This article examines the moment in long-running narratives when the protagonist stops being the center of power—not through failure, but because the surrounding system no longer needs them. As institutions and processes stabilize, individual agency is absorbed, delayed, or reframed into symbolic relevance rather than real influence. The hero remains visible but no longer decisive. Fiction uses this shift to reveal where power actually resides: in systems that convert disruption into procedure and resistance into management. The article argues that the most destabilizing act is not escalation, but refusal—stepping outside the role the system expects. When stories end without victory, it’s not narrative failure, but an honest admission that systems persist long after heroes stop mattering.

A first definition rubric with a preregistered test plan So, those of you who have been following my writing have seen my effort to reveal the truth about what Real Science is and what is just the false faith of the global institutions. Well, now I have another tool. As some of you know, I have been looking for Real Science. To that end, I created the Design Biology Forensic Evaluation Protocol and then refined it into the Forensic Evaluation Protocol to move beyond biology. So, here we are. I am now combining FEP with a Discourse Analytical Tool. You see, peer review often succeeds or fails on language. Reviewers were tasked with reviewing the claims, tone, certainty words, and how an author handles pushback. They also read the data and the methods. This article turns that “language sense” into a repeatable tool. It adds a discourse layer to FEP, making weak reasoning easier to spot and fix.

Exploring the Lord’s Prayer and Bad Bunny’s Halftime performance at the Super Bowl (2026). The Our Father is among the most widely known and said prayer in Christianity. A Tradition Remixed reflection about how hearing or saying the Padre Nuestro in Spanish affects how we engage with it.

One: the man is wearing a black wife-beater style shirt. He has reddish hair and dark black skin. There’s a rifle in his hands. It’s aimed at me, at my face. He says “Die white devil”, and then lowers the gun, pointing the barrel at the ground. His choice, a moment where he decided whether I lived or died.

I'm not sure how much I still agree with this story, it's from a long time ago - but the idea about rejecting labels is still solid When I was young I knew a guy who decided that “gay-bashing” was fun. Most of us didn’t know that about him. He was sort of on the periphery of our group. By the time we found out there was no reason for any of us to do anything about it. He’d already received an appropriate reward for his efforts. He tried to beat up the same guy twice and the guy slammed his car into him. Nobody visited him in the hospital. I ran into him many, many years later. I didn’t know who he was. Once he introduced himself I made some noises and then moved away…

The phrase Strong Female Character has become a term of derision… and probably rightly. For the most part, writers who are creating Strong Female Characters are doing so with the intention of creating Strong Female Characters, which usually leads to creating underdeveloped characters.

This is another old one - but somehow still relevant I have been thinking about this topic for a long time and finally hit on a way to say it that expressed what I wanted to say. An Imperfect Metaphor I like cats. Note, I didn't mention dogs. In fact, I’m more of a dog person than I am a cat person. Saying I like cats doesn’t impact my feelings about dogs at all, despite it being a reality. Think they are fluffy adorable little murder machines and I enjoy cuddling them.

A word of caution — this piece gets pretty personal and discusses some themes around SA and DV, so if you don’t want to read that kind of thing, maybe skip it I grew up with hippies. Sometimes we were in housing co-ops, sometimes we were in communes (both urban and rural), sometimes we were homeless, sometimes we lived in regular apartments with a group of people, and occasionally we even lived in houses (mostly my dad).

Ray was a great guy. You wouldn’t know it if you met him. He’s an older man, homeless, a paranoid schizophrenic. Get him cornered indoors and he might be violent. Actually, it’s pretty likely. I don’t know if Ray is still alive. I haven’t seen him recently and the life expectancy for people like Ray tends to be low. I used to see him all the time.

People Suck TI is a terrible person. That’s not exactly news. I mean, the guy got arrested for weapons charges and then conveniently “found Jesus” and reformed. He manages to still be a terrible person. It’s pretty impressive. Taking your adult daughter to her gynecologist appointment and insisting on the doctor sharing information with you is creepy as fuck and proves that there is something deeply wrong with the man.

This article argues that in Dragon Age, faith functions less as spirituality and more as infrastructure. The Chantry persists not because it is holy, but because belief stabilizes a world defined by chaos, magic, and uncertainty. The Chant of Light absorbs disaster by translating systemic failure into moral explanation, allowing institutions to avoid reform. The Circle of Magi and the Templar Order exist not to protect, but to contain unpredictability and preserve narrative coherence. Hypocrisy is survivable; truth is not. When belief can no longer bear the weight of reality, coercion replaces faith. Dragon Age shows that belief becomes dangerous when it exists to maintain systems rather than help people understand the world.

Another old story - I'm moving everything from Medium over, or almost everything (some stuff is about Medium itself and won't make sense here)

This is an older piece that I just moved over here. I still agree with what I wrote, but damn did J.K. Rowling double down on the shitty views Some thoughts on J.K. Rowling and the leftist reaction to her (probable) transphobia

I would like to hear feedback and comments on my E-book, CHILDREN OF THE NEW SUN. It has generated much controversy and interest since its publication two months ago.

Hello, everyone, Dr. Mason. I came across a video titled "10 Hidden Laws of Game Theory That Control Your Life," which had 187,202 views on January 14, 2026. The channel is titled Your Brain on Glitch: The Secrets of Human Psychology. It starts off by saying…

Published in 2003, but still relevant today. Elaine Pagels contrasts the Gospel of John with the Gospel of Thomas, a non-canonical text discovered in 1945 at Nag Hammed, Egypt. Very enlightening and controversial. This is a blog post from my author's website johnstrapasonbooks.com

We are not accidents of history—we are answers to prayers that survived generations. Our ancestors trusted God with a future they would never see, and through faith, endurance, and sacrifice, they made room for us to stand here today. Black history is holy ground, and our lives are living testimony that what was meant to break us only refined us. We are rising not by permission, but by divine purpose. Our time is now.

The story is a powerful reflection on the strength, resilience, and enduring hope of Black people despite generations of hardship and adversity. It honors ancestors who planted seeds of hope under oppression and celebrates the courage passed down through families, communities, and culture. The narrative emphasizes perseverance in the face of loss, refusal to surrender to despair, and the belief that hope is not only preserved but shared across generations. Ultimately, the story affirms that Black people never back down, never give up, and continue to rise by carrying hope forward.

Design Biology Forensic Evaluation Protocol (DB-FEP) Meanings and Principles Reference Sheet Version 1.0 – Work in progress January 2026

Design Biology Audit of Abiogenesis: When Lab Chemistry Isn’t the Same as Early Earth Hello everyone, Dr. Mason here. I will be reviewing a video I watched called "How did life begin? Abiogenesis. The origin of life from nonliving matter by Arvin Ash. What the video is aiming to show I hear one significant assertion in this video. Chemistry can make the parts, but life might start without magic. Then, over time and with a lot of testing, those sections can move toward the first living system. The video also conveys something that matters. Evolution is not the same as abiogenesis. Abiogenesis is about the beginning of life. Evolution is about how things change after life has already started. That difference is correct and valuable.