don't even know what this face is, but I fucking love it. Ben Lewis’ facial expressions make this whole movie, to be honest. XD 

Phantom literally just.... doesn't know what to do with his hands. He just removes himself from the scene, hands Raoul back his dead wife like "okay, here's your family back, sorry I got involved" and then cries at the ocean for a while asdhklf 

Then the son goes up to the Phantom, hugs him, takes his mask off and DOESN'T SCREAM IN TERROR THIS TIME.... because he finally accepted this man as his birth father and understands that beauty comes from within and all that jazz.

So, what I got out of this ending here..... is that Christine is dead...... and Raoul and Phantom are finally going to put aside their differences to raise their son (now that their mutual love interest is out of the picture). And now I'm kind of wondering if.... this "fix-it fic" actually had a different ship in mind the entire time and they just really needed to find a feasible way to get Phantom's DNA into the mix. XD

So, in conclusion, my only question is this: Where is the sequel to THIS movie, Andrew Lloyd Webber?! Where is my sequel where Raoul and Phantom have to share the domestic responsibilities of raising their son together???!!!?!? WHERE IS IT, YOU COWARD GIVE ME MY SEQUEL WHERE THESE TWO AWFUL MEN HAVE TO REFORM THEMSELVES AND EACH OTHER FOR THE SAKE OF THEIR CHILD AND A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE! YOU BUTCHERED THEM, SO NOW YOU HAVE TO FIX THEM! THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

[maggieisalarrie]

This is long overdue and I feel guilty that it has taken me this long to put myself together enough to finally formulate somewhat-coherent thoughts. I’ve been dealing with a lot of personal things recently and this “incident” has been very stressful and nerve wracking for everyone. Even though I’m not actually involved in any of this, and my opinions don’t really matter, I’d like to share my thoughts and let it be known where I stand. 

This is still a jumbled mess and I apologize if I’m unclear at any time. If you’d like clarification, please ask. I’ll be happy to expand on anything I mention here. 

I’ve taken some time to go through everything I can find on the subject, to make sure I have relevant and informational pieces from both sides to come to my own conclusion, and I can confidently say that I am appalled at what happened a few days ago. 

My initial response to seeing that anonymous post was shock and disbelief, because I simply couldn’t believe that the people mentioned in that post could possibly be capable of the things they have been accused of. I’ve witnessed most of them, if not all at some point or another, interacting with people on Tumblr and, although I don’t know any of these people personally or outside of their posts appearing on my dash, I can’t believe that the same kind, generous, open, helpful, understanding, welcoming people I see on my dash would be the same people to either abuse someone or witness abuse and sit by doing nothing. I can’t believe that. It simply doesn’t match up to what I’ve witnessed myself. 

I am a proud activist and advocate, and I fully believe in supporting victims and people/animals/living beings who cannot defend themselves appropriately. I did take time to hear the accuser’s side and, had their words held any evidence-supported truth, I would have believed them or, at least, asked or searched for further information. However, there was no relevant evidence supporting their side that I could find and an overabundance of evidence supporting the people who were accused. I heard both sides. I compared notes. I took other people’s thoughts and opinions into consideration. I came to my own conclusion. I encourage you to do the same. 

Because my response to everything is coming so late, there’s not really much more that I’ve thought about that hasn’t already been said so I’d like to highlight some key pieces that are important for me: 

For anyone who may still be against the people who were accused or if you’re simply unsure, please look here, here, here, here, here, and all of the other posts about this topic you can easily find by scrolling through those blogs. Please. Please, look into things yourself. Don’t believe everything someone else tells you. Believe what you see, hear, and experience yourself. Think for yourself. And if you still side with the accuser then at least you made that decision on your own. 

Every person deserves to have their side heard in every case, no matter what. Innocent until proven guilty is something most people tend to forget. 

Basically everything Lisa ( @a-writerwrites ) has been posting. She’s brought some really great points to light and has touched on some really important things that we should all read/learn about, but I’d especially like to highlight her post about teen social media use. “39% of online teens admitted to falsifying their age”. That number is staggering to me. 39%. THIRTY-NINE PERCENT! I’ll try to put it into perspective for you, if you can’t quite grasp that: If I have 1000 followers and if every one of those people is a teen (which my actual followers aren’t, this is hypothetical and I’ve asked minors not to follow me anyway), that means, on average, approximately 390 people who (again, hypothetically) follow me are lying or have lied about their age online. That is disturbing, uncomfortable, and gross. Kids (because if you’re under 18 you are a kid (don’t wish it away, it passes quickly enough)), NEVER EVER EVER LIE ABOUT YOUR AGE. NEVER. Even if you think you should for some reason. For any reason. Don’t do it. Adults (and children) can be really gross. You need to look out for yourself because no one else is going to. If you feel uncomfortable, unsafe, uneasy, get a weird vibe, or anything else, please remove yourself from the situation or get help to do so. You’ll always have help if you just ask. 

@twopoppies said, “... don’t think for a second it couldn’t happen to you.” I agree. Please understand that this sort of thing could have happened to literally anyone. Any of us could have been painted in this light. Me or you or your parent or your best friend or any of your mutuals or followers or anyone. All it takes is one person to spread one lie and it takes off like wildfire. So be careful. And, if something like this ever happens to you, I truly hope people treat you with more respect and kindness than most people in this fandom have ever expressed to anyone during their time here. 

Your words and actions online have consequences, just as your words and actions in real life do. Think before you speak. Think before you act. Think for yourself. Think. What good does it bring you to harm other people? 

If my opinions or stance on this issue make you uncomfortable, I strongly encourage you to unfollow or block me. If you are under the age of 18, I strongly, strongly, strongly, encourage you to please unfollow or block me, at least until you turn 18. Please. 

With all of that being said, I’d like to take this time to personally apologize to @tvshows-addict, @nottooldforthisship, @cuethetommo, @twopoppies, @littlechilllarrie, and anyone else wrongly accused in all of this. I’m sorry this is happening to all of you. I’m sorry more people haven’t taken the time to find as much information as possible to come to their own conclusions rather than believing whatever has been spoon-fed to them. I’m sorry those who were quick to fire and later regret (or delete) their actions and words haven’t apologized to you or tried to make up for their wrongdoings. I’m sorry it took me so long to express my opinion on all of this and to show you all my support. I know I don’t know any of you and you don’t know me, but I’ll do what I can to help or alleviate things for you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if I can do anything. You have a friend here if you want or need one. 

Apologies never really fix anything and I understand my words are simply words from a stranger on the internet, but we’ve all seen what words can do. Hopefully a little bit of kindness can go a bit farther than all of the hate that has taken such precedence in this fandom. 

[andrewdburton]

This blog is now a teenager: Thirteen years of Get Rich Slowly

Thie middle of April is a Big Deal in my world.

The trees have nearly finished blossoming, which means my allergies will soon go away. We're seeing more of the sun, which means the worst of my seasonal depression is behind me. Yesterday, on the 14th, Kim and I celebrated seven years as a couple. And today, on the 15th, Get Rich Slowly celebrates thirteen years of existence.

That's right: This blog is now a teenager.

In the Beginning

When I started Get Rich Slowly, I had no idea what it was going to become. I had no grand plan or vision. I just wanted to write about money while accomplishing three goals.

My primary goal was to document my own journey as I dug out of debt and (I hoped) eventually learned how to build wealth.

My secondary aim was to help my family and friends get better with their money too. (Although, truthfully, in my entire social circle, I was probably the person with the worst personal finance skills.)

And, third on the list, I wanted to make a little extra money with the site. I figured if I could make a few hundred bucks with it, I could pay off my debt a little sooner.

On 26 April 2005 — a year before I started this blog — I published an article called “Get Rich Slowly!” for my personal site. Here's what I wrote:

Today's entry is long and boring. It's all about the keys to wealth, prosperity, and happiness. Over the past few months, I've read over a dozen books on personal finance. Recurring themes have become evident.

These books have embarrassingly bad titles, seemingly designed to appeal to the get-rich-quick crowd: The Richest Man in Babylon, Your Money or Your Life, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Think and Grow Rich, Wealth Without Risk, etc.

Some of the books out there — most of them? — really are as bad as their titles. Others, however, offer outstanding, practical advice. The best books seem to have the same goal in mind: not wealth, not riches, but financial independence.

According to Your Money or Your Life, which I consider the very best of the financial books I've read, “Financial independence is the experience of having enough — and then some”. More practically, financial independence occurs when your investment income meets or exceeds your monthly expenses. Financial independence is linked to psychological freedom.

How is financial independence achieved? Again, the best books all basically agree. (To some of you, this will be common sense, stuff you've known all your life. To others, like me, this kind of thinking is a sort of revelation.)

Here, then, is my personal summary of the collected wisdom found in these books.

“It's nearly impossible to get rich quick without luck,” I concluded after summarizing all of these money books. “Getting rich quick is a sucker's bet. There's only a slim chance that you'll have the sort of luck that's required. You might as well play the lottery.”

Instead, I thought the underlying message of these books was simple: “It is possible to get rich slowly, however, with no risk, and with no luck. All that's required is patience and discipline.”

Get Rich Slowly 1.0

That original “Get Rich Slowly” article at my personal site proved popular. It went the 2005 version of “viral”, being shared at sites like Boing Boing, Lifehacker, etc.

A year later, I was still searching for a way to earn money on the side to help me dig out of debt. I decided that maybe I could earn a few bucks by starting a site about saving and investing. I actually thought mine would be the first personal-finance blog on the Internet! (Ha — little did I know! There were already dozens — dozens! — of other money blogs out there.)

On April 15, 2006, I launched Get Rich Slowly. It was successful from the start. For whatever reason, the stuff I wrote resonated with readers. They shared the site with their friends and family.

Within weeks, I had several hundred readers. Within months, the audience had grown to several thousand. Within two years, more than 500,000 people per month were coming to the site. It was crazy. It was completely unexpected. I was shocked. And grateful.

Those early days of GRS were a hell of a lot of fun. I was figuring this money stuff out in real time, and writing about my successes (and, yes, my failures) as they happened. I did some stupid, stupid stuff — but as time went on, I got better at managing my money.

Needless to say, writing about smart money management every day — for 1000 days — produces a lot of articles! Certain articles stood out as particularly popular — I think because they were particularly helpful. Anyway, here are some highlights from the first three years of the site:

In praise of the debt snowball (28 Sep 2006) — When I started Get Rich Slowly, I had over $35,000 in consumer debt. I lived paycheck to paycheck on a salary of over $50,000 per year. Basically, I was your typical American consumer. To get out of debt, I used Dave Ramsey's version of the debt snowball. A lot of folks want to complain that using this method is based on bad math, but so what? If math were the issue, I wouldn't have been in debt — and neither would many other people. The debt snowball works, and that's why I love it.

Are index funds the best investment? (24 Jan 2007) — At first, I was a bad investor. In fact, I was a gambler, not an investor. I took chances on random stocks in the hopes they'd shoot through the roof. Reading and writing about money quickly taught me that pros like Warren Buffett (and many more) actually endorse a simple investment strategy for average folks like you and me. For us, putting our savings into indexed mutual funds is the most reliable long-term investment.

Which online high-yield savings account and money market account is best? (21 Mar 2007, although this link is to a recent update) — As I started learning smart money habits, I realized it was dumb for me to leave my money in a big national bank that paid me no interest. But where should I save my money instead? To find out, I polled GRS readers. Whoa! Who knew this simple question would create such a huge response? Readers left over 1700 comments with suggestions about where to get the most bang for my buck.

Free at last! Saying good-bye to 20 years of debt (03 Dec 2007) — It took a lot of time and effort, but my new habits finally paid off. Three years after starting my quest, I wrote a check for the last of my consumer debt. From here, I could start building future wealth instead of repaying past folly.

A real millionaire next door (13 May 2008) — I used to live next door to an old guy named John. John was a retired shop teacher who had managed to build big wealth on a small salary. Now, in his 70s, he spent part of the year working on farms in New Zealand, part of the year on an Alaskan fishing boat, and part of the year puttering around his home in Portland. Later, I decided to interview him about what led to his financial success.

You can't always get what you want (24 Nov 2008) — Notes from a conversation with my cousin: It's okay to have something in your life that you hate. And it's okay to have something you want. It's natural. The problem is that once you get that thing, you're just going to hate something else, you're just going to want something more. It's not want that's the problem, but the habit of constantly satisfying wants.

So much happened in my life during these years, both good and bad. It seems odd to summarize that entire period in just a few articles, but I don't want to overwhelm you. (If you want to read more, check out the archives.)

Get Rich Slowly 2.0

While the early, heady years of GRS were carefree and fun, running the site eventually became work. A lot of work. Plus, all sorts of stuff was going on behind the scenes in my personal life. My best friend committed suicide. I was unhappy in my marriage. I struggled with my weight. It was all too much.

In early 2009, I decided to listen to the offers from people who wanted to buy Get Rich Slowly. Shortly after the site's third anniversary, I agreed to sell it.

When I sold, I became financially independent. (I was already on a path toward financial independence — or “FI,” as we say — but the sale helped me leap ahead several years.) My plan was simply to walk away and be done with writing about money. Turns out, I couldn't bring myself to do that.

You see, I love the GRS community. I didn't want to leave. I wanted to continue answering emails, sharing reader questions and stories, and documenting what I was learning about money. Instead of walking away, I stuck around for another three years as editor and primary writer.

During that time, we brought in other writers to help me manage the workload. I was always amazed at how each new voice added another dimension to the site. And our content changed in yet another way because I was becoming much more philosophical about money at this time.

I'd always stressed the importance of psychology; but as my financial philosophy matured, I became even more convinced that smart money management was all about mindset, not math. The math is easy. It's the emotional stuff that's tough. Some of the best articles from this era of GRS really get to the heart of these issues, and I hope that what I learned will be helpful to others, too.

The razor's edge: Lessons in true wealth (18 Jan 2009) — This is perhaps the most important article I ever wrote for Get Rich Slowly, although most people would never know it. In early 2009, my best friend took his own life. It had a profound impact on me. Here I wrote about what I learned from Sparky's life — and his death.

How to negotiate your salary (06 May 2009) — I don't think people spend enough time looking for ways to boost their income. There's a reason I mention this over and over and over again. Learning how to negotiate your salary is one of the best ways to improve your financial well-being.

Understanding the federal budget and The truth about taxes (August 2009) — We cannot have informed discussions about taxes and government spending if we don't have the baseline information. Because my own education on this subject was weak, and because I wanted GRS readers to be informed, I spent 12 hours researching a variety of tax topics. These two articles record my attempts to provide that baseline information. (I need to update these for 2019, don't I?)

Action not words: The difference between talkers and doers (30 Aug 2010) — If there's something you want to be or do, the best way to become that thing is to actually take steps toward it, to move in that direction. Don't just talk about it, but do something. It doesn't have to be a big thing. Just take a small step in the right direction every single day.

America's love-hate relationship with wealth (14 Nov 2011) — While writing about money, I've noticed that people in general (and Americans in particular) have a complex love-hate relationship with wealth. People want to be rich — but they're suspicious of those who already are. Why is that? How can we learn to be happy for the financial success of others?

A place of my own (16 Jan 2012) — The toughest blog post I've ever had to write: After months of hinting at things, I revealed that my wife and I were getting a divorce, and that I'd moved into an apartment of my own. This post explored some of the implications of that decision. (For the record: Kris and I continue to maintain our friendship.)

Eventually, after three years of lingering at GRS, I reached the point where I was willing to cut the cord. I gradually reduced my involvement until I was ready to walk away. I eased myself out of the site and into the life I'd been hoping to pursue.

The Quinstreet Years

I sold Get Rich Slowly in 2009 but stayed on as editor (and primary writer) for another three years. By mid-2012, it seemed that Quinstreet, the company that had acquired the site, was ready to run the site on its own. Plus, it felt like both the audience and I were both ready for me to leave.

So, I retired. Sort of.

Although I no longer had any active involvement in Get Rich Slowly, I still contributed articles from time to time. Plus, I wrote about money for other outlets.

In 2010, I published Your Money: The Missing Manual. (I'm proud of that book but it's sorely in need of an update.) From 2011 to 2014, I wrote the “Your Money” column for Entrepreneur magazine. In 2014, I released the Get Rich Slowly course. In 2015, I started a new site called Money Boss (which is now a part of GRS). And so on.

Plus, of course, Kim and I embarked on our awesome 15-month tour of the U.S. by RV.

I'll confess: I didn't pay much attention to Get Rich Slowly after I moved on. I checked in now and then, but mostly I ignored it. Looking through the archives, here are some of the articles that stand out during the Quinstreet years:

How to handle people who undermine your success (06 Jan 2012, by April Dykman) — April Dykman was always one of my favorite staff writers here at GRS. I loved learning from her progress. Here she shared some thoughts on how to handle haters in your life. As you work toward a better financial future, you will encounter people who think your choices are foolish. April — and the commenters — have some tips for coping with the criticism.

The power of personal transformation: Change yourself, change the world (16 Jul 2012, by J.D. Roth) — In July 2012, I spoke at World Domination Summit. This is the written version of that speech, which was all about overcoming fear, finding focus, and taking action. I argued that by finding the courage to change what's wrong in your own life, you'll not only improve yourself, but improve the world around you. (This material has become the psychological core of my financial philosophy.)

Romanticizing poverty and learning financial independence (03 Jan 2013, by Kristin Wong) — Kristin Wong was another great GRS writer. In this piece, she talks about different perceptions of wealth and poverty — and how those perceptions influence our choices. Her articles always led to great discussions.

All you need to know about saving for retirement (15 May 2013, by Robert Brokamp) — Before I left GRS, I brokered a deal with the Motley Fool that brought regular contributions from the hilarious (and smart) Robert Brokamp. He contributed many terrific pieces over the years, but I particularly like this crash course in retirement savings. If you're wondering where to start, start here.

You are the boss of you: How to find success with money and life (01 Aug 2013, by J.D. Roth) — I've always said that nobody cares more about your money than you do. But I've come to realize that nobody cares more about you than you do. The key to success — in every area of life — is to understand that you control your own destiny. If you want to be successful with money and life, you must act as your own boss.

How to track your spending (and why you should) (24 April 2014, by Holly Johnson) — Holly is another one of the great staff writers that GRS hosted during the Quinstreet years. (I'm excited because she's promised to give me a guest post soon about some of her home improvement fiascos. Should be fun!) I like this article, in which she takes a friend to task for not tracking his spending. He and his wife make a lot of money but they're constantly broke. Why? Because they have no idea where there money goes.

29 Ways to build your emergency fund out of thin air (18 Jan 2016, by Donna Freedman) — Donna has contributed a lot of great articles to GRS over the years. (And I hope that at some point in the future, I'll be able to afford to hire her to write here again.) I liked this piece, which provides tons of tips for boosting your saving rate. Saving more isn't just for building an emergency fund; it's also important for digging out of debt and, eventually, pursuing goals like homeownership and financial independence.

During the Quinstreet years, the GRS audience dwindled. This was in part due to the way they managed the site. They had good intentions (and lots of smart people behind the scenes), but they didn't have the same passion for personal finance that I did. Plus, they tended to make decisions that favored short-term results instead of long-term growth. I can't fault them for their choices — they did what was right for them — but I'm sad that the community eventually collapsed.

Not all of the collapse was due to blog management, though. Even if I hadn't sold the site, it likely would have faded eventually, and for a number of reasons: the rise of social media, the “death of blogs”, and increased competition from awesome new sites on a variety of niche subjects.

Get Rich Slowly 3.0

In 2015, I “unretired” from blogging. I founded Money Boss, a site where I posted long, meaty articles about managing your money as if you were the CFO of your own life. I had fun. The site didn't grow as quickly as GRS had nine years before, but after eighteen months, the site had acquired several thousand dedicated followers.

Then, in the spring of 2017, Quinstreet approached me. They asked me if I wanted to re-purchase Get Rich Slowly. Looking at the numbers, I realized it probably didn't make much financial sense to do so — but I didn't let that dissuade me. In October 2017, I bought Get Rich Slowly.

In the eighteen months since my return, I've published a lot of articles that I think are especially good. Here are some highlights:

What the rich do differently: Habits that foster wealth and success (18 Dec 2017) — I'm fascinated by the differences between rich people and poor people. Are the differences mostly a matter of class and economic mobility? Are people born to wealth and poverty and destined to remain there? Or are there observable differences in attitude and action that tend to lead people to specific levels of affluence? From my experience, it's some of both.

Start where you are (04 Jan 2018) — My main message to family and friends who find themselves at forty or fifty and feel behind the curve is: Don't panic. All is not lost. You're not too late. This isn't a contest. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

The plight of the poor: Thoughts on systemic poverty, fault, and responsibility (28 Feb 2018) — There are very real differences between the behaviors and attitudes of those who have money and those who don't. If we want ourselves and others to be able to enjoy economic mobility, to escape poverty and dire circumstances, we have to have an understanding of the necessary mental shifts. The problem, of course, is that it's one thing to understand intellectually that wealthy people and poor people have different mindsets, but it's another thing entirely to be able to adopt more productive attitudes in your own life.

The forever fallacy (11 Jul 2018) — The forever fallacy is the mistaken belief that you will always have what you have today, that you'll always be who you are today. The truth is that everything changes. You change. Your circumstances change. The people around you change. Nothing is forever. The challenge then is to balance this concept — everything changes — with living in the present. You must learn to enjoy today while simultaneously preparing for a variety of possible tomorrows.

The boots theory of socioeconomic unfairness (26 Oct 2018) — Last October, I spent a week exploring the relationship between cost and quality. Quality tends to come with a price. While there are ways to mitigate some of these higher costs — buy used, wait for sales, etc. — if you want to buy new quality items, you're going to pay a premium. Because of this, quality is often something reserved for the rich. Like so many things in life, this is fundamentally unfair. But that's how things are.

Why frugality is an important part of personal finance (31 Jan 2019) — Depriving yourself of certain “standard” choices now means you don't have to lead a life of deprivation when you're older. When you choose to spend less, you're not just boosting your bottom line. You're also gaining the time and freedom that would have been required to earn that money. Thrift isn't deprivation. It's wealth.

Saving regret — and how to avoid it (27 Feb 2019) — Very few people regret saving money. In fact, research shows that less than 2% of people would save less if they could re-do their earlier life. On the other hand, two-thirds of people wish they'd saved more when they were younger. Poorer people tend to regret not saving most of all. The bottom line: To avoid regrets when you're older, save more now.

I won't lie. While I'm glad to be back and I've enjoyed the past eighteen months, it's also been tough. I have lots to say, but I've struggled to figure out exactly how to say it. Blogging has changed. Expectations are different. I am different than when I started this site.

I'm constantly wrestling with questions like: How often should I write? (Once a week? Three times a week? At random intervals?) Should I share only new stuff? Or should I republish updated material from the archives? In the olden days, I used to share tons of things from other sites. Should I continue to do that? Or should I focus on my own thoughts? How long should my articles be? (A few hundred words? Or…a few thousand?) What topics should I cover?

If you walk through the GRS archives, you can see how I've struggled to find a rhythm for Get Rich Slowly 3.0.

My publication pattern for the past year has been…well, irregular. There are some months where I write and publish a ton, both from myself and others. There are other months — like this one — during which I publish little. (Real Life has been distracting me lately. I have plenty I want to write about, but no time to do it.) And my articles are all over the place.

I'm not worried, though. I know I'll figure things out. In the meantime, I'm having fun. I hope that you are having fun too. And, as always, if you have any suggestions and/or requests for things you'd like to see around here, please let me know. I want GRS to be a useful resource for you — for all of you.

The post This blog is now a teenager: Thirteen years of Get Rich Slowly appeared first on Get Rich Slowly.

from Finance https://www.getrichslowly.org/get-rich-slowly-anniversary/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[ivore]

Continued from Part 1 which can be found here: Making App-based Theatre

One of the biggest challenges for us when working with new technology in theatre is finding ways to make the technology fundamentally serve the functional needs of the show, rather than decorate it superficially. However, integrating technology like this involves a lot more risk. If the ‘technology’ involved is limited to projections in the background etc., then the show can carry on if something fails, and the audience might not even notice. If the ‘technology’ is responsible for the structure, timing, location and audio of the whole show, then if something fails, there is no show any more. So while this makes the use of technology arguably more integrated and innovative, it makes the whole thing a lot scarier to create.

The Development of Lost Shoreline

When we started our creative meetings with the full team for Lost Shoreline, I still didn’t really know what was possible in terms of technology. At that time, I was still planning to create a self-contained app that didn’t require an internet connection to function, and worked more like a multiple-choice adventure game with mp3s and a basic GPS map. About 4 months before the show, the skeleton of an app that I’d made was still only a kind of custom google-maps thing with some audio capability.

However, in the creative meetings we kept coming up against the issue of organising the audience to make sure we didn’t end up with 40 people in a small room at the same time. We were coming up with ways involving probability to try and make it as unlikely as we could, but whatever we did, without a connection between the phones, there would still be a possibility of having the whole audience in the same place at the same time.

Since most of the team didn’t have much experience with this tech, their ideas weren’t limited by what they thought was possible. Even though Michelle and I had some experience from The Beautiful Ones, even I wasn’t exactly sure what was going to be possible for me to implement in time for the show with just me doing the programming. Ideas like ‘make it seem like someone’s phoning them at a specific time, and play audio when they answer’ seem easy to me because it’s mostly interface design, but seem almost impossible if you don’t know how it works. But things that sound simple like ‘send a notification to the closest 4 audience members to a specific location’ is actually much more complex to set up, because to calculate the closest four, you need live access to the location data of all audience phones. Still, not as bad as checking if their photo is of a bird. Anyway, that meant I had to set up a database the store the data from the phones in real time, and we had to make sure everyone had internet access. Luckily the audience was small enough to allow us to use the free version of Firebase for the database and it was much easier to set up than trying to set up my own.

Once we had a database everything became a lot easier to manage, and things felt a lot safer because we were able to make a lot of fundamental changes to the show without having to update the app, by getting data and even audio updates from the database instead. We were able to trigger and change times on the fly during the show in case anything went wrong. Basically, I realised that I should have built everything from the database up, and I pretty much had to rewrite everything I’d done up to this point. This was a great learning experience for me, and I started having more ideas than I could possibly implement – not just for this show, but for other apps as well. However, it was also a bit terrifying because I was learning how to do things for the first time and immediately putting them into an app that had to work perfectly the first time it was used with the full audience.

What The App Does

It would be pretty boring (or very niche) to go over every function in the app, but I want to highlight what I think are some of the cleverer bits.

The app works like a silent disco, with everyone hearing the audio in sync (down to milliseconds), but what you hear depends on your location. There are actors walking around who are also being tracked by GPS. You can see the actor’s location in your app as an animated coloured dot on your map, and if you’re within a certain distance you will hear the audio that relates to that actor. The volume gets louder the closer you get to the actor.

There is an interactive overlay of how the shoreline of Kowloon changed over time with reclamation projects. You can slide to different dates and the map will let you see exactly how the shoreline was at that time, and where you are in relation to it. There’s a subtle soundscape that tries to emulate the sound of the sea according to how close you are to whatever you set the shoreline year to.

Plain map overlay

Satellite map overlay

The timing of events is taken care of by the app so that everything stays in sync. People receive phone calls, dots pop up on the map, new functions get revealed, and like I mentioned before, the closest people to certain locations at certain times get summoned there. Sometimes these all happen together, and sometimes they are determined according to arrival time, or according to location. There is even a system in case two or more people need to stay together for some reason (e.g. carer, child etc.) which can be set up at the start of the show.

All of the phone numbers on the road can be dialled within the app (it has a phone-like interface) in order to hear an audio track that corresponds to the location that number can be found – usually about the street that the number can be found on. We got most of the phone numbers manually by photographing all the places we could, but if someone dialled a number not in the database, then their GPS coordinate at the time they dialled it would be added to another database for checking. These were then added back into the main database after each show, so we gradually built up a full database of the locations of all the phone numbers on the streets – the audience did it for us without even knowing.

If an audience member has a problem, they can use the app to call us directly – we also get their GPS coordinates so we can go straight to their location and help them. Thankfully this was mostly not used, except for a few people requesting battery chargers, or on on occasion someone who was seeing the show for the second time without the app being reset properly. We were able to run directly to them without causing them any delay.

What We Could Improve

One of the biggest problems we encountered was the potential inaccuracy of the GPS. When I first built the GPS-based audio functions, I was using very finely calibrated distance to volume and even panning according to bearing, but in real world testing this proved to be disorientating due to the amount of buildings and footbridges interfering with the GPS signal. This would be a great thing to try in a flat and open space, but it’s not an ideal system in Hong Kong. I had to remove the panning and reduce the sensitivity of the volume a lot to account for the potential inaccuracy, so it was still able to function well enough for our purposes. I considered other ways of detecting user location, from masses of battery powered bluetooth beacons, to ushers in charge of updating individual audience members’ locations… but I think in the end I will go back to giving the user more agency in telling the app where they are and triggering what they want to hear manually, rather than trying to make everything automated.

Another difficulty when working with this level of technology is time. Even though we had more than twice as long as a normal rehearsal period to create the show, it was still crazy for me to try and do the programming and testing on my own, and meant that I couldn’t be involved in as much of the creative content as I would have liked. Because the technical aspects and the content of the show were so mutually dependent, it wasn’t really possible to create the app first and find the content for it, so both sides of things had to develop together. I think this kind of show would benefit from having the process spread out much more to allow time for app development in between meetings, but the current funding/rehearsal model for ‘theatre’ shows like this doesn’t really allow for a process that’s conducive to integrating new technology and content. Not that that will stop us trying. Look out for news of something along these lines coming up…

Making App-Based Theatre: Part 2, Lost Shoreline Continued from Part 1 which can be found here: Making App-based Theatre One of the biggest challenges for us when working with new technology in theatre is finding ways to make the technology fundamentally serve the functional needs of the show, rather than decorate it superficially.

[simplemoneyman-blog]

From Target Date Funds To Lower Cost Index Funds

Also featured as a guest post on Mustard Seed Money:   Usually, on the first day of a new job, we receive some new hire paperwork from Human Resources. Included in that package is paperwork concerning which retirement plan we’d like to participate in, how much we’d like to contribute and how to get started. Sometimes we have to go online and complete this information.   The process of going through retirement paperwork can be overwhelming, to say the least. It’s because we are generally provided with a bunch of options or funds to choose from. In the end, we may just say I don’t feel like dealing with all this reading and will take the easy way out and pick a retirement fund option known as a target date fund. In recent years, more and more employers have started to offer this simple way for its employees to save for retirement.   Target date funds are mutual funds that generate an asset mix based on the anticipated date the participant is expected to retire. For example, if you are in your 20s and plan to retire in 2060, you would select a 2060 target date fund. This target date fund would be designed to be aggressive in its investment allocation. That is, it would have holdings in small-cap and growth companies and as the years go back would readjust the asset mix into more conservative assets such as bond funds and other cash equivalents. Thereby the fund “targets” the year of retirement based on its name and adjusts investments within the fund accordingly.    

History of Target Date Funds

  Target-date funds were created in 1994. This was in response to a lack of education by participants in 401(k) plans. Many participants were just not willing to conduct their own asset allocation and because of this nervousness and lack of desire on the part of the participants, the demand for target-date funds was born. They were first introduced by Wells Fargo and Barclays Global Investors.  Ofcourse in the late 90s and early 2000s, other investment companies joined the trend such as Fidelity, TRowe Price, and Vanguard with their own target date funds.   In order to facility so many participants into these retirement plans in an efficient way, groups or clusters of funds were created. These creations were distinguished by the average years' participants were expected to enter into retirement.   So for a 25-year old planning to retire at age 65, a 2060 target fund may be appropriate. For a 30-year old a 2055 fun and 35-year old a 2050 fund may be the right choice. You get the picture. The further away you are from retirement, the more aggressive the fund’s portfolio model will be (i.e., more in stocks and less in bonds). The closer you are to retirement, the more conservative and the fund allocation will adjust by itself without you having to go in and do anything. Sounds easy right? It sure is and that is why so many people decide to enroll in them.    

Target Funds Today

  Target-date funds continue to be super-popular these days in workplace retirement plans. They are easily accessible as they are offered by many employers. My previous two employers offered target-date funds and yes I was enrolled in them.   Even at my current employer, I initially selected a target date fund. It allowed me to be, well quite honestly lazy with my retirement planning. This along with the fact that target dates funds are the default funds offered in most defined contribution plans. Furthermore, many employers offer automatic enrollment as well as these funds and once people are in most don’t bother changing their investments because they know the target date fund will take care of it.   And even in my very first job which offered a 401k plan, most likely I selected a target date fund because I didn’t know much about the other funds. I probably read that this fund is for people that plan to retire in year 20XX. And so I took my calculator and did a quick difference between my age and 65 or 67 and said ok, that’s the one that’s right for me, ignoring everything else and moving on to the next piece of new hire paperwork.    

Target Date Funds Composition

  Target date funds have within them funds. So a target date fund is basically a fund of funds. It may have some money in a large-cap fund, some in a mid-cap fund, and some in a small-cap fund. It may have some money in an international fund, and some in a bond fund. Generally, the underlying funds in a target fund are from the same fund family.   So for example, if you are in a Fidelity target date fund or what Fidelity calls a Freedom Fund, the underlying funds are that of Fidelity as well and you as an investor have no control of those funds. Check out the allocation below of the Fidelity Freedom Index 2050 Fund:  

    Target Fund May Not Be My Target

  As we already know the closer someone is to retirement, the more a target fund’s objective changes to a more conservative investing approach. In sticking with the Fidelity Freedom Index 2050 Fund mentioned above, it has 26.94% in International Equity Funds. However, the Fidelity Freedom 2040 Fund has 31.13% in International Equity Funds.   If you are bullish in the international sector and are seeking more diversification and exposure there, but are comfortable with your domestic allocation, maybe you should develop your own mix of lower cost index funds and save in fees. This is what ended up doing and will discuss later.   Additionally, the set it and forget it nature of target funds is not one favored by many investment publications including Motley Fool who states that it’s important to continuously monitor the underlying fund performance to make sure it's meeting your expectations in terms of risk tolerance and returns. And up until a few months ago, I started thinking, are target date funds really worth it? Should I employ a set it and forget it approach for something as big as retirement? Well maybe, but maybe not.    

Target Date Fund Performance

  Apart from having less flexibility in allocating with target funds, another drawback is performance. The target date fund I previously had is a fund of funds. The underlying funds are actively managed. According to CNBC, many actively managed funds are being outperformed by passive funds and ETFs. And about 85% of active large-cap funds fail to meet their benchmarks.   The article further identifies Vanguard (the biggest provider of index products) which has received $216 billion in inflows. I’ve found that it really only makes sense to own an actively managed fund if you’re looking for a particular investment and in a specific sector as illustrated by Verdan Vuk, Senior Analyst for Money Forever. Otherwise, he says you’re just wasting money.    

Target Date Fund Fees

  If you’re putting money into a retirement plan, you’re doing better than two-thirds of Americans because who are otherwise not. So you’re already ahead of the game anyway. But there may be a way to do better and that is by avoiding excessive fees.  One of the main reasons why investors avoid target date fund is very simple: high fees. Everywhere I read this is a common theme as some fund companies can “charge twice or even three times” the amount in fees as their competitors.   The fund I was in (TRRMX or T. Rowe Price Retirement 2050 Fund) has an expense ratio of 0.76%.  So I decided to take action by logging into my account and creating my own allocation. My retirement website offers an interactive tool where I can enter data such as my age, when I plan to retire, how much I plan to spend in retirement, and what I’ve saved thus far. The output results in the creation of a customized allocation.  This is the allocation model that was suggested for the variables I provided:  

  Using this model, I proceeded to allocate my current fund and al future contributions from the target date fund into lower-cost index funds. This movement of investments is offered for free by my retirement provider and maybe by yours as well! Below is my new self-created portfolio model:     Investments & Allocation Expense Ratio Asset Class Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund - Institutional Shares - 25% 0.090% Int'l Vanguard(R) Small-Cap Index Fund - Institutional Shares - 5% 0.050% Small-Cap Vanguard(R) Mid-Cap Index Fund - Institutional Plus Shares - 10% 0.010% Mid-Cap Vanguard(R) Institutional Index Fund - Institutional Plus Shares - 50% 0.020% Large-Cap Vanguard(R) Total Bond Market Index Fund - Institutional Shares  - 7% 0.040% Bonds *Investment Contract Pool - 3% * Total Expense Ratio 0.210% Target Fund 0.760% Difference 0.550%     And with this change, I’ll be saving over half a percent in annual fees, as highlighted above! Trust me, over-time that can add up to a lot in fees. I did the math really quickly and when the balance gets higher the expense ratio really starts making a difference:     When 401k Balance Is: Ratio Difference Annual Savings  $          100,000 0.550%  $            550  $          500,000 0.550%  $         2,750  $       1,000,000 0.550%  $         5,500  $       1,500,000 0.550%  $         8,250     So I went online a googled some more, for an expense ratio calculator. I found a simple one on Begin to Invest. Based on the below calculation, if someone were to have $200,000 as a starting point and decided to move investments, contribute the maximum as it stands right now, earn 6%, then they’d save over $280,000 over 30 years when employing a low-cost index fund VA a target date fund:  

    I encourage everyone to use this site and plug in some hypotheticals to see what savings are available.    

Take Charge or Your Investments

  Retirement is a major part of our lives. And as such, planning for it should be as well. We owe it to ourselves to learn more about low-cost index funds because they cost less than target funds and have performed better historically. Why pay more and get less?     So readers are you in a target retirement fund? If so, have you thought about moving to lower cost index-funds?   ______________________________________________________________________________

  I use  because (1) it’s free, (2) it tracks all of my accounts and overall net worth, (3) my account balances automatically update, (4) it shows how my investments are diversified and allocated in various sectors, and (5) can use built-in tools like “Investment Checkup” to get….wait for it…free personalized advice!   Read the full article

[simplemoneyman-blog]

From Target Date Funds To Lower Cost Index Funds

Also featured as a guest post on Mustard Seed Money:   Usually, on the first day of a new job, we receive some new hire paperwork from Human Resources. Included in that package is paperwork concerning which retirement plan we’d like to participate in, how much we’d like to contribute and how to get started. Sometimes we have to go online and complete this information.   The process of going through retirement paperwork can be overwhelming, to say the least. It’s because we are generally provided with a bunch of options or funds to choose from. In the end, we may just say I don’t feel like dealing with all this reading and will take the easy way out and pick a retirement fund option known as a target date fund. In recent years, more and more employers have started to offer this simple way for its employees to save for retirement.   Target date funds are mutual funds that generate an asset mix based on the anticipated date the participant is expected to retire. For example, if you are in your 20s and plan to retire in 2060, you would select a 2060 target date fund. This target date fund would be designed to be aggressive in its investment allocation. That is, it would have holdings in small-cap and growth companies and as the years go back would readjust the asset mix into more conservative assets such as bond funds and other cash equivalents. Thereby the fund “targets” the year of retirement based on its name and adjusts investments within the fund accordingly.    

History of Target Date Funds

  Target-date funds were created in 1994. This was in response to a lack of education by participants in 401(k) plans. Many participants were just not willing to conduct their own asset allocation and because of this nervousness and lack of desire on the part of the participants, the demand for target-date funds was born. They were first introduced by Wells Fargo and Barclays Global Investors.  Ofcourse in the late 90s and early 2000s, other investment companies joined the trend such as Fidelity, TRowe Price, and Vanguard with their own target date funds.   In order to facility so many participants into these retirement plans in an efficient way, groups or clusters of funds were created. These creations were distinguished by the average years' participants were expected to enter into retirement.   So for a 25-year old planning to retire at age 65, a 2060 target fund may be appropriate. For a 30-year old a 2055 fun and 35-year old a 2050 fund may be the right choice. You get the picture. The further away you are from retirement, the more aggressive the fund’s portfolio model will be (i.e., more in stocks and less in bonds). The closer you are to retirement, the more conservative and the fund allocation will adjust by itself without you having to go in and do anything. Sounds easy right? It sure is and that is why so many people decide to enroll in them.    

Target Funds Today

  Target-date funds continue to be super-popular these days in workplace retirement plans. They are easily accessible as they are offered by many employers. My previous two employers offered target-date funds and yes I was enrolled in them.   Even at my current employer, I initially selected a target date fund. It allowed me to be, well quite honestly lazy with my retirement planning. This along with the fact that target dates funds are the default funds offered in most defined contribution plans. Furthermore, many employers offer automatic enrollment as well as these funds and once people are in most don’t bother changing their investments because they know the target date fund will take care of it.   And even in my very first job which offered a 401k plan, most likely I selected a target date fund because I didn’t know much about the other funds. I probably read that this fund is for people that plan to retire in year 20XX. And so I took my calculator and did a quick difference between my age and 65 or 67 and said ok, that’s the one that’s right for me, ignoring everything else and moving on to the next piece of new hire paperwork.    

Target Date Funds Composition

  Target date funds have within them funds. So a target date fund is basically a fund of funds. It may have some money in a large-cap fund, some in a mid-cap fund, and some in a small-cap fund. It may have some money in an international fund, and some in a bond fund. Generally, the underlying funds in a target fund are from the same fund family.   So for example, if you are in a Fidelity target date fund or what Fidelity calls a Freedom Fund, the underlying funds are that of Fidelity as well and you as an investor have no control of those funds. Check out the allocation below of the Fidelity Freedom Index 2050 Fund:  

    Target Fund May Not Be My Target

  As we already know the closer someone is to retirement, the more a target fund’s objective changes to a more conservative investing approach. In sticking with the Fidelity Freedom Index 2050 Fund mentioned above, it has 26.94% in International Equity Funds. However, the Fidelity Freedom 2040 Fund has 31.13% in International Equity Funds.   If you are bullish in the international sector and are seeking more diversification and exposure there, but are comfortable with your domestic allocation, maybe you should develop your own mix of lower cost index funds and save in fees. This is what ended up doing and will discuss later.   Additionally, the set it and forget it nature of target funds is not one favored by many investment publications including Motley Fool who states that it’s important to continuously monitor the underlying fund performance to make sure it's meeting your expectations in terms of risk tolerance and returns. And up until a few months ago, I started thinking, are target date funds really worth it? Should I employ a set it and forget it approach for something as big as retirement? Well maybe, but maybe not.    

Target Date Fund Performance

  Apart from having less flexibility in allocating with target funds, another drawback is performance. The target date fund I previously had is a fund of funds. The underlying funds are actively managed. According to CNBC, many actively managed funds are being outperformed by passive funds and ETFs. And about 85% of active large-cap funds fail to meet their benchmarks.   The article further identifies Vanguard (the biggest provider of index products) which has received $216 billion in inflows. I’ve found that it really only makes sense to own an actively managed fund if you’re looking for a particular investment and in a specific sector as illustrated by Verdan Vuk, Senior Analyst for Money Forever. Otherwise, he says you’re just wasting money.    

Target Date Fund Fees

  If you’re putting money into a retirement plan, you’re doing better than two-thirds of Americans because who are otherwise not. So you’re already ahead of the game anyway. But there may be a way to do better and that is by avoiding excessive fees.  One of the main reasons why investors avoid target date fund is very simple: high fees. Everywhere I read this is a common theme as some fund companies can “charge twice or even three times” the amount in fees as their competitors.   The fund I was in (TRRMX or T. Rowe Price Retirement 2050 Fund) has an expense ratio of 0.76%.  So I decided to take action by logging into my account and creating my own allocation. My retirement website offers an interactive tool where I can enter data such as my age, when I plan to retire, how much I plan to spend in retirement, and what I’ve saved thus far. The output results in the creation of a customized allocation.  This is the allocation model that was suggested for the variables I provided:  

  Using this model, I proceeded to allocate my current fund and al future contributions from the target date fund into lower-cost index funds. This movement of investments is offered for free by my retirement provider and maybe by yours as well! Below is my new self-created portfolio model:     Investments & Allocation Expense Ratio Asset Class Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund - Institutional Shares - 25% 0.090% Int'l Vanguard(R) Small-Cap Index Fund - Institutional Shares - 5% 0.050% Small-Cap Vanguard(R) Mid-Cap Index Fund - Institutional Plus Shares - 10% 0.010% Mid-Cap Vanguard(R) Institutional Index Fund - Institutional Plus Shares - 50% 0.020% Large-Cap Vanguard(R) Total Bond Market Index Fund - Institutional Shares  - 7% 0.040% Bonds *Investment Contract Pool - 3% * Total Expense Ratio 0.210% Target Fund 0.760% Difference 0.550%     And with this change, I’ll be saving over half a percent in annual fees, as highlighted above! Trust me, over-time that can add up to a lot in fees. I did the math really quickly and when the balance gets higher the expense ratio really starts making a difference:     When 401k Balance Is: Ratio Difference Annual Savings  $          100,000 0.550%  $            550  $          500,000 0.550%  $         2,750  $       1,000,000 0.550%  $         5,500  $       1,500,000 0.550%  $         8,250     So I went online a googled some more, for an expense ratio calculator. I found a simple one on Begin to Invest. Based on the below calculation, if someone were to have $200,000 as a starting point and decided to move investments, contribute the maximum as it stands right now, earn 6%, then they’d save over $280,000 over 30 years when employing a low-cost index fund VA a target date fund:  

    I encourage everyone to use this site and plug in some hypotheticals to see what savings are available.    

Take Charge or Your Investments

  Retirement is a major part of our lives. And as such, planning for it should be as well. We owe it to ourselves to learn more about low-cost index funds because they cost less than target funds and have performed better historically. Why pay more and get less?     So readers are you in a target retirement fund? If so, have you thought about moving to lower cost index-funds?   ______________________________________________________________________________

  I use  because (1) it’s free, (2) it tracks all of my accounts and overall net worth, (3) my account balances automatically update, (4) it shows how my investments are diversified and allocated in various sectors, and (5) can use built-in tools like “Investment Checkup” to get….wait for it…free personalized advice!   Read the full article