Hey all, my ex boyfriend blindsided me by leaving me (about 4 weeks ago), and I decided I needed to go NC immediately with the exception of a couple quick texts, letting him know I was coming to pick my things up (I was moving out). Tomorrow will have been 30 days.
He wished me a Happy Birthday last week, which surprised me.
I also did need to meet up with him last week to pick up some things he had found of mine, the interaction was fairly brief, light and I think I handled it well. I went right back into NC afterwards.
He still has something of mine that he needs to retrieve from his cottage, and has not seemingly made any effort to bring it back for me. It's only about an hour drive away, and he's had several weeks to go up (we used to go up 2-3 times a month together), so I am not sure why he seems to be avoiding it.
I'm not making any assumptions, or holding onto any hope- I just am genuinely not sure why he wouldn't have just taken that upon himself at this point. It's the only thing left tying me to him, and I kind of think he'd want it gone and over with. I also kind of would like to just move forward at this point.
I don't want to harass him for it, and I don't really want to have to reach out to his family about it either- should I just wait and wait, or is there a point in time where I should just break NC and reach out reminding him, or asking him for it?
NOTE: I may have mentioned this in previous posts, but when he broke up with me, he kept expressing how he wanted to end on good terms, and seemed to leave the door open for future reconnection. I realized afterwards, that he displays multiple signs of being a DA maybe a bit of FA as well, and he had been feeling overwhelmed and insecure in the relationship- though I had absolutely no idea that he was feeling any sort of way, as he would never tell me, or he'd repress his emotions.

TLDR: when seeing family at Christmas I would like to have one say with my boyfriend alone but he says this is selfish and not fair to his family.
Just putting this up here to see the different responses. Just Curious who sides with my BF(35M) we will call him sam or me (33F). Please note we are not fighting about this.
Back story. Boyfriend was military and has left over a year ago. He left because he was deployed 9 month of the year and it's hard to sustain a relationship on that . Currently unemployed but he has savings.
I work for myself and make ok money.
This year we had a few bring trips. We had a wedding in Mexico, my parents funeral in ireland and then another wedding in a different province.
When it came to Christmas he was sad we couldn't see if family because he spent to much of his savings and he needed to be responsible until he found a job.
He hadn't been home in 3 years and I could tell it upset him. So I told him I would combine Christmas, birthday, anniversary and Vday gifts to get him back home. My only condition was I wanted one day to see his stomping grounds.
We made it down there and met the family and it was great. But when it came down to the day we agreed on to see the city sam decides to go see grandma instead. I was very upset and he could not understand why.
(Not upset anymore but we still discuss it so it doesn't become an issue in the future as we still have not met a middle ground)
We went for 1 week. I wanted to go for 2 but he said he could not stand his family that long.
It's his family so I said fine and booked the air b and b and the other arrangements.
He is saying it is selfish now of me to want a full day to see where he grow up because we were only there for a short time and he needs to spend that time woth family.
I asked how could I make this possible then. He said we would have to go for a month.
As I own my own business I can not take a month off work.
Now I know he never gets to see his family so he will want to spend time with them. I do not think it's to much to ask for one today so I can see where he grow up.
He wants to go back next year which I am all for cause it's his mom's 60th anniversary. But now he is claimimg we are only going for 2 days because he can't stand his family. (I have a hard time with this cause flying down is very expensive and seems like a waste if we only go for the 2 days but again his family his choice)
What do you guys think?

This is taken from and is copyright protected by globalsoup.net, a website that promotes flash Fiction with annual writing contests.
I am reprinting these Flash Fiction Prompts because they are outstanding ways to freewrite and offer plenty to work with for those who want to learn how to write Flash Fiction.
So check out these prompts and the article and work some of them into your journal! Post the best responses!
100 Awesome Flash Fiction Prompts - Plus Bonus Prompts!
We’ve put together 100 flash fiction prompts, each one designed for a very short story. These prompts will probably be best suited to a story of between 300-1,000 words. If you want to write a longer story using these prompts, you can easily expand these ideas to fit a story of any length.
What is flash fiction?
Flash Fiction is defined as a very short story that can be anywhere from just a couple of words to about a thousand in length. The beauty (and difficulty) of writing flash fiction lies in trying to tell a complete story in so few words. Great flash fiction is succinct, emotive, thought-provoking, and impactful.
What’s the difference between flash fiction and a short story?
The only difference between flash fiction and a typical short story is the word count. However, this scarcity of words means that writing flash fiction can feel like a completely new skill. Just like the short story is a different animal to the novel or novella; flash fiction is kind of unique.
When writing flash, you’ll need to use fewer characters, a simpler plot, and you’ll have to make each word count. This is why editing is so important. You have to be brutal. Cut out everything superfluous and really make sure each and every word is performing an important function in the story. If you’re interested in writing very short fiction, why not check out drabbles? Drabbles are stories of exactly 100 words in length, and they can be a great way to practice keeping your stories very, very short.
How to plot a flash fiction story
When you sit down to write flash fiction, you must begin by choosing an appropriate plot. You cannot simply use a short story plot and tell it using fewer words. A typical flash fiction plot is like looking at one part of a story under a microscope.
For example, let’s look at prompt #21 in our list of 100 Flash Fiction Prompts:

1. Two people on a sinking ship must decide who should take the last seat in the last lifeboat. If you were writing a novel about a sinking ship, you’d probably want the actual sinking to be the climax of the story. Of course, there are infinite ways to write a novel about a sinking ship, but this would structurally be the most obvious. You’d use the first part of the novel to introduce your characters and describe the voyage leading up to the sinking and the sinking of the ship would be the dramatic climax, leaving the last part of the book as the resolution.

The golden rule of writing short stories is to begin as close to end as you can. So, to turn the same story from novel to short story, you’d probably want to begin with the ship sinking. You haven’t got time to introduce the characters before the action begins, so you’d need to feed in exposition and backstory here and there during the events.
All stories need a good climax. So, you would find the most dramatic moment in the story and build up to it. Perhaps your climax would be the two main characters having to decide who will take the remaining seat on the last lifeboat.
Finally, you need a resolution. In a longer short story you do have time to bring in some kind of satisfying resolution at the end.
But, if you’re writing flash fiction and your story is only a few hundred words, you really need to zoom in on one tiny moment in that story.
You don’t have time to tell the entire story of a sinking ship, but you can turn one moment into a story.
We’ve chosen the lifeboat situation as the key moment in this hypothetical story. Two characters must decide which one of them will take the last seat on the last lifeboat. This is an appropriate plot for flash fiction because it’s simple, high-stakes, dramatic, and thought provoking.
Not all flash fiction will have a plot quite this dramatic, but all great flash fiction will have a plot that can be expressed in just one or two sentences.
If you have a plot in mind, but it seems more suitable for a longer story, you can sometimes find several flash fiction plots hidden within it. Just look for little stories within the story, like the lifeboat moment in our hypothetical tale of the sinking ship.
This brings us to our top tip for coming up with ideas for flash fiction stories:
if you’re ever stuck for ideas, you can find little stories within the story in books, movies, and TV shows. A full length feature film might have as many as 20 little incidents in it that could easily be flash fiction.
Don’t directly write a story based on the film, though. Just carefully pick out those little moments, write down what’s happening as a one or two sentence plot, and then use it to inspire your own, completely original flash fiction story.
One of our 100 Flash Fiction Prompts was actually taken from the movie Pulp Fiction!
How to write very short flash fiction
There are several reasons writers might start writing flash fiction. Of course, it could be that they just love and enjoy the form, but sometimes they’ll be a more strategic and practical reason at play.
Perhaps they want to practise the process of writing stories within the confines of a certain word limit. Maybe they are trying to develop a daily writing routine and they don’t have a lot of free time. It could be that they’re trying to break a habit of not finishing writing projects, or perhaps they are entering a flash fiction competition.
Whatever the reason, very often when we sit down to write flash, we must work under an imposed or self-imposed word restraint. We’ve set ourselves (or been set) the task of keeping the story under a particular number of words.
So, how do you plot a flash fiction story when you have to keep your story very, very short.
We’re not going to discuss stories of 100 words or fewer here. Technically, those stories are still flash, however, we prefer to categorise 100 word stories as drabbles and anything under 100 words as micro fiction.
But what if you have to keep your flash fiction story under, let’s say, 300 words? How do you write a flash fiction story that short?
The answer is: get your microscope out again. Remember earlier when we said writing flash fiction is like looking at part of a story under a microscope? If you have to write very short flash fiction, you’ll need to zoom in even further.
Let’s look at a couple of examples from our 100 Flash Fiction Prompts:

1. During a match, a young boxer must decide whether to throw the fight.

If you had 1,000 words to devote to the story, you could have time to tell the story of the entire fight. With only 300 words, it might be better to zoom in on the very moment when the boxer must choose whether or not to go down.
In a longer flash fiction story you might have time to go into detail about why he’s in this situation and why he’s so conflicted. In a 300 word story, you might only devote one or two sentences to his gambling debt and the large sum of money waiting for him if he goes down in the third round, as instructed.

1. A family must decide what to take and what to leave behind as a wildfire approaches their home.

If you had 1,000 words to devote to this story, you might be able to write about the whole process of choosing what to take and what to leave behind. You might be able to mention many different choices and have the whole family participate in the story. You’d be able to go into some details about certain choices and the stories behind individual objects or mementos, as well as the implications of choosing certain things over others.
With only 300 words, it would be advisable to zoom in on one member of the family and to focus on one profound and important choice.
How to write a flash fiction story
Now you have your mini plot, you still need to make sure your flash fiction feels like a complete story. It should still have a beginning, middle, and an end.
Just like a short story, you may need to bring in a little exposition here and there to give texture, context, backstory, and to bring some depth to the characters. But, unlike a short story, you won’t necessarily need to end with a full, detailed resolution. It’s quite common for a flash fiction story to end with a quick twist or plenty of ambiguity.
Flash Fiction is much more about eliciting emotions and provoking thought, than setting up and resolving a complex story.
100 Awesome Flash Fiction Prompts
A young ballet dancer chooses not to tell the other dancers in her troop about a loose paving stone outside their dance studio.
Two sisters realise they’ve both been on a perfect first date … with the same man.
On the car journey home, two parents realise they’ve left their child’s favourite teddy on a park bench several hours away.
A writer suffering from writers’ block looks for inspiration in a strange place.
Set 200 years in the future, a young man realises he’s too emotionally dependent on his robot assistant.
A young woman discovers she’s taken the wrong suitcase home from the airport. The contents of the case make her question her own life choices.
A murderer realises he has only 10 minutes to dispose of a body.
A child decides to walk home by themselves after their parent forgets to pick them up from school … again.
Your protagonist manages to talk the grim reaper out of collecting their soul.
Your protagonist suddenly realises they’ve been living in a simulation.
A young couple has chosen to spend the night in a haunted house to fix their marriage. Your story starts just as things get very weird.
Your protagonist finds a letter they wrote to themselves when they were a teenager.
Your protagonist must decide whether or not to drink from a fountain that erases all painful memories from the mind.
Your protagonist comes across a street called ‘Memory Lane’. They quickly realise the name is eerily apt.
A bride finds out something startling about her future husband an hour before the wedding.
Your protagonist finds an advertisement for a company that promises everlasting youth.
A youngest sibling shows up at a family reunion they weren’t actually invited to.
Your protagonist finds a piece of paper with a spell on it. If they say the words out loud they aren't sure if something terrible or wonderful will happen.
Your protagonist is watching a jazz band play when they realise they know the drummer from somewhere — but where? It takes a whole song for them to figure it out.
Your protagonist must meet their ex for lunch to tell them they’re now engaged. It’s been just a few weeks since they split up.
Two people on a sinking ship must decide who should take the last seat in the last lifeboat.
During a match, a young boxer must decide whether to throw the fight.
Your protagonist must pack their belongings before moving to a new colony on mars.
A pilot realises they have lost control of their aircraft.
Your protagonist doesn’t want to attend their 100th birthday party — and for good reason!
Your protagonist gets stuck in a lift with their ex … 5 minutes after breaking up with them.
A child says goodbye to the fairies in his garden before moving to a new home.
Your protagonist saves someone’s life … and then wishes they hadn’t.
Your protagonist arrives at a blind date. They’ve been set up with someone they actually know a little too well.
Set in a dystopian future in which public displays of affection are banned, your protagonist faces an agonising choice.
An agoraphobic must face their fear in order to save something important.
Your protagonist must make her partner fall out of love with them. Both their lives depend on it.
Your protagonist is hiking with her small children, they come face to face with a grizzly bear and her cubs.
Cinderella and Prince Charming realise they got married too quickly.
A message written in graffiti on a bathroom wall has serious implications for your protagonist.
Your protagonist finds a bag, looks inside, and realises the owner might just be their soulmate.
Your protagonist has been seeing the same stranger everywhere they go for months. They finally decide to confront them.
A couple realise their relationship is over during the trip of a lifetime. They’ve been saving up for the trip for years.
A public debate sees two previously married people letting their private grievances come into their arguments.
Your protagonist plans their escape from a retirement home.
A couple realise their fundamental beliefs are at odds with each other.
An artist develops an obsession with drawing a next-door neighbour.
Your protagonist finds themselves trapped in a cabin with a group of hikers during a heavy snowfall.
An ice skater must face going back on the ice after a dangerous fall.
A couple must decide their plan for New Year’ Eve. They both have secret reasons for their choice.
A family must decide what to take and what to leave behind as a wildfire approaches their home.
Your protagonist is waiting for someone important at the airport. They begin to think that person isn’t going to show up … and then they realise why.
Your protagonist must find their way through a maze. What they find in the middle of the maze is the last thing they were expecting.
An actor waiting in the wings has forgotten his first line.
Your protagonist is wrongly identified as a hero. Do they come clean?
Your protagonist realises their past is catching up with them.
Your protagonist overhears something that has serious implications for them while trying on clothes in a changing room.
Your protagonist is in a costume shop trying to decide what to dress up as for Halloween.
Your protagonist realises they’ve slipped into an alternate dimension.
A surgeon must make an impossible choice on the operating table.
A pregnant journalist interviews the mother of a missing child.
Your protagonist must ask his girlfriend’s father for his blessing, only to discover the father knows his deepest secret.
Your protagonist sees something on social media that will change their life forever.
Two work colleagues realise they’ve been dreaming the same dreams for weeks.
A reluctant daughter comes to terms with having to carry on the family business.
Your protagonist realises she must go on the run.
Two bank robbers disagree on their plan to rob a bank. This leads to a disastrous consequence.
A strange case of deja vous leaves your protagonist convinced of supernatural interference.
A sceptic begins to question their beliefs during a psychic reading.
Your protagonist uncovers a scandal at their workplace.
A hapless cook tries to recreate her late father’s favourite recipes in an effort to feel connected to him.
Your protagonist has a premonition that makes them certain they can’t visit their mother-in-law for Christmas. Now he must convince his husband.
A young backpacker discovers something unexpected in a cave.
An impulsive character and an indecisive character are brought together by chance. They must make an important choice.
Two characters cleaning up after a party discover an object that sheds light on something strange that happened earlier.
Two strangers are trapped together during a blackout.
Your protagonist must take a leap of faith in order to save something important to them.
Your protagonist discovers a huge part of their life has been a lie.
Your protagonist has set up an elaborate way to propose. Inexplicably, everything goes wrong.
Your protagonist must buy a dress for her mother’s funeral.
Your protagonist goes back to her favourite city in the world, only to find it has completely changed.
While stargazing, your protagonist realises the stars are forming secret messages in the sky.
Your protagonist hears a news story on the radio that will mean the world changes forever. However, she seems to be the only person who heard it.
Your protagonist is crossing a frozen lake. They see something under the ice that definitely shouldn’t be there.
A workaholic must come to terms with retirement.
An Olympic athlete must decide whether or not to report their teammate for doping.
A young mother feels isolated from her childless friends.
Your protagonist is about to realise their greatest ambition. Will it be everything they were hoping for?
Onboard a spaceship, a couple prepare to go into stasis for hundreds of years.
Your protagonist has an obsession with thinking about the past.
Set in a post-apocalyptic future, your protagonist meets an unlikely love interest.
Your protagonist visits a place from their childhood and realises their memories of that time might not be accurate at all.
A small child has decided to run away from home. Her parents watch on with amusement as she decides what to put in her backpack.
On a whim, a bus driver decides to radically change his route, much to the chagrin of his passengers.
Dystopian. A couple in love are only allowed to spend time with each other one day a year.
A shapeshifter begins to realise their powers are fading. They must decide what form will be the last one they take before they cannot change again.
The devil visits your protagonist with an offer on her soul.
Your protagonist suddenly has the ability to read minds. There’s only one place they want to go now!
Your very wealthy protagonist has designed a simple test to see who will inherit her estate.
An archaeologist discovers something that will change how we see the history of the world. It could be dangerous. Does he keep it to himself?
Your protagonist must clear out their late mother’s house. She discovers an incredible family secret.
Your protagonist is meeting his brother. They haven’t seen each other for 20 years.
Your protagonist develops the ability to see the world literally through someone else’s eyes.
Your protagonist starts to believe their partner might be a spy.
Your protagonist discovers a hidden camera in their living room.
Looking for a flash fiction competition? Check out our ‘Big List of International Writing Competitions!’ Looking for inspiration? Why not check out our list of the 20 Greatest Short Story Writers of All Time! Just received another short story rejection? Here’s our post about ‘How to Deal With Story Rejections’ Bonus Prompts! Two characters waiting by the side of the road realise they are both meeting the same person.
A woman loses her young niece in a busy shopping mall.
Three strangers must solve a riddle in order to gain entry to a secret club.
A poor woman must borrow ingredients from her neighbours to bake her husband a birthday cake.
A waiter finally finds out why an old man has been coming to the restaurant where he works every day at exactly the same time.
Two work colleagues must decide which of them is to take the blame for a terrible mistake at work.
Your disgruntled protagonist goes to confront the couple next door about the strange noises they’ve been hearing at night.
A family dinner party sees three characters make three very surprising announcements.
Two women argue over who should get to buy the last dress available in a store. How do they decide who should get it?
A young couple find out they knew (and disliked) each other vehemently as children.
Love writing stories? Register now for our free 7 Day Story Writing Challenges. Write a short story in a week, get extensive feedback on your entry, and compete for a prize of £500 in each round of the challenge. Register today!
Mastered the art of flash fiction? Now you can try submitting your stories to literary magazines! We’ve compiled a list of the best literary magazines that don’t charge a reading fee! Check out our Big List of No-Fee Literary Magazines.

Hello Pop Fans! Next week’s Featured Titles are up on the Kool Kat site.
The Boolevards (The Boolevards have a sound that shifts between 1965 and 1978 on “Real Pop Radio”. “Get out your saddle shoes and step on up to the dance floor because you’re about to be transported back to the 60’s and the best pop sounds running right up to modern day power pop. Not only is there the Beatles influence in the opening measures of ‘Last Night’, but there are tunes that will give you a vibe going back to the Go Go’s hits of the 80’s.” - Beatles Freak “With 16 tracks ‘Real Pop Radio’ tirelessly barrels along song after song exuding positive poppy sentiments.” - Poprock Record)
The Gordian Knot (60’s poppers The Gordian Knot are often likened to the Association for their soft, trippy sound. “Everything about this well-crafted fusion of sunshine pop and gentle psychedelia is geared towards accenting all things melodic” - Record Collector Magazine “The stunning one-two punch of songs ‘It's Gonna Take A Lot’ and ‘We Must Be Doing Something Right’ are not only two of the greatest Sunshine Pop songs I've heard, but maybe among the best songs I've ever heard. The band's soaring, windswept harmonies are on full display upon beds of float-y harpsichord and Osborn's prominent bass hooks.” - Beatle Bob)
The Hornets (The Hornets are a relatively new London band who've been receiving great notices for their live shows. “There's a fair amount of energy happening on this, their full-length debut and stylistically they’re a bit all over the place. Best of the bunch are the Feelgoods/Hot Rods/Groovies-style openers, ‘Mutually Assured Destruction’ and ‘Moonlighting’, and the slightly psychedelic tones of the becalming ‘Seashell Song’.” - Shindig! Magazine
John Larson and The Silver Fields (With its signature blend of guitar-driven power pop, and rock and roll, “Constellation Prize” is another winning addition to the band's growing recorded output. The album boasts 11 songs, each maintaining the band's melodic heft while employing a variety of tempos and styles. John Larson, the principal songwriter of the late Providence power pop band The Marlowes, leads The Silver Fields with a battalion of guitars, soaring harmonies, and a commitment to all things melodic, making music for those who prefer the power in their pop.)
Lava Fangs (NEW RELEASE ON THE KOOL KAT LABEL! Lava Fangs are a Power Pop/Garage/Surf Punk band from Melbourne, Australia. Lava Fangs reunites half of legendary late 90’s/early 00’s hot-rod-punks Fez Perez. Singeguitarist Stu Manchu and drummer Jamie Coghill both had separate musical careers in the intervening 15 years between Jamie’s final Fez Perez gig in 2001 and the formation of Lava Fangs in 2016. Their peculiar blend of eclectic genres is a result of all four band members contributing original songs and lead vocals. “‘Where Did She Go” is an upbeat yet melancholy track, ripe with sweet vocal harmonies, fuzzy guitars and a gentle lead vocal. A true earworm, the song is a taste of melodies to come on their full-length.”)
The Pearlfishers (Driven by main man David Scott's exceptional songwriting and sophisticated arrangements, “Making Tapes For Girls” is a goldmine of pop gems - full of witty and colorful lyrics about the affirmative and healing power of music and pop escapism. “Though they've been around for what in music industry terms is an eternity, The Pearlfishers never seem to break out beyond their indie cult status. Whether that changes because of this latest album remains to be seen, but it does contain more than its fair share of gems, packed with Scott’s sweetly tender vulnerable reflections. While not veering far from the proven sonic template of largely acoustic instrumentation augmented with soft but stirring orchestral flourishes, it finds Scott in nostalgic and sentimental mood.)
Thrift Store Halo (In June of 1998 Thrift Halo released its one and only long-playing record, “World Gone Mad”. Plans for a remixed 25th Anniversary re-release in 2023 were stymied by the band's management's inability to locate the original masters. Located earlier this year, the original session DATs were passed along to long-time producer Kevin Mucha to re-master the ten previously released tracks and several outtakes and also do away with several ill-advised (with the benefit of hindsight) gimmicky fades which, in the minds of the songwriters, marred the original release. Now crisper, with a bit more sonic meat on its bones, the album will rise again.)
Until next week….

The Cenacle 124 April 2024 29^th Anniversary Issue
https://scriptorpress.com/cenacle/124
[Size = 13.6 MB]
Hello everyone,
Here comes the just-released Cenacle 124 April 2024. Returning to the desired quarterly issue cadence that has been missing for the past couple of years. It was hard doing this issue without the usual many years’ involvement of my dear poet friend, the late Judih Weinstein Haggai, but her poetry features in this issue nonetheless, & will remain so in each issue ever on.
Thus far, 2024 for the human world has been a fairly dark one. The global Pandemic has not ended, though millions risk sickness & death for themselves & others by choosing to join in a kind of mass amnesia about the crisis. Meanwhile, the climate crisis continues to get the same kind of hostile indifference. The genocide in Gaza goes on unabated by any of the many powerful & supposedly democratic nations of the world. And a likely felon has jazzed the US electoral process, its weaknesses & flaws among its many strengths, to be within reach of again taking over &, as he has vowed, taking revenge.
I can’t tell you that this literary journal operates toe to toe on the global scale to oppose these various human catastrophes, but I can say that if we don’t seek Beauty, & Nature, & look beyond the petty fuckeries of the current day, we are much more likely to be lost than if we find a way to do this.
This fine anniversary issue features new poetry by Tamara Miles, Martina Reisz Newberry, Colin James, Sam Knot, Jimmy Heffernan, Judih Weinstein Haggai, & myself.
Also new fiction by Timothy Vilgiate, Algernon Beagle, & myself. And classic fiction from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
And new prose pieces by Nathan D. Horowitz, Charlie Beyer, & myself.
There is also new graphic artwork by AbandonView, Epi Rogan, Louis Staeble, Kassandra Soulard, Sam Knot, Tamara Miles, & Nathan D. Horowitz.
Contents of this new issue include:
From Soulard’s Notebooks [Excerpt]
I find myself leaning back often into 3 questions that I believe most influence human psychology & human culture:
1) Why are we here?
2) Where are we from?
3) What are we supposed to be doing?
* * * * * *
Feedback on Cenacle 123 [Excerpt]
I made it to the first poem by Judih Weinstein Haggai, sank into it, breathed it, needed it, and couldn’t go further into the issue yet. But it’s beautiful. And Kassandra Soulard’s cover photo: wow.
(Tamara Miles)
* * * * * *
From the ElectroLounge Forums:
Selections from Unknot 24, Part 1[Excerpt]
A project that I expect to work on for the rest of my life and never finish is a kind of art project playing with meaning making and the first few layers of knots, so this is all part of that really. I suppose it is a way to give a kind of focus or even kind of “abstract grounding” to some other kind of activity which isn’t necessarily even directly related to or about it.
(Sam Knot)
* * * * * *
Haiku from a Silent Retreat (7/31/2021) [Excerpt]
by Judih Weinstein Haggai
Everybody!
Are you everybody?
I’m not either
* * * * * *
Notes from New England:
Dream Raps, Volume Thirteen [Excerpt]
by Raymond Soulard, Jr.
Now that my friends are gone, the very shy Creatures who sometimes visit my hovel begin to come out, sniffing friendly their hellos. Accept my offer to cluster with me under the blankets, them being cold as ever when outside of the White Woods. White Bunny, Hedgedyhog, Peppermint Bears, Kittees & their Friend Fish. Alvinarah Poesy, & his dear friend Naria Narwhal. Even that cackling little Imp is under there somewhere. They never stay long, but I love them passing through. They’re excited about the Rutabaga Festival & Fleastock in the White Woods, I’m guessing.
* * * * * *
Becoming Archaeology: A Eulogy for Living Moor. (Part Two) [Excerpt]
by Sam Knot
It moves me more than any painting
or poem, seems to encode more meaning,
personal & planetary, than any other art,
this simple offering. This intricate gift.
* * * * * *
Notes Toward Many Musics [Excerpt]
by Raymond Soulard, Jr.
I believe a Narrative should always lead with the best it has, its most potent moment or image or the like. And let this lead set its standard. When I think of the Narrative options for these poems, I come back every time to starting from the start. These poems build on years & years of the work it took to get the six Brother-Heroes reunited rightly, after telling their unique stories as rightly as possible too. I did the best thinking & writing that I could.
* * * * * *
Poetry by Martina Newberry [Excerpt]
Tall on the dirty stage,
from my notebook I conferred
my poems. No time limit,
no faces, noises of shifting
dust and cars out there somewhere,
I read for many minutes,
emoting here and there,
hands rising and falling,
singing through some.
* * * * * *
Rivers of the Mind (A Novel) [Excerpt]
by Timothy Vilgiate
I could not help but fear that he’d attack me as I laid there; I lost count of how many times I got up to check my locks or to peek underneath the bed. I turned over and over, rocking the mattress like an unsteady boat, straining to keep my eyes shut. It was no use. Midnight came, and I was still awake; my hair matted over my irritated face, my blanket clutched in between my hands over my mouth as I tried to stop myself from sobbing. But I couldn’t let it see me cry. I couldn’t let it even see me blink.
* * * * * *
Poetry by Tamara Miles [Excerpt]
A lion’s music—a carnival of sound, beyond the roar of reserve, park, zoo, circus, and
safari, the wild kingdom beyond the definition of safe and unsafe, cruel or kind, in
sub-Saharan Africa, or in India, Gir forest, where the heart beat and drum beat and
incense are heavy.
* * * * * *
The Lagoon of the Air Goblins (Travel Journal) [Excerpt]
by Nathan D. Horowitz
I’m dehydrated from the sun today. I haven’t rehydrated. My hydration’s out of wack. It seems an eternity, maybe two, since I ordered a glass of papaya juice. Inside the café, mysterious café things may be happening, involving blenders and workforce and fruit and power. Time’s ticking by and it sounds like trees falling into a river. I glance at the red and white checkered tablecloth and remember I’ve always hated red and white checkered patterns. Serafín the educator said he would meet me here to tell me about the Secoya cosmovision, and he isn’t showing up.
* * * * * *
Poetry by Colin James [Excerpt]
Episodically craved by adolescents,
Prometheus displays his tats
behind The Dollar Store in Bonita.
The one with the plastic pillars.
* * * * * *
Mad Jack (Prose) [Excerpt]
by Charlie Beyer
We were longhaired teenage criminals. I looked like Jesus and my best buddy had flaming red shoulder-length hair, the devil to rival my divine look. Scott the Red. We were all hair, except Mad Jack (or Bob, as I knew him), who was as shaved as a plastic bag. We all sat in the car outside the 7-11 in the night rain. Blue smoke trickled out of the cracked window. Inside was a haze of marijuana smoke tainted with opium. We were high and crazed.
* * * * * *
Poetry by Jimmy Heffernan [Excerpt]
The moment to which we have access
So Nature can “see” through time
And what is this but awareness?
A tunneling from the immediate future
Back into the present
* * * * * *
Bags End Book #21: What is the Creature Carnival? Part 3 (Fiction) [Excerpt]
by Algernon Beagle
It makes me remember how our teacher Mister Owl in Bags End teached how different places have their different ways of thinking & telling. So if you’re gonna watch a Creature production, whether it’s the Carnival, or a Grand Production, or this time both, you’re gonna be in 4or a good crazy ride.
* * * * * *
The Hound of the Baskervilles (Classic Fiction) [Excerpt]
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table. I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the stick which our visitor had left behind him the night before. It was a fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as a “Penang lawyer.” Just under the head was a broad silver band nearly an inch across. “To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from his friends of the C.C.H.,” was engraved upon it, with the date “1884.” It was just such a stick as the oldfashioned family practitioner used to carry—dignified, solid, and reassuring.
* * * * * *
Labyrinthine [A New Fixtion] [Excerpt]
by Raymond Soulard, Jr.
I’m distracted just as this strange fellow appears on stage with some kind of tool in his hand. He is very fancily dressed, some kind of home-made tuxedo? Or one sewn from many scraps? And he starts to recite a poem, I think, in a tongue I don’t know, when something distracts me.
Peace,
Raymond Soulard, Jr.
Scriptor Press New England
scriptorpress.com
[editor@scriptorpress.com](mailto:editor@scriptorpress.com)

Screen on my current laptop just broke, and I'm in need of a new one. I'm not looking to do heavy gaming but I am a medical professional and will use it for productivity (excel, illustrator, webs tabs) and youtube/twitch. Portability is fairly important too
Looking at a ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 that will cost $1600 CAD (1200 USD?) after rebate:
Processor 13th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-1335U Processor (E-cores up to 3.40 GHz P-cores up to 4.60 GHz)
Operating System Windows 11 Home 64
Onboard Memory 16 GB LPDDR5-6400MHz (Soldered)
Solid State Drive 256 GB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 TLC Opal
Display 14" WUXGA (1920 x 1200), IPS, Anti-Glare, Non-Touch, 100%sRGB, 400 nits, 60Hz, Low Power
Graphic Card Integrated Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
Is this an okay price or am I overpaying for some brand? Thank you

I finally have the budget for my very first MacBook, and I am choosing between a brand new MacBook Air M3 (16gb) and a used (around 150-300 cycle count) and I am so torn (virtually no price difference).
I don't want any regrets so hoping for some input on my specific concerns. Main considerations are:

• I'm a software developer, fairly new to the field and do mostly web and app development but hoping to get into mobile development and eventually some indie game development with Godot. I also dabble in video and photo editing.
  • I'm leaning towards the Pro in this aspect from multiple feedback I've read, BUT I've also seen and watched some people say the Air should mostly be enough.
• I'll be traveling around 1-3x a week with this (freelancing) + another laptop (for work) so I know my bag can get pretty heavy.
  • My work laptops have so far been within the 1.2-1.4kg range — I just found this out tonight, so color me surprised because I definitely thought they felt heavier in my bag (I'm a tiny girl, so that might be it), so I guess the MBP will feel much heavier to me. This makes me lean towards the Air.
• I have a PC at home, so the MacBook won't be my go-to for media consumption, but it's nice to have in case I'm away from home for weeks or so.
  • This makes me feel 50/50 since I know the Pro has better display and speakers, but it's not my primary device so I'm not sure it would be such a big deal.
• One tiny additional bonus for me - like I said above, they're practically the same price now where I am, but:
  • M3 Air - getting this from the store will allow me to get it with a plan, and I could even wait out a few more months for the next price drop when they announce the M4 chips
  • M2 Pro - one big payout with a slight urgency since my country's Apple stores no longer sell them nor do they sell refurbs, and so I'm not sure how much longer the seller I know will be selling these nice units

I've been torn about this and debating and researching for months but I am still yo-yoing back and forth between the two; one day I'm set on the MBP, the next the Air feels enough for me (especially after I found out that the M3 Air now supports an additional external monitor, which would be useful while docked at home).
Was anyone in the same boat as me and ended up with a purchase they're happy with or are regretting? TIA

Treat me how I like

I had an interesting exchange yesterday, as I recall it went:

Them: You're the kind of person that doesn't listen to people they don't like.
Me: My attitude is I don't care what people think that only listen to who they like.

This is a huge tension between Neo-Christian new ager culture and Zen.
Neo-Christian means "like the vibe, but don't believe the hype"... so turn the other cheek, but because that's the kind of world they want to live in, not because Jesus says so. Neo-Christians like A Christmas Carol, because all the vibe, none of the hype.
But, as Zen Masters luuuuve to point out, everything comes at a price. And the price is ignorance. Sometimes the most unpleasant (to you) people are unpleasant because they see things you don't want to see, and say things you don't want to hear... and when truth is less important than nice, you lose truth.

Nice is different than good

Zen Masters show respect by NOT welcoming

This is a tough concept for neo-christians, who both want to evangelize the "let's love our neighbors" vibe, but also, want tolerance-the-other-cheek instead of confrontation. Which is fair... Christians have been in a ton of wars over not turning the other cheek. The old testament is a bunch of not turning.
But Zen isn't like that. And Zen had 1,000 years of successful socialist communes in China, so maybe their game play tests better?

Yunmen first called on Chan master Muzhou Daozong. The moment Muzhou saw Yunmen approach, he shut the door. Thereupon Yunmen knocked at the door, and Muzhou asked, "Who is it?"
Yunmen replied, "It's me!"
Muzhou asked, "What are you here for?"
Yunmen said, "I am not yet clear about myself. Please, Master, give me guidance!"
Muzhou opened the door, cast one glance, shut it again, and withdrew.

Again though, YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIKE IT. But you do have to respect Zen in the Zen forum. That's the Reddiquette. And by "respect Zen" I mean of course respect Zen the way Zen likes to be respected, not the way YOU like to respect whatever neo-christian stocking stuffer nonsense you are into.

.

Welcome! ewk comment: There is a bunch of cool stuff that happens when we treat Zen with "Zen respect", like these questions:

1. Why is "Zen respect" closing the door in people's faces?
2. What are the hidden costs of tolerance/welcoming/door-opening and why would Zen Masters reject those hidden costs?
3. What do you gain by being a f@#$ing @#$$ @@#$#er?

Because if EVERYTHING has a cost/benefit, and everything does, what is the benefit to teachers who will give you a meal, a bed, and a job... BUT DO NOT WANT TO GIVE YOU A RELIGION?

the story is a long one. It starts with one of my friends, lets call him A. A was a good friend till 6/7th. During that time Covid struck so not much interaction with him. During 9/10th he got close to the top group the one with the toppers and assholes (they didnt like me, i scored well but stayed with the boys) we didnt have much interaction at that time but during 10th beginning we got close again and became good friends. During 11th, I really got into self improvement. Towards the middle of the session, I realized he would only contact me when needed or just send reels with no meaningful conversations. Whenever we would talk he would just talk about his other group (the one with a manchild who only goes to the gym and flexes how disciplined he is and talks shit about others, then two chainsmokers who just travel daily on their parents money) and how the manchild bugs him daily and how fed up he is with him but he still sticks with him because he is conventionally attractive and the others in the group are the kewl kind (smoking, vaping, drinking, clubbing, travelling all the time). I got to realize that i no longer could connect with him and that he would call me his 'homie' but displayed behaviors opposite to it. The biggest incident was when he told me and other friends (B who is on self improvement with me, C who became my friend this year and we trust each other, he tells me his secrets as well) that he would meet us on Saraswati Puja but stood us up. He told us he was really busy with some important work. Guess what, he uploaded his insta story where he met with the manchild RIGHT NEXT TO THE PUJA PENDAL and even went to eat with that group. The worst part? friend B say him with a girl (valentines day as well) where he saw him handing her flowers (he never told us about her). B got close to A just in 11 and this devastated him (both of them live close and went to the gym together but later stopped as A went to the gym too late) as he opened up to A. B called me all teary eyed (we went our ways after i gave him some money for an uber as i felt that that he would have to go home by bus and i had another function at home to help my mother), i consoled him and he went home. C too was angry but is not very close to A so wasnt as angry or sad as Me and B. I called some from his other group who is pretty chill and is just stuck with them as he is the manchild's friend and asked him about the girl. he told me that the girl was A's previous gf who he broke up with to get with a cheating gf which wrecked A's mental for the entirety of 10th. He told me how A was negligent even after getting together with her and that during a christmas party when his group and her went there. A left her alone to get food for the group, yes leaving his date alone because get it, the manchild was throwing a tantrum. The fucking nerve on that guy. AND THAT SLIPPERY BASTARD calls everyone else useless or retards because they dont go to the gym. THAT SPASTIC SPENDS 16 HRS DAILY ON CLASH AND INSTGRAM BTW, UPLOADING ASSTHETIC KA 14 pics.
me, B and C have cut him off and the guy from that other group has also distanced himself as we are in 12th and all that group does is roam mindlessly, take pics, eat out and go to gym.
Another story is that, another one of my "friend" had gone to boarding to study and has returned. However he had told me that he would not come back home this time and would stay there and study for 12, and guess what he told his return to almost everyone except me. He even went to eat out with people he calls annoying and disturbing but couldnt bother to tell me. Oh and he and A went to travel on a daily basis the last time.
I feel betrayed as after months of improving myself i realised that these guys weren't my friends. I thought the boarding guy was my friend because me, A and B went to his house on a weekly basis when he was here but now i realize it was always me organizing the meets and never him calling me or B there.
Right now i'm so content with my progress and the fact that me and B are on self improvement. but i just feel that i put so much effort for naught. the thing is that me, B and C are a bit unhinged but social when needed. the thing is that we dont pretend to be social at school that much and A is a sucker for fitting in so i always felt like he felt embarrassed from us. i now guess i was right.
Atleast B and C are my close friends as they are much more grounded and humble. C even called me to his secret birthday alongside B where he didnt even call any of his neighbourhood friends or childhood friends and we have honestly gotten to trust each other a lot.
Its just that A and boarding guy just seems like such wasted effort. Should i cut them off gradually like i do now or cut them off rapidly? I srsly need some help

the story is a long one. It starts with one of my friends, lets call him A. A was a good friend till 6/7th. During that time Covid struck so not much interaction with him. During 9/10th he got close to the top group the one with the toppers and assholes (they didnt like me, i scored well but stayed with the boys) we didnt have much interaction at that time but during 10th beginning we got close again and became good friends. During 11th, I really got into self improvement. Towards the middle of the session, I realized he would only contact me when needed or just send reels with no meaningful conversations. Whenever we would talk he would just talk about his other group (the one with a manchild who only goes to the gym and flexes how disciplined he is and talks shit about others, then two chainsmokers who just travel daily on their parents money) and how the manchild bugs him daily and how fed up he is with him but he still sticks with him because he is conventionally attractive and the others in the group are the kewl kind (smoking, vaping, drinking, clubbing, travelling all the time). I got to realize that i no longer could connect with him and that he would call me his 'homie' but displayed behaviors opposite to it. The biggest incident was when he told me and other friends (B who is on self improvement with me, C who became my friend this year and we trust each other, he tells me his secrets as well) that he would meet us on Saraswati Puja but stood us up. He told us he was really busy with some important work. Guess what, he uploaded his insta story where he met with the manchild RIGHT NEXT TO THE PUJA PENDAL and even went to eat with that group. The worst part? friend B say him with a girl (valentines day as well) where he saw him handing her flowers (he never told us about her). B got close to A just in 11 and this devastated him (both of them live close and went to the gym together but later stopped as A went to the gym too late) as he opened up to A. B called me all teary eyed (we went our ways after i gave him some money for an uber as i felt that that he would have to go home by bus and i had another function at home to help my mother), i consoled him and he went home. C too was angry but is not very close to A so wasnt as angry or sad as Me and B. I called some from his other group who is pretty chill and is just stuck with them as he is the manchild's friend and asked him about the girl. he told me that the girl was A's previous gf who he broke up with to get with a cheating gf which wrecked A's mental for the entirety of 10th. He told me how A was negligent even after getting together with her and that during a christmas party when his group and her went there. A left her alone to get food for the group, yes leaving his date alone because get it, the manchild was throwing a tantrum. The fucking nerve on that guy. AND THAT SLIPPERY BASTARD calls everyone else useless or retards because they dont go to the gym. THAT SPASTIC SPENDS 16 HRS DAILY ON CLASH AND INSTGRAM BTW, UPLOADING ASSTHETIC KA 14 pics.
me, B and C have cut him off and the guy from that other group has also distanced himself as we are in 12th and all that group does is roam mindlessly, take pics, eat out and go to gym.
Another story is that, another one of my "friend" had gone to boarding to study and has returned. However he had told me that he would not come back home this time and would stay there and study for 12, and guess what he told his return to almost everyone except me. He even went to eat out with people he calls annoying and disturbing but couldnt bother to tell me. Oh and he and A went to travel on a daily basis the last time.
I feel betrayed as after months of improving myself i realised that these guys weren't my friends. I thought the boarding guy was my friend because me, A and B went to his house on a weekly basis when he was here but now i realize it was always me organizing the meets and never him calling me or B there.
Right now i'm so content with my progress and the fact that me and B are on self improvement. but i just feel that i put so much effort for naught. the thing is that me, B and C are a bit unhinged but social when needed. the thing is that we dont pretend to be social at school that much and A is a sucker for fitting in so i always felt like he felt embarrassed from us. i now guess i was right.
Atleast B and C are my close friends as they are much more grounded and humble. C even called me to his secret birthday alongside B where he didnt even call any of his neighbourhood friends or childhood friends and we have honestly gotten to trust each other a lot.
Its just that A and boarding guy just seems like such wasted effort. Should i cut them off gradually like i do now or cut them off rapidly? I srsly need some help

Heya I'm Vivi, 23, trans mtf, but if you say he/him thats fine due my voice. Happens to the best of us. I currently live in the EU but with my fucked sleep shedule I'm basically up at any given time, specially if coordinated in advance. Looking for people to play with to have a fun time but also grind towards missions and whateverthere is to do! I aim to become better in Fortntie as I'm fairly new to it, my current BR is 144. Casual gameplay is preferred but if you aim to be a lil mor competitive, I'm willing to learn and focus even more, yet I'm a beginner.
Epic Display Name: Vivi Vixien
Game Mode: Solo/Duo/Squad
Vibe: Chill/Casual
Competitive Level: Beginner
Mic: Yes
Language: English
Playstyle: Casual
Age Range: 18-25
Availability: Every day, ranging from mornings to evenings or evenings to morning depending on my sleep
Experience Level: BeginneIntermediate
Goals: Looking for a chill squad to play with and have fun. Completing quests, lvl up in Season Pass, finding friends
Communication: Discord - vivi_vixien.bunny

Good morning everyone. Premarket yesterday, man, AMC was 13 and GME was 80! I was even hoping that I could get 12 puts and 75 dollar puts with July Expiration. A few minutes in, both stocks were already at their highs, I did not even put in a bid for AMC… I put in a bid for GME but it quickly fell below the 60 strike.
I do not blame anyone for trading hot money..
All I say is know the facts, so that you can plan an exit strategy and be prepared for anything.
I warned that AMC as a company is worth about 800 million. [In 2019 when there were 100 million shares, the stock was 7-10!!! By the way!]
GME is worth closer to 700 million. [For many years it was worth 1 billion or less and they were a growing company!]
I don’t hate on the company… I hate that they are crap companies! Those are the facts!
I want everyone to make money, always! I just don’t want anyone lied to… I don’t want someone brainwashing anyone with junk!
AMC has authorization for 550 million shares
GME has authorization for 1 billion shares
AMC 2 days ago on Meme Monday sold 72.5 million shares at an avg of 3.45 for about 250 million dollars [Utilizing the at the market]
AMC yesterday agreed with a bond holder to convert 23.3 million shares for about 7 dollars to extinguish 164 million in debt.
You may think Adam is a bum, or doing AMC wrong…
What people do not understand is that he is doing what is best for the company to survive.. He is taking advantage of retail who is over pumping a stock!
8/6/2022 before APE and when AMC was near 30 I did this video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lpIeONROO4

You need a company to stay in business if you want to keep trading the stock…
The stock price has 0 to do with the company. The stock price shows the exit price of someone that has the stock and wants to move it…
A stock is a currency for a company when they do not have cash…
The stock market exists as a way for a company to get cash and for insiders to exit!!!
A stock was not created so traders can make money!
You need to come to this understanding.

Also, 90% of times a company does not need a vote to dilute shareholders thru a convertible bond… You must do DD and check each bond to see if they have a convertible option to swap for shares.. This is your job, not mines! Chances are when a company is in trouble they will do this, especially if they are out of ATM [At the market] AMC has about 355 million shares as of now, trust me, if the stock is hot they will do their best to unload the rest of the 200 million on retail… This is not up to AMC!
This is up to the bond holder!
You see, the bond holder agreed to 23.3 million shares at about 7 dollars. Now they are holding the bag! They will need the Apes to bid it up and hope to be able to unload the 23.3 on everyone…They will need a lot of volume…. When volume dries up, they will be stuck! No bond holder or person would want to agree to take tons of shares of something if they can not unload it. [Liquidity]
This should show you how dumb Ryan Cohen is… He is falling asleep at the wheel.
He has had authorization for 1 billion shares since March of 2022 and these pumps are when you unload to get cash… It is a crippling business… One where they only made a profit by firing people and cutting costs, this is not sustainable…
This is obvious as sales are at a 16 year low…. For the year sales were down 12% and for the quarter 20%! A Christmas quarter! WHAT A DISASTER!
FACTS! Once you have the facts, you do you….
Yeah, I understand people hate me, I am banned everywhere, this is what I get for trying to educate people that just want to get rich quick without knowing the facts!
So you trade and do what is comfortable for you. If you are making money ignore everyone! Just keep stacking! I want people to make money..
I just hate when people are scammed/lied to.

I forgot yesterday morning. I had an order to buy DNUT at 12… It hit by end of day… I am also in 13.55.. These buys were because of a MCD roll out… Without an expected slow roll out by 2026 no way I would buy it! I checked weeks ago and the earnings are shakey. I checked the financials yesterday… They are ok, but 2-3 bad quarters and they are in trouble.. The sales are slowly growing 5-10% but they are just getting by, so a few bad quarters… But I want anyone that reads to follow my thesis and see why…
I don’t buy and pray… No hopium… Some people like to roll the dice… they should just say they are taking the risk..

I was a super bull on ZIM as it was 9 dollars because I could clearly see containers over 2,000. I posted DD on it… That was not risky to me! Especially under 10. GME and AMC is a pure gamble, you can make money but be prepared to lose it too.
I wish that retail could buy better quality stocks and that we could all make money safely… but I do not have that power…. They think Ryan Cohen, Adam Aron and Keith Gill are heros… people like who they like, trade what they will trade.. but when you shoot up a stock of a company in ruins

EXPECT!

Insiders to dump their own stakes. [Ryan is really dumb this way]

The company itself to dilute shareholders for money

Youd do it too!

PSEC Chairman and CEO who owns 65 million shares of the company. Who has had 0 salary for years goes in and buys 800,000 shares for 5.48 on May 10^th. This is right after earnings. That shows skin in the game.. yes, it is just 4.5 million dollars, but these were not vested options/warrants [Adam Aron never uses his own cash, its free shares!!] Insiders at PSEC own 30% of the company! SKIN IN THE GAME!
Yes, I wish retail would take PSEC to 6.25-6.50 fair value, and I do get frustrated when they buy junk like CVNA but I do not have the power.. CVNA insiders dumping left and right. I believe the CEO has sold over 300 million worth of CVNA over the last 90 days! 17% growth at CVNA, decent! But the company is worth at most, 20! AT MOST! There is a ton of risk!

5 Trade Ideas:
ACMR YOU – Both of these companies scored a 99 on my grading score for earnings. I have 1 block of ACMR at 25.45 and do not mind trading another block… No position in YOU , last trade was 17.50 to 18

PSEC – I have 2,000 shares at 5.50 and 2,000 at 5.90. I would like to trade these in blocks for 10-15 cents each, earnings were good, not great, but you wont get great from a BDC company, I have also been getting my 6 cent monthly dividend

CVS – I will keep trading this, fair value is near 70… I have a block at 84 from 2/2023 unfortunately…. Last trade 54.75 to 56

PERI – They will be coming to the auction, before the end of the month and will use the 75 million by June 30^th. I also have a block at 21.. But I will keep trading blocks

DNUT – I am in at 12 and 13.55, 1,000 shares each. I would like to make 25-50 cents on each trade, so I hope 12.25… My buys were strictly on the MCD roll out. I am in belief that with MCD sales will be up at least 25% when it is completed

The contents of this post are for information and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial, accounting, or legal advice. ... By choosing to make a trade you are responsible for your own actions. Please do some due diligence. These are trades I am making and you can follow along. If you make a winning trade, I do not even expect a bravo or thanks but that’s fine, if you lose on a trade the same difference.. I do not even expect an upvote or reward… The Elite team is aware of the risks and volatility in the market.

Good luck everyone let’s make money. Share trades, ideas here during trading hours. Our main goal here is to make money so I hope we can help eachother. I will be in and out of here as well.

I’m after the relationship that goes the distance, the one that results in love and, when the time is right, the ‘m word’. I can’t think of anything I look forward to more than spending my life with the woman I love.
I love physical displays of affection, both public and otherwise. Gestures like holding, hugging, etc, are something I adore and would always welcome, especially because I love the excitement and warm feeling that come with being close to the one you love.
The person I am after is someone who is kind and caring, somebody that I can relaxed around. I don’t want the stress of being around someone who gets set off my the smallest thing. My sense of humour is varied, although it can best be described as something of a mix of Chandler Bing (RIP) and Edmund Blackadder.
When we’re together, my ideal night would involve spending our time at home, curled up on the sofa together and watching a film, or playing a game, although I’m not against the occasional day/night out if it’s just the two of us.I watch little in the way of current TV or films, and almost no sport. My main solo hobbies can be found on my friends post.
If we’re apart, as I presume we would be in the early days of our relationship, then, because I game a fair bit, I’d be open to you watching me play something, or vice versa if you game as well. We could also chat while we play our own individual games. We can also watch films, TV, etc, or whatever may bring us closer together.
I’m in the UK, so I would prefer to talk to someone who is also in the UK, as it would make things convenient for the both of us, and it would also make meeting up easier, and I would want to meet up if things progress well. However, I am open to talking to people who are overseas, as long as you’re moving to the UK in the near future, and that the move is, if not set in stone, then is at least guaranteed to happen or to be able to happen. Be aware that I am unable to travel overseas, although not for any nefarious reason.
I’m a vegetarian, though I don’t mind being around meat eaters as long as they’re respectful of how I feel. I don’t drink and, while I’m okay being with someone who does, it won’t work if you’re a person who drinks frequently. I’m non-religious and non-spiritual, and this will never change, and my views are generally what you’d call progressive and liberal. Disparate views are one thing, but if you use terms like ‘PC/PC culture’, ‘liberal’ or ‘woke’ as pejoratives, we will not get along. In addition, I do not smoke and will not be with a smoker.
I’m okay with either private messaging or Reddit chat, though I’d like to move off Reddit once we both feel comfortable doing so. Once we’ve moved to a different platform, exchanging pictures is then also something that would be done once we’re both comfortable, as would voice and video chat, especially because the best way to really get to know someone is through real-time communication.
Your opening message doesn’t have to be that long, just give me something to work with, something that can spark conversation. If you have any questions, queries, posers, then feel free to ask.

I am not sure what my rights are My elderly father, who is 89 has been friended by a younger woman in her 50s who cleans his apartment and has slowly pushed away all of his family in order to financially abuse him I am the owner of the condo. I am his daughter. I rent out the condo to him. He gave a key to this woman and the entire family told told him she was scamming him, but he chooses not to believe us He has switched bank accounts, and we have no clue as to his financial situation situation now Before he did this, we were able to monitor his bank account He is very sick right now and has a fair bit of money or at least had we don’t know the status of it now He believes that this woman and her family loves him and that our family is out to hurt him we have told him numerous times over the last couple of years. Do not give the key to anyone he refuses to let us know his ongoing and has been lying to us What are my rights to prevent him or prevent the scammer from going near him again? We cannot deem my father incompetent because he’s not. He’s just very messed up in the head right now. No one in my family can get through everything about this woman We are afraid that she will clean them out. She slowly has been doing for the last couple years. We’ve already talked to Elder abuse and a few other places, but nothing seems to be happening This housekeeper has tried to get him married off to her sister and my father thinks it’s just great Her family lives in a different country and we live in Canada She has also taken my father to this other country at Christmas without our permission and requested my father give her $40,000 for the marriage Of course, my father did not have the cash on him so the marriage did not go through I am stuck as to how to deal with this and prevent her from having a key to access his apartment He has been told not to give a key to anyone. It is our condo we rented to him as a landlord. What are my rights to prevent this woman from entering the apartment and having a key?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkgsGlBw43Y
ECI and constitutional bodies of India should Stop the shameful drama of displaying India as banana republic to the world where world can see that all the agencies are working as puppets for corrupt government and people sitting in election commission are able to literally act as dictator of the country where they do not answer any question they do not take accountability for any wrong and stop making mockery of Honorable Supreme Court of India where ECI can keep going on doing wrong and Supreme Court just tags along as if it is duty of Supreme Court to not to uphold the law and right at time of difficulty but as if Supreme Court has to tag along with few sitting in election commission as dictator of country and dictator of judiciary in India where they can act as wrong as they want and can lie as much as they can but decisions will come to uphold them and Supreme Court will issue directive to trust them as if Supreme court of India is not a most powerful place of justice but is an institute to make extreme corrupt and failed people sitting in ECI look good, As only judiciary can stop ECI but judiciary does nothing and have done nothing for years related to wrong actions of ECI so ECI keeps doing all wrongs with no one to stop them which they are doing and had been doing for years. Because when in India faking itself as democracy the election can be conducted by using fraud EVM which are banned in the world based on research and experience and India have nothing to deny the truth that EVM is a fraud and its elections can never be fair and still with all the system and judiciary whole country is not able to stop EVM elections is the biggest shame and display of total failed state and banana republic and most incompetent and failed judicial and constitutional bodies in the world which have till now proved disaster to the country letting everything of country to go in drain. Stop the drama of elections using EVM.
The Election Commission has become a threat to the security of the country and the rest of the constitutional institutions have become stooges of external forces and the whole game of selling the country is going on by making the constitutional institutions of the entire country stooges through fraudulent EVM Elections. Stop the drama of elections using EVM. Remove EVM, Modi, Modi government, BJP, RSS, Rahul Gandhi, forces behind Rahul Gandhi, the people sitting in the Election Commission, people sitting in high posts who are not removing EVM and save the country. Remove the puppets of external forces sitting in the judiciary, make the judiciary a justice giving institution and institution of the people of country and save the country.

I have an employee who really truly just needs to be let go due to emotional outbursts, unprofessionalism towards customers, consistent tardiness, taking extended lunches etc. She has become very disruptive in our small office environment to the point where I can’t even stand to be in my office anymore and pretty much avoid her at all costs. She doesn’t receive feedback without an emotional response and is just overall emotionally immature (she is 45yrs old).
The angel on my shoulder believes I should give her opportunity after opportunity, but it’s to the point where everyone in the office can’t bear to be around her. I don’t want to fire her and blindside her with this, but from a business standpoint, it’s the right thing to do. Give me your 2 cents! I will atatch the email I planned to send her today below. (Names redacted for privacy purposes)
Subject: Important Reminder: Phone Protocol, Time Management, and Professional Conduct
Hi ________
I wanted to address a few critical issues that need immediate attention and explain the importance of these matters.

1. Phone Protocol: It is essential that your phone ringer remains on at all times and is never muted. As stated in your job description, you are responsible for handling all incoming calls regarding scheduling. With caller ID, it should be clear who is calling, especially if you've contacted them previously and left messages. I've noticed that -—-, ——-, and ——- frequently have to answer your calls and transfer them to you, which disrupts their workflow and efficiency. Moreover, it is imperative that you answer promptly when ——-, ——-, and ——— call you. They are extremely busy, and it is not acceptable for them to have to contact me to reach you or to leave their desks to find you because you are not answering your phone. Consistent phone availability is crucial to maintaining seamless communication and ensuring our operations run smoothly.
   
2. Time Management: Starting immediately, you are required to clock in and out on ADP when you arrive at the office in the morning, when you take lunch, and when you leave for the day. While I have been somewhat lenient with minor tardiness, it has become a consistent and daily issue. Additionally, there have been instances where you’ve left early for appointments and did not make up the time as promised. Being punctual and accountable for your time is essential for maintaining fairness and productivity within the team. Clocking in and out will provide a clear record of your working hours and help ensure that your salaried position is justified by the hours you are contributing weekly. This accountability is crucial for our overall productivity and fairness to all employees.
   
3. Customer Service: It is imperative to treat our customers with the utmost respect and kindness. Our customers are the backbone of our business, and their satisfaction is critical to our success. If a customer is upset, it is important to de-escalate the situation rather than becoming combative or defensive. Effective and empathetic communication can turn a negative experience into a positive one, fostering customer loyalty and enhancing our reputation. Handling difficult situations with professionalism and a calm demeanor reflects positively on our entire team and the company as a whole.
   
4. Professional Conduct with Co-Workers: It is also essential to treat your co-workers with kindness and professionalism, especially when tagging people on ————. While there are often highly stressful situations, and it is okay to vent about these periodically among each other, it is unacceptable to act on these emotions in a disruptive manner. In your position, it is crucial that others feel comfortable approaching you regarding job-related matters. Displaying unprofessional behavior, such as being confrontational or overly critical, is not acceptable. Maintaining a respectful and supportive work environment is key to our collective success and fosters a positive, productive atmosphere.
   

If there is anything you need help with, such as clocking in and out or ensuring your phone ringer is turned up, please do not hesitate to reach out. I am here to support and assist you to ensure these processes are smooth and effective.
I would also like to see an action plan from you on how these issues will be addressed and the timeline by which they will be resolved. Please submit this plan to me by Friday 5/17.
Please address these issues immediately to ensure smooth operations and maintain our professional standards. Your cooperation and commitment to these areas are vital for the success of our team and the satisfaction of our customers.
Thank you for your attention to these matters.
Best regards, —————-

To clarify, I now know that there are different definitions of the word “ship”, but for the purposes of this article and to keep things simple I will use the definition of “a relationship that’s rushed and/or forced with no real development.” I hope you can understand as I do not know of any other single word to describe that concept. If you do, perhaps you can tell me. Also, fair warning, this is long form content (some 10 pages), if you like it but can’t read it all at once you can save it and come back to it over a period of time, or you can stop reading whenever you get tired of it and still discuss those parts of it with me that you have read. But keep it civil if you want a civil response.
With that, to qualify the title, no, Ezra and Sabine do NOT absolutely have to be a couple, but if they were to become one, it would NOT be a ship. Ezra and Sabine’s relationship has had years of development. Could they remain as simply friends? Yes, but ironically, it was their “friendship” that felt like more of a ship. It felt like the Ahsoka show, helmed by Dave Filoni, was going out of its way to tell us: “no, they’re not a couple, they’re just friends.”
I believe that Filoni made some very poor writing choices to stress something that didn’t really need to be stressed, such that it almost felt like he was in denial. The line “I love you like a sister” was never in Rebels, Filoni essentially had that retconned in, and like many I was put off by their (largely) emotionless reunion. Even if they were “just friends” I believe there would be a great deal more emotion displayed between two people that hadn’t seen each other in some ten years, especially when one of them was in a precarious situation when they parted. I also believe Ezra would be far more curious about Sabine being Force sensitive, perhaps even offering to help train her when she told him that her training hadn’t gone as well with Ahsoka. He did help to train her with the Darksaber, didn’t he? Why that never came up is another discussion, but for now, let’s focus on shipping.
In case you think I’m desperate to have them as a couple, no I’m not. I’m about the furthest thing from it. Like many millennials and Gen-Z’ers (and perhaps some Gen-Xers and boomers) I DESPISE shipping. Absolutely DESPISE it. With a flaming passion. Perhaps for this reason, and maybe some others, like many millennials and Gen-Z’ers (and perhaps some Gen-Xers and boomers), I’m generally wary of nearly all romance in fiction, and generally avoid it in my own work. The sad reality is that romance is perhaps the most abused genre in all of fiction, all throughout history. It has been so badly abused that many people, including myself for the longest time, have equated romance with shipping, though I’m slowly beginning to see that they are not the same thing, and one does not necessarily have to go with the other.
But sadly, many writers, through time immemorial, have not been able to separate them, going back into ancient times and perhaps even into pre-history, that is before languages were actually written down. Some of what is considered great literature; classics like Romeo and Juliet, are predicated on shipping, though at least the consequences of this “whirlwind romance” are shown to be fairly stark. Star Wars itself is no stranger to shipping, resulting in a very awkward incestuous kiss when Luke was shipped with Leia, then Leia was placed with Han and Lucas made Luke and Leia brother and sister, apparently having forgotten his original ship. Later Lucas essentially shipped Anakin and Padme, resulting in some of the most cringeworthy dialog in the history of film. Many fans of the Prequels even have been somewhat critical of Anakin’s portrayal, particularly in regards to the “romantic” scenes, with many describing them as “creepy”. Some have speculated that this was intentional, though personally I think it was just the result of bad writing on the part of George Lucas, and an impatience on his part for Anakin and Padme to become a couple, hence “shipping”.
One might wonder why this is so prevalent in fiction, and tragically, one does not have to look far. Fiction is merely a reflection of reality, therefore the reason that shipping is so common in our stories is that we fall so easily into it in real life. Indeed, entire cultures may be based around shipping, or at least very heavily wrapped up in it. Throughout history arranged marriages have been the norm, and the idea of marrying for “love” is something relatively new. To be fair, I’ve actually met people in arranged marriages who seemed to be fairly happy, but those same people were very open in telling me that many despise that aspect of their culture, and that it is quite normal for those in an arranged marriage to try to get out.
People might come together for “love” without marrying, but even then it often creates expectations that might turn into a burden. Even when a marriage is voluntary and for “love”, people are often left unsatisfied, such that today in the West the divorce rate is something like 50%. Happy, stable, long term relationships seem to be the exception across cultures and across the breadth and width of time. And yet pursuit of love and some kind of relationship seems to be the highest calling for many people, both in real life and in fiction. And it could be that the accumulated disgust is finally starting to boil over.
To be fair, this may not be the first time in history that the pendulum has shifted. You may recall that in Victorian times attitudes changed drastically, as compared to the previously bawdy Elizabethan times. Looking at a play from Shakespear, if you can understand the language, you’ll see all kinds of vulgar references, as well as what I believe are fairly sappy romances like in the aforementioned Romeo and Juliet, though I can’t say for certain whether Shakespear was actually endorsing that type of attitude towards “love” or presenting it as a cautionary tale, maybe even something to be ridiculed in some of his other plays.
But regardless, Victorians as you may well know had a very conservative attitude towards anything to do with romance, and would often avoid the subject in many places, or tread very carefully around it, as if walking on eggshells. It’s not that people stopped being romantic, in fiction or real life, but it was treated as something very serious and even dangerous, with many urges repressed or even suppressed entirely. This had all kinds of effects on society, both positive and negative. On the positive side, it reinforced the ideal of people being committed to their partners, and of marriage as a sacred institution rather than a “casual hookup” as was more common in Elizabethan times. Likewise it reinforced ideals of modesty and chastity, which may be coming back into vogue, though under different names. But just as there were positive aspects to these attitudes, so were there negative ones.
Just because the urges I described were repressed did not mean that they disappeared. In fact, they often morphed into things that many would consider “unhealthy”. From one statistic that I saw, in Victorian times about one in every 60 houses was a brothel, with the modern rate being closer to one in 6000. Additionally, the rights of women were often repressed, such that they could not fully express themselves and find their own identity, and path in life, as individuals. Just as Elizabethan ideals gave way to Victorian ones, so did the Victorian ideals gradually begin to erode.
Perhaps it began with the Jazz Age of the 1920’s (the “Roaring Twenties”), or with the increased interconnectivity of people traveling to different parts of the world during World War I, not to mention the cynicism that pervaded throughout the West in response to failed old ideals leading to the deadliest war in history up to that point, but many Victorian ideals began to be seen as a joke, and even resented for their “oppression”, which to be fair was not entirely unjustified. But regardless, people gradually, and at times not so gradually, became more and more “liberated” and promiscuous. This culminated in the Sexual Revolution in the late 1960’s, when what had previously been seen as a vice and even a sin was now seen as not only “normal” but as a healthy form of expression, a virtue even. And just as these ideas were embraced in real life, so too were they reflected in our films, TV shows, and other media, often to the consternation of older people and institutions, like the Vatican. The Catholic Church even went so far as to “ban” certain films, that is to declare them immoral for good Catholics to watch. Many of the films that were banned back then, or at least controversial, like The Graduate with Dustin Hoffman, are fairly tame by today’s standards.
It continued through the 70’s, at times warming and at times cooling through the rest of the century, until you could argue it reached a kind of crescendo in the early 21st century with the advent of so-called “dark romance” and the publication of books like Fifty Shades of Grey. (Ironically, many of the themes within this “dark romance” can trace their roots back to the Victorian era, yet another indication that repressing urges without addressing them often doesn’t work out as one might hope.) But as happens all too often, just as something reaches peak popularity is when it begins to go out of style, and that is what we may be experiencing right now. As weird as it may sound, we may actually have come full circle and may be on the cusp of a “New Victorian Age” (complete with “dark romance”, even). Web sites like Porn Hub and OnlyFans, as well as other similar sites, may be the new “brothels”, and what was once openly celebrated may be going underground, to an extent. The effects of this on society have been interesting to say the least, and at times I would even say bizarre.
Whilst many younger people seem content with these changes, many older people are concerned. I’ve seen a number of books, films, and other media receive positive reviews for example based specifically on their lack of romance. Many of these books/films, etc. fall into the “young adult” category, meaning that it is young adults obviously who mostly consume them. At the same time I’ve heard a number of older people, mostly boomers and Gen-Xers, criticize these same books/films for their lack of romance. Even some older millennials seem upset by the changes, as perhaps evidenced by Jennifer Lawrence’s latest film No Hard Feelings (though to be fair that film may be lampooning the older generation’s frustration as well as the younger generation’s frigidity). So just as in the past older people were concerned about the promiscuity of the youth, now it actually appears that many older people are concerned about the youth’s lack of promiscuity.
Who could have seen that coming? But to be fair, the younger generation hasn’t gone completely frigid. As stated earlier, much of the promiscuity has gone “underground”, or online, which many would argue is not very healthy as it might undermine actual relationships, whether they are romantic in nature or simple friendships. And speaking of that, friendships within stories nowadays often aren’t portrayed in a very authentic or compelling manner, perhaps because in ditching romance modern writers haven’t quite yet learned how to replace it with something else. In other words, the “New Victorian Age” may not be an exact repeat of the previous one, but may have its own twists and turns, for better and for worse.
This may all essentially be a manifestation of the Human Condition, in that we just can’t seem to find a happy medium, neither in real life nor in fiction. Thus we keep swinging from one extreme to the other, apparently getting wilder with each swing.
So where does all this leave us? What is it that we really want in our lives, and in our stories? Especially in regards to relationships? I think at some level we all want to see good and healthy relationships between people and/or characters, whether romantic or platonic. I believe at some point we would like to see good examples of both friendship and romance, and I would argue that the best examples of romance have them combined. Even a toxic relationship, if well portrayed or documented, can be instructive and serve as a good example of what to avoid in our lives that we might be happier and relate better to each other. A good relationship, by contrast, can give us something to aspire to and inspire us to not only look for the right kind of person to complement our lives, but to make ourselves worthy of that person. And here I’ll add that I’m perfectly aware that in real life (and thus in fiction) relationships can be very complicated and heavily nuanced, with elements of both “good” and “bad” in them. Just as people change over time so can the relationships between them change, at times getting better and at times worse, sometimes breaking entirely and sometimes growing stronger. Relationships can have just as many layers and dimensions as characters, more even perhaps, and a skilled writer should be able to reflect this complexity. At other times a relationship can be fairly straightforward, simplicity sometimes being the best approach. But regardless, the audience should be able to relate and identify with what they are seeing, such that hopefully they can incorporate the lessons from it in their own lives.
Where can we find good examples of relationships to study? There may be a number of them in the real world, but the trouble with studying real world relationships is that they’re often much more complicated than fictional ones (just as real people are more complicated than fictional characters), and for many of them it is almost impossible to know all the details and nuances because they are often kept private, understandably so, and even if they aren’t it can still be difficult, due to unique circumstances, to see how to relate them to our own lives. Additionally there may be far more disagreement about a real life situation than a fictional one, with many more points of view. To keep things simple, for the purpose of this article I would like to focus on fictional relationships. (And fair warning, there will be some spoilers.)
One of the best places to look, I would argue, would be the films of Hayao Miyazaki. (And this is pretty significant to Star Wars as you will see in a bit.) A film of his that stands out to me the most is Princess Mononoke. Like many of Miyazaki’s films it has elements of romance, and yet subverts them in a way that makes complete sense and feels very genuine, without taking away from any of the accompanying charm. It starts with two young people, San and Ashitaka, and as soon as they encounter each other there is a kind of expectation of romance. This may be inevitable to some degree when you have a man and a woman of about the same age encounter each other in a story, especially if they happen to be adolescents. The expectation may not be inherently bad, and Miyazaki does play with it. Both characters are thrust into dangerous situations, at various points end up saving each other’s lives, and at a certain point I think it is obvious that they have feelings for each other. I was certain that at the end of the film, they would be together, and if things had gone that way, it would make complete sense. Instead, they go in different directions, but remain good friends, and considering their backgrounds and differing worldviews, this ends up making even more sense to the story.
Essentially, Miyazaki could have gone for the more conventional, tried and true “love conquers all” narrative, where the characters’ feelings for each other would negate everything that comes between them, they would somehow find a common ground in spite of their differences, the romance would not only take over the narrative but somehow also solve all the problems in the story, and then the couple would live “happily ever after”. Such an approach is not inherently bad or wrong, and is fairly common in Western media and storytelling. We can see it in films like Fern Gully, and more recently James Cameron’s Avatar, both of which have been compared to Princess Mononoke. As you can probably guess, the problem is that at a certain point such a narrative can become fairly simplistic, and lack nuance.
Miyazaki’s films, by contrast, are very heavily nuanced, and are anything but simplistic. In Princess Mononoke the characters San and Ashitaka don’t help each other simply because they are “in love”, but because it is the right thing to do, regardless of how they might feel about each other. Yes, romantic feelings are certainly alluded to, but they are not essential to the plot, for it could have worked just as well without any romantic allusions. And ironically, this makes those allusions even more valid, even if they are unrequited. How so?
Consider that if love is essential to a given narrative, is it not relegated to being nothing more than a plot device? Again, this is quite common in Western media and storytelling, and is not inherently bad or wrong, but when it becomes a trope or cliche, I believe it is the essence of where shipping comes from. Many storytellers get caught up in this, usually without realizing it, and while a story can still work even with shipping, I believe that it usually works that much better without it.
This extends not only to Miyazaki’s handling of romance but also to other things like environmentalism, the conflict between man and nature, and the contrasting ideals of human progress vs. preserving the natural order. Movies like Fern Gully and Avatar, as already mentioned, handle these themes in a fairly simplistic and I would even say hamfisted manner, whereby all progress and technology is shown as being inherently “bad” and in service to “evil”, while everything that’s “natural” is shown to be inherently “good”. Even our notions of good and evil, and right vs. wrong, are challenged by Miyazaki, with nearly all of his characters having complex motives and multiple dimensions to them, as well as understandable reasons for doing the things that they do. Rarely can any one of his characters be branded as a simple “villain”, and rarely is any one individual the source of conflict in his stories, again in contrast to most Western narratives.
I’ll reiterate once more, a simple, straightforward narrative is not inherently a bad thing, whether the themes being dealt with are romantic or anything else. Sometimes it is in fact the best approach. But the best stories in my opinion are usually the most nuanced, that challenge our notions of what we believe to be true, and that force us to think about what we do with our lives and what we could do differently. To that end Miyazaki introduces all manner of themes and motifs within his films that are familiar to us but shows them in a light most of us might not have considered, thus giving more dimension to our understanding of things.
“How is any of this related to Star Wars?” you might ask. It is quite related, and you don’t even have to look all that closely to see it. A very influential figure within Star Wars was very heavily inspired by the works of Miyazaki, and that figure is Dave Filoni.
This video shows the connections in some detail:
https://youtu.be/Q_4L0BbSpHo?si=04jDo6qFCnZT135w
But to summarize if you’ve seen any of Miyazaki’s films, especially Princess Mononoke, I think the callbacks in Filoni’s work will be all too obvious, especially in Star Wars Rebels. Some of the scenes in Filoni’s work look like they were taken directly from Miyazki’s films, and many of the same themes and motifs often come up. The relationship between San and Ashitaka I would argue is very similar to the relationship between Ezra and Sabine, and not just because both couples rode wolves together.
Incidentally, Dave Filoni was also heavily involved in Avatar: The Last Airbender, which I would also argue was at least to some degree inspired if not by Miyazaki then by Japanese anime in general. The relationship between Aang and Katara was developed with great care and was allowed to build very slowly, as opposed to simply shipping them. Likewise other characters very gradually developed as individuals and in their relationships, at times stumbling as they did so, and making mistakes, before finding their way back to the right path.
All of this is in stark contrast to George Lucas, whose character development is often very rushed at best, and at times some might say almost non-existent. So essentially, even though Lucas has said that Filoni has been “like a son” to him, and I believe referred to Filoni as his “padawan”, I would argue that Filoni is ultimately as much a student of Miyazaki as he is of Lucas.
Again, you might ask, “What does all this mean for Star Wars?” It means a great many things. It means that Dave Filoni has taken Miyazaki’s lessons to heart, and can handle things like romance, as well as other kinds of relationships, quite well most of the time. Like Miyazaki he can play with romance, tease the audience with it at times even, leave the romance unrequited, and yet still have it feel satisfying. A prime example of this is the love triangle that Ahsoka was involved in with the young Separatist Senator, Lux Bonteri, and Steela Gerrera. As wary as I am of romance and as much as I despise shipping, love triangles I normally despise even more, but this one seemed to actually work. It never took over the main story, and even though Ahsoka’s feelings were ultimately not reciprocated, she still learned from the experience, and grew and developed further as a character because of it. The other characters involved in this triangle also grew and developed from their involvement, though unfortunately not all of them made it. All in all it was a good bit of storytelling and gave the audience something to consider.
When a relationship in one of Filoni’s stories does bloom into a full blown romance he also generally handles it quite well. For one Filoni is sparing with actual romance, so that when it does occur, it can be that much more appreciated. And rather than rushing or shipping it, Filoni normally takes his time to build it up. An example of this is the relationship between Kanan and Hera. Some might argue that this is perhaps the best developed romance in all of Star Wars, at least in Canon. Built up over four seasons, at times it wasn’t certain whether it was a romance or a friendship, or perhaps even a professional partnership. Perhaps even the characters themselves were not certain, though it was hinted all throughout the narrative that something was going on. To this day I don’t believe anyone can say definitively when it became an actual romance, and I believe Filoni did this intentionally because he wanted to be subtle, rather than making things too obvious and having the romance take over the narrative, as it usually does. When it finally did become obvious as to what was happening, it felt very much earned, in a way that is seldom accomplished in other works of fiction, including Star Wars.
The relationship between Ezra and Sabine was also fairly well written, for the most part anyway, at least in Star Wars Rebels. Ezra was almost immediately smitten with Sabine, but being a young teenage boy, it was understandable that he would feel that way about an attractive girl. Over time he learned to see her more respectfully, as a colleague and even as part of his adopted family, not just as a pretty face. Sabine for her part found Ezra annoying at first (c’mon, what teenage boy isn’t?), but as he matured and she found out more about him she came to understand and respect him more, and see him as a friend and almost a brother, with there being potential for something more.
There were times when the relationship could have been better written, like in the episode “Blood Sisters”, where Ezra was written to be a bit too immature to make Sabine look wiser. But overall, the bond between them developed fairly well; both saved one another at various times, and took risks and made sacrifices for each other’s sake. Both reassured and comforted the other when they needed it, and it was endearing to hear their banter when they became more familiar and trusting of each other.
So why then was I so disappointed in how they were portrayed in the Ahsoka show? The thing is, after how well their relationship was built up in Rebels, as I’ve already mentioned it was strange to see how lackluster and uninspired their reunion was.
Within the Ahsoka show itself Sabine was shown to be almost obsessed with finding Ezra, living in what used to be his home, watching a recording of him over and over again, and calling out his name as she woke up in the middle of the night. She even risked bringing Thrawn back into the Galaxy, which ultimately happened, just so she could see Ezra again. After all that, when she finally does encounter him, her reaction seems fairly casual, as does his, as if they’ve been apart for no more than a week, rather than 10 years. Not too much happens between them afterwards either. Like I said Ezra does not appear all that curious about what happened with Sabine, how she found him, and how it was that she was now Force sensitive. Sabine likewise did not seem curious about what had happened with Ezra, and how he had gotten away from Thrawn. And with Ezra rescued and returned home, suddenly it didn’t seem as though Sabine was all that interested in him anymore, nor he all that concerned with her, though they were just as far apart as they had been at the start of the show. To be completely honest it made me wonder what the point of the whole show was. Were they just working to set up Thrawn’s return to the Galaxy? As some have said, Ezra felt like nothing more than a Macguffin in the show. Was Sabine and Ahsoka’s search for him just a plot device?
Considering how skillfully Dave Filoni had written his stories in the past, what happened in this latest project of his does not make much sense. Was he so concerned about “shipping” and so desperate to avoid it that he inadvertently “shipped” them in the other direction? Was there some sort of external pressure on him about how to write this story to have more of an appeal to “modern audiences”? Maybe some combination of those factors?
And here I’ll add that when I say “modern audiences” I don’t mean that in a contemptuous sense, though you may think I do. If there is any contempt on my part it is for those in charge of telling our stories, or those in charge of those telling our stories, who do not seem to grasp these basic truths. The truth is that audiences at their core don’t really change throughout the ages, only superficially so. Trends come and go but certain truths and ideals are eternal, and universal. How people relate to each other fundamentally does not change, whether they are friends, or more than friends. And deep down, I believe everyone (or nearly everyone at least) wants the same things. Nearly everyone at some point wants some kind of a connection with another human being, to know that they are not alone in the world, and to know that there is someone else who sees and understands things as they do. While this desire can certainly lead to abuse, and absolutely has, it is still innate to us and is not inherently wrong. Finding ways of connecting and relating to other people is one of the great challenges of life, but many would argue it is the most worthwhile of challenges. It may be the whole point of life if you think about it. As complex as it may be, many would argue it is what makes life worth living, and likewise makes for the best stories. Just as it may be the whole point of life many would say that is what most stories are about at their core: people trying to relate to one another.
Sadly, just as in real life, most stories unfortunately don’t quite get it, and the Ahsoka show in my opinion was an example of this, made all the sadder by the fact that Dave Filoni had done quite well with these characters up to that point. We may never know for certain what exactly went wrong and why, or if it can ever be “fixed” at this point, but I can’t help but feel curious. Maybe in the future Filoni will find a way to make it make sense, but I’m not sure how. And to be completely honest I don’t feel quite as enthusiastic to find out as I used to.
Also for the record I would like to add here that there are other factors that put me off from the show, such as Sabine’s Force sensitivity, that came about without much build up. But in this article I specifically wanted to focus on shipping because there seems to be so much misunderstanding around it.
I hope that I was able to clarify some, if not most of this misunderstanding, so that people could better appreciate what shipping is, where it comes from, as well as what it isn’t. Many people today are understandably sick of shipping characters, myself included. But I hope people realize that in overcompensating for something, we often come back around into the very thing that we are overcompensating for. Or sometimes, into something even worse. This may apply to nearly every facet of life, by the way, not just shipping. Finding a happy medium in how we portray our fictional relationships may help us to better understand relationships in real life, as well as how to navigate them. Neither fictional nor actual relationships can ever be perfect but they can always be better. To this understanding then I hope that I was able to give my own modest contribution, and if nothing else I hope we can connect on that.