#bayport

[stylists-supporting-stylists]

When your pink hair matches your vibes. 💕🌸💕 . . . . . Reposted from @offmainhairanddayspa #pinkhair #pinkpinkpink #pravanacolor #pravanabalayage #sayvillemoms #sayville #bayportbluepoint #bayport #oakdale #kidshairstyles (at Sayville, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl3KMFJO8qu/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[trendynewsnow]

Former Long Island Funeral Home Owner Pleads Guilty to Assault Charges from January 6 Capitol Riot

Former Long Island Funeral Home Owner Pleads Guilty in Capitol Riot Incident The former proprietor of multiple funeral homes in Long Island has pleaded guilty to federal assault charges stemming from his involvement in the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol. Peter G. Moloney, age 60, was accused of spraying police officers with an insecticide and physically assaulting a…

[airforcegreenbay]

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[mclaugh]

Ran past gram's old house on my way back to the brewery #brewery10miler #glirc #runglirc #sayvillerunningcompany #bluepointbrewery #bayport (at Blue Point Brewing) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnacMoZuj7eE7R_wXmJnXkYHaEUJsNTfuwuSPs0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[isfjmel-phleg]

Love interests in Golden and Silver Age comics didn’t get the best characterization, to the best of my knowledge. To be fair, characterization in general tended to be less of a priority than action and excitement. It was the hero’s role to be amazing while maintaining a secret identity, while the love interest was there as a motivating factor—to get kidnapped or be in danger and need to be rescued, to be a prize to be won as a reward for his nobility, or even to spur him on to greater heroics by criticizing his mild-mannered alter ego for falling short of the 1940s-50s standard of manliness. This last one in particular hasn’t aged well. It’s hard to get invested in a (potential) relationship when all we see the love interest do is harshly berate the protagonist—why does he even like this woman if she so clearly doesn’t have much (if any) regard for him?

Some of these love interests have had their characterization softened, expanded upon, given more depth over the years until they’re no longer defined by criticizing the hero constantly (Joan [Williams] Garrick and Iris West-Allen, for instance). But there are more obscure examples who haven’t gotten much characterization since their original incarnation, such as Mary James, love interest and future wife of Al Pratt (the Atom), mother of Grant Emerson (Damage). Mary is perhaps one of the most egregious examples of the critical love interest stereotype. In her introductory scene, she lashes out at Al after he fails to prevent a mugger from robbing her (...of course she did nothing about it either). She calls him a “spineless little amoeba,” accuses him of not being a real man, and declares she never wants to see him again. This humiliating criticism is part of what motivates Al to build up strength, but it doesn’t really help the audience understand why he continues to pine for her. Mary will go on to be enamored of the Atom after being rescued by him, but she continues to be extremely critical/verbally abusive with Al, even when they’re technically dating. The narrative seems to enjoy the irony of her being in love with the mask while unwittingly despising the man behind it, and her behavior is often treated as a joke more than anything else. Nothing about the relationship seems to evolve in the entirety of her Golden Age appearances.

Later writers noted this and try to smooth it over, but in a rather hand-waving way. A 1980s retelling of Al’s origin story has her acknowledge that she has been unkind and feel a bit remorseful and claims that she “grew up a bit” before their eventual marriage, and other brief appearances from the 1980s insist on this “growing up” having happened too. Similarly, her most recent appearance, from 2005, depicts her as very affectionate to Al, to whom she is about to be engaged, regretful of her earlier treatment of him, and insistent that she has changed. But nothing in these appearances indicates how or why character growth has happened or does anything to give her distinctive characterization beyond being a more agreeable love interest. Either she is terrible or blandly nice.

And sure, she’s not a major character, but since her husband and son have gotten so much characterization over the years, it only seems fair that this member of the family should get to be more than a stereotype.

So if I were given the writing of an Atom or JSA or Damage series, or if I were in charge of, say, an adaptation of DC’s Golden Age heroes (exploring that 1940s setting would be fascinating), what would I do with Mary James that would keep her consistent with what we know of her while giving the audience reason to sympathize with her as an individual and to root for her and Al as a couple?

Well, we don’t know much specifically about Mary’s home life, but she is from a wealthy family in (the fictional) Calvin City, Connecticut. A newspaper refers to her as “Miss Mary James, of the Bayport Jameses,” which suggests that her family is well-established old money. Her mother owns a diamond necklace worth $25,000 dollars, and when criminals kidnap Mary, they attempt to ransom her for $20,000. In 1940, that would be the equivalent of $562,135.71 and $449,708.57 respectively today. The Jameses are very well-off. Mary seems to be their only child too, so she’s probably set to inherit a fortune. 

She’s not just a socialite or debutante, though. She’s not in finishing school. She’s at the co-ed Calvin College. Her major is never mentioned, but her classes seem to include geology, chemistry, astronomy, and something that requires a tour of a steel mill. She also seems to be knowledgeable about English. Unlike Al, she’s a social butterfly. She’s in a sorority, is class president, and has been voted most popular woman of the senior class. She knows how to use a shotgun, how to ride a horse, how to ski and sail and fish for crabs. She has studied first aid from a Red Cross instructor at the local hospital. At one point, she was a “star reporter” for the college newspaper. What picture does that give us of her character?

I would characterize her as someone who, because of her wealth, has grown up with a high emphasis placed upon appearances. As “Miss Mary James, of the Bayport Jameses,” she is expected to be a social leader, to present an air of elegance and value status symbols like jewelry and cars, and to date men who are socially advantageous. Yet she is also pursuing academics, possibly something science-related, an unconventional choice for a woman of her time and class. Is this a choice that has caused tension between her and her parents? Is she trying to please them in compensation by maintaining a kind of social life that better accords with what they want for her? This would give another dimension to her rejection of Al, a probable orphan raised on a farm who has to take all kinds of odd jobs to pay his way through college.

She is critical to a fault, but where does it come from? She has no patience for those who don’t stand up for themselves, and she’s been known to step in to try to solve a problem when Al intends to just let it go. I would interpret her as someone who has a strong sense of justice, who wants to right the world’s wrongs, who in her way is just as frustrated by life as Al is. He is limited by his size and timidity just as she is limited by her gender (after all, there’s never any question of her trying to fight off that mugger) and the expectations of her socioeconomic class. He copes by secretly building up his strength and then fighting crime while wearing a mask. She copes by maintaining her high-class haughtiness—which isn’t an effective outlet. Who is Mary in private? Why is she working on a degree in science when the most that’s probably expected from her is to marry within her class? Is she interested in making advancements to benefit society more than in moving in high society?

Maybe her encounters with the mugger, the criminals who kidnap her, and the thieves who attempt to steal the diamonds she borrowed from her mother impress upon her the danger and emptiness of her social position. Maybe other relationships in her life go sour because of her unwillingness to accept people as they are, and she has to reevaluate some things. Maybe her interest in the Atom isn’t just attraction; it’s also emulation—if this guy has the nerve to put on a mask and a ridiculous costume and fight injustice, what can she do?

She can still be outspoken and proficient in giving others the Reason You Stink Speech (a trait her son will inherit!), but it needs to come from an understandable place, and she needs to discernibly grow as a person. Giving her a journey from critical and harsh, lashing out at those who fail to measure up as a distraction from her own failings, so preoccupied with appearances that she can’t see past (perceived) outer imperfections to inner worth—to someone who can walk her own path regardless of expectations, who values genuine goodness more than superficialities, who doesn’t just point out wrongs but takes action in whatever way she can to right them…that would make sense to me.

I’d adjust the romance too, of course. The woman who is in love with the hero but disdainful of the man he secretly is has already been explored to death in Superman adaptations. So perhaps Mary does indeed have a thing for the Atom after he rescued her, but at the same time, she’s seeing a different side of Al. His new self-confidence is probably carrying over into his personal life, and he’s letting his authentic self—his kindness, his sense of humor, his courage—show more, and she’s realizing that she’s drawn to him. Maybe instead of being eager to win her over when he begins his career as the Atom, Al accepts that she has rejected him and has moved on, but as she too grows, he’s more impressed with this strong, passionate, indomitable woman than ever. She’s not just someone whom the Atom rescues in the line of duty; there’s genuine connection. So the identity of the Atom allows her to see more clearly who Al really is and allows him to see more clearly who Mary really is. And when he finally reveals his identity to her when he proposes…it just all falls into place.

Miss Mary James, of the Bayport Jameses, marries a nobody who had to pay for her engagement ring on layaway and happily settles down with him in a modest little house.

And we the audience can be invested in their relationship and utterly devastated when this couple try and fail for decades to have children of their own, when he gets trapped in another dimension and isn’t even able to tell her goodbye, when she gives birth to their son only to be murdered immediately afterward, when he finally returns only to find her dead and is eventually killed too, never learning about their son, who is off leading a miserable life with no idea who his real parents were.

I kind of wish I were a fic writer, because then I could do something with this, but I’m not, so you get this meta instead.

[spilladabalia]

Left Lane Cruiser - Motown Mash

[gatsby-system-folks]

I'm scared of manatees. For no reason, they did nothing wrong, it's just that I was out boating before light one night, and I looked down in the water and the MARSH FLOOR WAS MOVING WAS SWIMMING AWAY LIKE SOME FANTASY MONSTER MOVIE SHIT and it wasn't the floor of the marsh at all, it was the biggest fucking manatee I've ever seen before or since and it scared the shit out of me. I love bigfin squid and gulper eels and creepy crawling things but manatees scare the shit out of me. I still love them, I mean how could you not, they're the sweetest things.

[stonecreationslongisland]

Happy Holidays from Stone Creations of Long Island, Deer Park, NY 11729

Wishing everyone a season filled with joy, laughter, and cherished moments with loved ones. Happy Holidays from all of us @ Stone Creations of Long Island • Thank you for your continued support & loyalty.

[thenonbinarydetective]

Where would u rather live? Bayport or river heighs?

I guess River Heights because it's not real and I'm still hanging on to that homecoming game Bayport ruined for me

[freshthoughts2020]

[manitat]

Slušam...

[tempwork247]

Temporary Staffing Agency Bayport

Tempwork24x7 a leading recruitment agency for employers provides job recruiting, employment and staffing services in the Bayport and surrounding areas.

[airforcegreenbay]

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[jetairco]

Jetairco Plumbing Service Provider Bayport provides reliable sump pump installation, repair, and maintenance services to prevent basement flooding.

[porcelainapparition]

Bayport, Minnesota

built in 1890

[isfjmel-phleg]

(Justice Society of America Kingdom Come Special: The Kingdom #1)

When Grant finally gets to visit his parents' old house, his conversation with Albert is more about his attitude toward his father. None of his angst is ever directed toward Mary, who was just as much a victim of Savage's experimentation as Grant is. But even though she isn't directly addressed, there are glimpses of her in pictures in the background, including the bottom half of what appears to be a wedding picture and some affectionate shots of her and Al (in and out of costume). Their married life doesn't feature much in comics, but the impression here is of a loving couple content with their modest existence (superpowers not withstanding)--and that's what Albert is trying to get through to Grant, hoping he'll emulate his father.

But he's too much on his restored-face high horse to accept it. The house and everything in it fails to connect him with his parents; he sees it as a reminder of everything he missed out on (he could have grown up in this stable home! he could have been raised by these kind people!). And these pictures of his parents end up burning along with the house when the brotherly argument gets out of hand.