The Fountainhead of Autumn Storm - YSM 2023

Autumn was a flake. Or so they said. You're involved friend one minute, than an aloof nonparticipant in any meaningful part of that friendship the next.

Her life was a broken record in this regard. Nevertheless she found herself preferring solitary binge-watching with her cat. At least her cat was up front with her selfish fakeness.

I guess it was her uncompromising standard to not be a slave. Or propensity to turn into Eris when pushed to do as others. To always take some stand against something and be as subservive as possible with the response.

Yet, she was a slave that worked for NBCUniversal nonetheless. Lived right near Koreatown.

Ideals are great, but as Bad Religion once eloquently put into song,

Hey, see there's a girl who sits and watches the world from their blue screen
Also a boy who truly wants to destroy his hometown scene
They both want to travel to the land of competition
Southern California will destroy them
And they won't be the best, they'll be the posers who dress
Like the plastic idiots who they copy

And Southern California really will destroy your dreams. You can think you're good at something, but you're nothing. And the hacks that do make it are usually gifted that by affiliation. Like how you have to know a Mexican to get an LA City job. They're father plays golf with a producer.

That's how it is. The land if nepotism. Where you're beaten down quickly by that reality. And be careful with those submissions, because most of the time, even when it's good, they'll reject it if unsolicited and then steal it.

So many failed idealists. Some find work. Any work. Being coffee bitch work. Assistant in Hollywood work. Punter work.

Degradation incarnate.

Or in Autumn's case, find work, and then totally lose their mind at the atmosphere of Central LA for being so F%#%& entitled and pretentious it makes Jim Morrison look like an actual poet. The atmosphere of that self-appointed need to be progressive industry people.

Spin is inherent in the industry. It's a liberal hive mind of standards and practices, and inclusivity advisors.

From top-down and then rebuilding the strata to their liking. Course correction after course correction. Growing stricter in one aspect of censorship while selling sex to children.

But Autumn's job wasn't in any meaningful capacity, she just had to deal with their airheaded mindlessness. She laughed at how super-Hollywood they all were. With their phony Hollywood cell phone banter and industry sayings. It had an aura like disease.

Once again, her inescapable pet peeve reappeared.

No one ever bothered checking the reasons they thought the things they did, acted the way they did, or used the memes they did. They just mindlessly latched on to whatever was spun to them and carried on with their programming. All copying one another. Not one original thought among them. More or less regurgitating the same old ideas and adapting them to new cultural trends.

That was Autumn's "Fountainhead." The standard she could not compromise. When everybody starts sharing a view, no matter what it is, and loses sight of all rationale in the process, she starts playing her same old subversive games.

Undermining it using only positive, sarcastic, or humorous satire. Instead of turning the Catcher In The Rye anger into negative self-loathing whiny behavior, she'd sublimate her revulsion to herd mentality into something that doesn't deliberately inflame anger. Yeah, they were phonies, but that's no reason to act so emotional.

Someone will inevitably catch on. And in Hollywood, that gets used against you real quick. Alas, claiming satire doesn't exonerate a sarcastic statement from the touchy West Hollywood temp that was offended by it.

That was the downfall of her uncompromising standard. Never really getting ahead anywhere, because she never could say the right things or influence the right people. She was never able to fully commit to the game.

The End.

a reply to: Degradation33

What a sad and poignant tale, Degradation33.

Autumn appears destined to become the Winter of discontent. And LA sounds like a nightmare to live in. I fear you probably hit several nails on their heads.

a reply to: Encia22

Just wish I could edit better. Freaking typos. That's the writers discontent. OCD with my bad editing.

a reply to: Degradation33

I like it a lot! I lived in LA and this is so true!

Brilliant

a reply to: Degradation33

Just a quick question. Do you write directly in the post or somewhere else?

For instance, I do 90% of ATS stuff on my cellphone, but something like short stories I do in Word or some simple text editor.

On average, I revise my stories about 5/6 times, always refining typos and other things. And still, I find mistakes after copying and pasting here. It's the normal way of any writer/artist... don't be too hard on yourself.

Even professional writers have their work proof read for small errors.

a reply to: Encia22

I did it on a phone.

Notepad word processor, copy/paste.

Just impatient. Missed countless typos.

a reply to: Degradation33

That is like an "Anti" visit LA advert but I still kinda wanna

I am even more impressed you do it on a phone, I make millions of typos using a proper keyboard so kudos for that as well

a reply to: SprocketUK

Lol. Pretty much.

Hands down the "Fakest City on Earth". Well, around Hollywood anyway. LA isn't all that way, but between the 101, 10, 405, and the hills it is. And also The People's Republic of Santa Monica and Burbank. Paparazzi, location filming everywhere, industry advertisements on everything, gawking tourists, and the snootiest of Los Angelino entitlement. Rude, impatient, obnoxiously honking drivers that make you want to go slower just to piss off more.

Starbucks baristas are all failed models, actresses, and sometimes former actresses.

Restaurant workers and now Uber drivers are trying to sell you their demo or script.

But they're not a child of the industry. Their family friend can't give them an in.

a reply to: Degradation33

Very good and bravo for churning out stories in those working conditions.

Therefore, there's no reason to be too critical of yourself; it doesn't detract from your creativity.

In the end, anyone who has read your stories knows you can write, you know you can write. I think it's much more important to recognise your slight errors, as opposed to those who write flippantly and ignorantly.

a reply to: Degradation33


Damn, it does sound like one of Dante's circles of hell when you describe it like that.

Well done for surviving it and not letting it turn you into some nobhead.

a reply to: SprocketUK

Yes, it's the circle where people with self-respect that hate plastic status symbol culture are sent too.