There seems to be some concern this morning that Double Twist and "The Transmogrification of Jacob Hopkins" series might become too political with the posting of chapter 190 today. I'm not sure what to say about that. Other than, as Jacob said after releasing their The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly special back in Chapter 136 (Double Tears),
"Is political satire going to be the future direction for Marvel and Hopkins?" one of our viewers asked.
"Not necessarily," I said. "This piece came together after an extremely stressful time for all of us here. And, I suspect, for everyone in the country. It was timely and appropriate. Next time we are going to be back in a very intimate chamber setting to play Shubert's Fantasy in F minor. We'll have all the details on that up on our site soon. But we do like performing with costumes, dance, and storyline. There will be more of that whether it's seen as political or not."
If you'll remember, back in Chapter 134 (Double Tears), the sitting president attempted to postpone the inauguration of the newly elected president because of the national emergency. He was overruled by the Supreme Court. I want to remind you that Chapter 134 was written on April 22, 2019, and was posted on SOL on February 14, 2020. Both of those were long before any president actually suggested a delay in elections or inauguration. The chapter had nothing to do with the current political environment.
Today's posting of Chapter 190 of Double Twist was also written a long time ago. According to my records, June 21, 2019. That was the same day I was celebrating the release of Wild Woods in Seattle. I say this in order to emphasize that nothing in this story is intended as a commentary on current politics.
Jacob and crew are, however, political in their world. In their world, there is only one party and the issue that drives his political commentary and activism is National Service reform. He will continue to drive a political campaign based on that single issue. And he will discover that people with power will oppose him on the grounds of what they will lose. I believe that is pretty much a universal situation and that the phrase "Who owns the government?" is one that is asked in nearly every country in the world. And perhaps, in all the worlds we can invent in fiction. As one reader suggested in a mail message to me this morning:
Could it be that the answer to "who owns the government" is the same "who" that owns the governments of most of the world's national governments? Upon reflection of the real life I've experienced I'm certainly open to considering that as a viable thesis.
I don't know the answer to that question in our world. I've allowed Jacob to discover layer after layer of answers that are accurate in his world. It's a different world than ours, though I'm obviously influenced by what I see and hear as an author. I'm not a prophet. I will mention, however, that in Jacob's timeframe and world, Chapter 190 takes place in February of 2022.
The story is for entertainment purposes only.