#proto!eri

[thefirstknife]

One more thing. In the cutscene, when Eris starts chanting and "invokes the Worm gods," we hear her say three words:

"Akka... Xita... Sel..."

Obviously Akka and Xita are Worm gods. New Worm god just dropped??? We've never before heard the name "Sel." The only pattern I'm seeing in these being invoked is that Akka and Xita are dead. So maybe Sel is another, some forgotten Worm god that's died a long time ago. Or maybe it's just a word in the incantation, but that's a strange placement for it here with two other Worms.

[most-likely-shadowhisker]

YOU. You get it.

Gundam character tourney was good this year! have a great Suletta Easter Sunday 💕

[mswyrr]

am i going to have to explain that within a patriarchy having sex w/ another man while married & having that man's kids and passing them off as your husband's is considered a greater sin than a widow having sex????? i don't agree with the mindset. but it's a thing.

if you think alicent is a hypocrite i can see it! but she's also deep in a patriarchal pov where she is a SINNER who is sinning but not quite on the level she believed R sinned against Lae/nor and the realm.

again - the logic of the characters is separate from what i personally think. but her keeping it to stuff without touching involved (the feet shows for larys) while married and only banging directly once vis/erys was dead is her keeping it a "sin" but below a certain level in her mind

every season this happens - if you know the historical mindsets g/rrm drew on and you mention it people are like "so you AGREE with medieval patriarchy and think A is the good guy!!!" i never fucking said that jesus christ.

or you mention that R is based on many noblewomen who defended their rights as nobles but didn't have a broader vision of social equality for all women and therefore were not feminists but rather proto-feminists people think you're dragging her.... no i think that's good writing

[erinatactica]

thoughts on erina's inherent che guevara symbolism?

hi, thanks for the q! (some spoilers for late game P5T under the cut)

first things first, i think it's badass! I didn't know ernesto's name/inspiration until the game came out haha!

ultimately, i think it says more about toshiro than erina! toshiro's persona is tied to his perception of eri and her influence on him, so it's more about how his true self was shaped by her desire for justice. i think she revolutionized him, and he needed to open up to see what was unacceptable and demanded change. i think it also means erina and toshiro COMBINED is what creates a revolutionary political leader

and che guevara is The Leftist Icon, right? while im honestly a little surprised atlus chose someone so closely associated with marxism, erina is a guerilla military leader and functions like a proto-ernesto... so it's kinda like a pokemon evolution to me?? LOL

ultimately, I think many revolutionary figures would work as a comparison! maybe eri has an awakening sometime in the future and her own persona is reflection of a more calculated politician like toshiro? two sides of one coin y'know?

please lmk your own thoughts!! very interested in hearing em :)

[phantomarine]

What are some shows, books, games, other webcomics, or any form of media that have lived rent-free in your head for years and years, and subsequently carried and inspired you to create Phantomarine?

In no particular order:

His Dark Materials - for ‘our world but a little different’ stuff and religious conspiracy vibes, also some evil spirit shenanigans in the second book

Final Fantasy X - for tropical locations, more religious conspiracy vibes, a world populated by angry dead spirits, and a BIG BAD FISH

Sinbad: Legends of the Seven Seas - for Eris, just Eris, also that scene where Eris summons a puppet of Sinbad and possesses him is basically my proto-inspiration for how Cheth works

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - for sailing stuff and for Pavel (he was inspired by Komali!)

Baten Kaitos - for costume ideas and some worldbuilding concepts, I just love the colors and the idea of fantasy islands existing after a cataclysm

Beetlejuice Cartoon - for the ‘I’m friends with a weird stripey dead guy and it’s fun’ concept

ReBoot - Cheth is just Reverse Hexadecimal when you think about it

Aladdin: The Animated Series - both FCheth and Halea have some Mirage in them

The Dark Crystal - more stuff about broken spirits/gods that need to be made whole again to save the world, and darkness when it’s appropriate

Princess Mononoke - humans vs gods and how nature suffers as a result, good gray morality characterization

Return to Oz - Halea is literally Just Mombi

[weneverlearn]

Aaron Lange, Peter Laughner, and the Terminal Town of Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland-based artist, Aaron Lange, tackles his first graphic novel, Ain't It Fun -- a deep dive into the oily depths of the Rust Belt's most influential music town, it's most mythological misfit, it's oft-forgotten artistic and political streaks, and beyond...

Aaron Lange and his book, 2023 (Photo by Jake Kelly)

--------------------------------------

There’s a recurring line in Aaron Lange’s remarkable new graphic novel, Ain’t It Fun (Stone Church Press, 2023), that states, “Say the words out loud. The River isn’t real.” The river Lange was speaking of is the Cuyahoga, that infamously flammable mass of muck that dumps out into Lake Erie.

Peter Laughner (the ostensible topic of Lange’s book) was an amazing artist who probably could’ve ditched the banks of the Cuyahoga for more amenably artistic areas back in his early 1970s heyday. Aside from his frequent pilgrimages to the burgeoning NYC Lower East Side scene (where he nearly joined Television) and a quickly ditched attempt to live in California though, he mostly stuck around northeast Ohio.

While desperately trying to find his sound and a workable band, Laughner smelted a post-hippie, pre-punk amoebic folk rock, and formed the influential embryonic punk band, Rocket from the Tombs, which later morphed into Pere Ubu. All of which – lumped up with other rust-belted oddballs like electric eels, Mirrors, DEVO, the Numbers Band, Chi-Pig, Tin Huey, Rubber City Rebels, and more – essentially helped formed the “proto-punk” template.

Laughner was also a rock writer of some regional renown, and contributed numerous amphetamine-fueled articles to regional mags like The Scene and Creem -- mostly concerning where Rock'n'Roll was going, colored as he was by the Velvet Underground, the Stooges, David Bowie, and Roxy Music playing in Cleveland a bunch of times around his formative years.

Sadly, in June 1977, Laughner died of acute pancreatitis at age 24. Aside from the first two seminal Pere Ubu 7-inch singles, the rest of Laughner’s recorded output was just one very limited self-released EP and, posthumously, a great double-LP comp of demo and live tracks, Take the Guitar Player for a Ride (1993, Tim Kerr Records). A surprisingly large batch of unreleased lost demos, radio shows, and live tapes appeared on the beautiful and essential box set, Peter Laughner (Smog Veil Records, 2019), that brought Laughner’s legend just a few blocks outside of Fringeville, as it received universally great reviews….

The Dead Boys became the most well-known act of that mid-70s Cleveland scene, though that only happened once they high-tailed it to NYC. Aside from DEVO, Chrissie Hynde, and the Waitresses (all of whom did their own versions of high-tailing it), nearly every other act in that fertile Cle-Akron proto-punk vortex soon dissipated, eventually getting the cult treatment at best.

Cleveland is indeed right there with NYC and London as punk ground zero, but Americans tend to equate buyable products as proof of import, so shockingly, the Pagans and The Styrenes just aren’t the household name they should be.

Decades of tape-trading stories, sub-indie label limited releases, and fanzine debates kept the mythology of those acts barely breathing underneath the end of the milennium’s increasingly loud R'n'R death knell. And as that mythology slowly grew, the fans and even the musicians of the scene itself still wonder what it all meant.     

Which, as you dig deeper into Ain’t It Fun, becomes the theme not just about the legendary rocker ghost of Peter Laughner, but of Cleveland itself. Ala Greil Marcus’ classic “hidden history” tome, Lipstick Traces, Lange interweaves Laughner’s self-immolating attempts at Beatnik-art-punk transcendence with a very detailed history of Cleveland, with its insane anti-legends and foot-shooting civic development.

Like much of the dank, rusted, and mysterious edges of the one-time “Sixth City,” the Cuyahoga has been cleaned up since, though I still wouldn’t suggest slurping up a swallow if you’re hanging on the banks of the Flats. I grew up in Cleveland and visit as often as I can because it’s an awesome place, no matter what they tell you. Or maybe, because of what they tell you.

If you are keen to swim down through the muck and mire of Cleveland’s charms, you don’t just get used to it, you like it. As for the “Cleveland” that the City Fathers have always tried so vainly to hype, us hopelessly romantic proto-punk fanatics say to those who would erase Cleveland’s fucked-up past and replace it with that weird fake greenspace underneath the Terminal Tower: “The City isn’t real.”

-------------------------------------

Give us a quick bio.

Born in Cleveland, 1981. We moved to the west side suburbs when I was six. My parents didn’t listen to much music, and I don’t have older siblings. So I didn’t really listen to music at all until I was in high school, and I didn’t listen to any of the grunge or ‘90s stuff that was popular. I got real into the Beatles when I was in ninth grade, and at some point I got the Velvet Underground’s first album from the library because I saw Andy Warhol’s name on the cover. I didn’t know anything about them, so that was a real shock. I probably first heard Iggy Pop via the Trainspotting soundtrack, and pretty soon after I started getting into punk and generally more obscure stuff. Now I listen to more electronic stuff, ambient stuff. I also like most anything that falls under the broad “post-punk” umbrella. I really hate “rama-lama ding-dong” rock and roll.

What came first – music or drawing interest?

Drawing. I was always drawing… I’ve been a semi-regular contributor to Mineshaft for many years, which is a small zine/journal that features a lot of underground comix related stuff, but also has a beatnik vibe and includes poetry and writing. I’ve done the odd thing here and there for other zines, but I don’t really fit in anywhere.

Don’t really fit it – I feel that phrase describes a lot of the best / more influential Ohio musicians / bands. Did you feel that kind of feeling about Peter as you researched and wrote the book?

Peter was well liked, and he knew a vast array of people. If anything, he fit in in too many situations. He was spread thin.

When you lived in Philly, did you get a sense of any kind of similar proto-punk scene / era in that town? I sometimes, perhaps jingoistically, think this particular kind of music is almost exclusively confined to the Rust Belt.

I lived in Philly for nearly 11 years. As far as the old scene there, they had Pure Hell. But back then, anybody who really wanted to do something like that would just move to NYC.

So, is there a moment in time that started you on a path towards wanting to dig into Cleveland’s proto-punk past like this?

It was just something I had a vague interest in, going back to when I first heard Pere Ubu. And then later learning about the electric eels, and starting to get a feeling that Cleveland had a lot more to offer than just the Dead Boys. The Rocket from the Tombs reunion got things going, and that’s when I first started to hear Laughner’s name. A few years later, a friend sent me a burned CD of the Take the Guitar Player for a Ride collection, and I started to get more interested in Peter specifically.

Despite any first wave punk fan’s excitement about a Laughner bio, this book is moreso a history of Cleveland, and trying to connect those odd underground, counterculture, or mythological connections that the Chamber of Commerce tends to ignor as the town’s import. Was there a moment where you realized this book needed to go a little wider than only telling the tales of Laughner and the bands of that era? (Not that there’s anything wrong with that!)

Very early on I realized that none of this would make sense or have any true meaning without the appropriate context. The activities of the early Cle punk scene need to be viewed in relation to what was going on in the city. I think this is just as true with NYC or London – these were very specific contexts, all tangled up in politics, crime, rent, television, and also the specifics of the more hippie-ish local countercultures that preceded each region. You’ve got Bowie and Warhol and all that, but in Cleveland you’ve also got Ghoulardi and d.a. levy. Mix that up with deindustrialization and a picture starts to form.

So when did you decide on doing this book? You’ve mentioned this was your first attempt at doing a full graphic novel – and boy, you went epic on it!

I did a short version of Peter’s story back when I was living in Philadelphia. But upon completing that version – which I now think of as a sketch – it became clear that there was a lot more to say and to investigate. I spent about a year just thinking about it, forming contacts with some people, and tracking down various reference materials like records, zines, books, etc. Then my wife got a new job at Cleveland State University, so we left Philly. Once I landed back in Cleveland I started working on the book in earnest.

Page from Ain't It Fun -- all book images courtesy of the author.

By any chance was Greil Marcus’ book, Lipstick Traces (1989), an inspiration, as far as the “hidden history” factor, the trying to connect seemingly unconnected and lost historical footnotes into a path towards the culture’s future?

Yes. I read Lipstick Traces when I was around 19 or 20, and I’d never seen anything like it before. It really blew my mind, all the stuff about the Situationists and Dadaists and all that. Later on, I read Nick Tosches’ Dean Martin biography, Dino, and that was another mind blower. Another major influence is Iain Sinclair.

Ah Dino, another Ohio native. So, Laughner’s one-time partner, Charlotte Pressler’s book is mentioned, and I’ve seen it referenced and talked about for years – any inside word on if/when she might have that published?

Charlotte never wrote a book, though she did co-edit a book that collected the work of local poets. As far as her own writing, she’s done all manner of essays and poetry, and probably some academic writing that I’m not familiar with. As far as her completing “Those Were Different Times”— which was intended as a total of three essays— I’ve got some thoughts on that, but it’s not really my place to comment on it.

Pressler sounds like a very serious person in your book, as you say, she was kind of older than her years. But how was she to talk to?

Charlotte is serious, but she’s not dour. She’s got a sense of humor and she’s very curious about the world, always looking to learn new things. She’s an intellectual, and has a wide array of interests. We get along, we’re friends.

The fact that the town’s namesake, Moses Cleveland, left soon after his “discovery” and never came back – that’s like a template for how people envision a town like Cleveland: nice place to grow up, but you want to get out as soon as you’re legal. Even the musicians of the area might’ve agreed with that sentiment, even if many never left.  Do you think that has changed?

I’m glad I left Cleveland, but I’m also glad I came back. First off, my family is here. Second, the cost of living is still reasonable. I don’t know how people live in New York. I never have any money. I’d make more money if I had a full-time job at McDonald’s. That’s not a joke, or me being self-deprecating. How do artists live in New York? How do they afford rent and 20 dollar packs of cigarettes? I’m just totally confused by the basic mechanics of this. So yeah, I’m in Cleveland. It’s not great, but what are my options? I can’t just go to Paris and fuck around like a bohemian. I would if I could.

In Ain't It Fun, you reveal that one of the seminal Cleveland scene dives, Pirate's Cove, was once a Rockerfeller warehouse  – these kind of enlightening, almost comically perfect metaphors pop up every few pages. Not unlike the mythology that can sometimes arise in musician fandom, I wonder if these are metaphors we can mine, or just an obvious facts that the town drifted down from a center of industry to relative poverty.

“Metaphor” might be at too much of a remove. These facts, these landmarks — they create a complex of semiotics, a map, a framework. The city talks through its symbols and its landscape. If you submit to it and listen, it will tell you secrets. There is nothing metaphorical about this.

Is it a sign of privilege to look on destitution as inspiration? I’m guessing the sick drunks at Pirate’s Cove in 1975 weren’t thinking they were living in a rusty Paris of the ‘30s. Though I will say a thing I really loved about your book was that, for all its yearning and historical weaving, you still stick to facts and don’t seem to over-mythologize or put any gauze on the smog, like “Isn’t that so cool, man.” You capture the quiet and damp desperation of that era and Laughner’s milieu.

Poverty, decline, decay, entropy – these things are real. By aestheticizing them we are able to gain some control over them. And once you have control, you have the power to change things. This is not “slumming.” “Privilege” has nothing to do with it.

Page from Ain't It Fun

Do you know why the Terminal Tower (once the second tallest building in the world when it opened in 1928) was named that? It seems somewhat fatalistic, given the usual futurist positivism of the deco design era.

Terminal as in train terminal. It really pisses me off that there was once a time where you could go there and catch a train to Chicago or New York. It’s infuriating how this country dismantled its rail systems. And the Terminal Tower isn’t deco, but I think it is often confused with that style just by virtue of not being a gigantic rectangle. In that sense it does have more in common with a deco structure like the Chrysler building. Honestly, if you are looking for deco you might find more notable examples in Akron than you would Cleveland.

I notice a kind of – and bear with my lesser abilities to describe illustrative art – swirly style in your work that kind of aligns with art deco curves, maybe some Gustav Klimt…? In general, who were some illustrative inspirations for you early on?

That “swirly” style you describe is art nouveau. Deco came after that, and is more angular and clean. Additionally, a lot of underground comix guys were also poster artists, and there was often a nouveau influence in that psychedelic work – so there’s a bit of a thread there. As far as Klimt, I came to him kinda late, but I love him now.

The music of many northeast Ohio bands of that era has been generally tagged as “industrial” (the pre-dance industrial style, of course), cranky like the machinery of the sputtering factories in the Flats, etc… My guess is maybe the musicians were already finding used R'n'R instruments in thrift stores by that time, which would add a kind of layer of revision, turning old things into new sounds. Did you hear about of any of that? Or were there enough music stores around town? I know DEVO was already taking used instruments and refitting them; or electric eels using sheet metal and such to bang on…

I’m not a musician, so I don’t know anything about gear or stuff like that. I do know that Allen Ravenstine made field recordings in the Flats, and utilized them via his synthesizer. Frankly, I wish more of the Northeast Ohio bands had taken cues from Ubu and early Devo, because an “industrial” subculture definitely could have formed, like it did in England and San Francisco. But that never really happened here.

That kind of music was pretty popular on college radio and in a few clubs in Cleveland, though not many original bands with that sound arrived, aside from Nine Inch Nails who quickly took his act elsewhere… So in the book you mention local newsman, Dick Fealger. My memories of him are as a curmudgeon whose shtick was getting a little old by the time I was seeing him on the news, or his later opinion columns. Kinda your classic “Hey you kids, get off my lawn” style. You rightly paint him as a somewhat prescient reporter of the odd in his earlier days, though. I once had to go to a friend’s mother’s funeral, and in the next room in the funeral home was Dick Feagler’s funeral. I always regret not sneaking over and taking a peak into it to see who was there.

I like Feagler in the same way that I liked Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes. These were people that my grandparents liked. So I suppose my appreciation for Feagler is half nostalgia, half irony. I like cranks, grumps, letter-writers, street prophets. I like black coffee, donuts, diners, and blue plate specials – that’s Feagler’s world, the old newspaper world. Get up at 6 am and put your pants on, that kinda thing.

Yeah, I still found Feagler kinda funny, but like Jane Scott, while respect was always there, by the later ‘80s/’90s, both were set into almost caricatures  who were kind of resting on their laurels. 

Yeah, I remember seeing Jane at some random Grog Shop show back in the ‘90s, and I was kinda impressed. But no, she was never really cool. Jane was pure Cleveland, her career couldn't have happened anywhere else.

I remember seeing her sit right next to a huge house amp at the old Variety Theater for the entire duration of a Dead Kennedys show, taking notes for her review. Pretty impressive given her age at that point.

You also make a point of carving out an important space for The Damnation of Adam Blessing, a band that seems to get forgotten when discussing Cleveland’s pre-punk band gaggle. I find that interesting because in a way, they are the template for the way many Ohio bands don’t fit into any exact genre, and so often people don’t “get” them, or they’re forgotten later.

Damnation worked as a good local example for that whole psychedelic thing. They were very ‘60s. While the James Gang on the other hand, was more ‘70s— the cracks were starting to show with the ‘70s bands, they were harder and less utopian. Damnation feels more “Woodstock,” so they were useful to me in that regard.

I must add – for years I thought it was pronounced Laugh-ner, as in to laugh, ha ha, not knowing the Gaelic roots. Once I learned I was pronouncing it wrong, I still wanted to pronounce it like laughing, as it seemed to fit so darkly correct with how his life went, and Cleveland musicians’ love of bad puns and cheap comedians and such… Of course when I learned that it was an “ethnic” name, it made it that much more Cleveland.

Yeah, everybody says his name wrong. I used to too, and had to really force myself to start saying it as Lochner. But everybody says Pere Ubu wrong as well – it’s Pear Ubu.

I hate any desecration of any artwork, but I always loved the blowing up The Thinker statue story, as it seemed such a powerful metaphor of the strength of art, and Cleveland itself – the fact that The Thinker himself still sits there, right on top of the sliced-up and sweeping shards from the blast. It’s still there, right? And isn’t it true that there are like three more “official” Thinker statues in the world?

Yeah, I don’t condone what happened, but it is kinda cool. As a kid, the mutilated Thinker had a strong effect on me — I couldn’t have put it into words at the time, but I think it gave me a sense of the weight of history. It’s almost like a post-war artifact in Europe, something that is scarred. And yes, it’s still there outside the museum. And it’s a cast. I think there might be five official ones, but I’d have to look that up. If you are ever in Philadelphia, swing by the Rodin museum and check out The Gates of Hell.

I have only become a bigger fan of Laughner’s as the years pass. But there is something to the critique that perhaps he never really found his singular sound; that he was copping bits from Lou Reed and Dylan, and couldn’t keep a band together to save his life. And there was supposedly a feeling among some in the NYC scene that he was a bit of a carpetbagger.

Everybody has their influences, so Peter wasn’t in any way unique in that sense. I know he has a reputation for doing a lot of cover songs — which is true — but he also wrote a lot of originals, and there are some damn good ones which are still unreleased. “Under the Volcano” is just one such unheard song which I mention in my book, but there are others. As far as finding his own singular sound, he probably came closest to that with Friction. That group borrowed heavily from Television and Richard Hell, but also drew upon Richard Thompson and Fairport Convention. And when you think about it, those were really unlikely influences to juxtapose, and it created something original. Frustratingly though, Friction never achieved their full potential, as Peter was already losing it.

Yeah, Friction is kind of way up there with the “What if” bands… It’s interesting that for all his legend as a proto-punk figure, perhaps Laughner’s signature songs – Sylvia Plath” and “Baudelaire” – were gorgeous acoustic numbers. Though of course those early Pere Ubu songs were proto-punk and post-punk templates, somehow...

I honestly don’t know what happened with Ubu, as it is pretty distinct from Peter’s other work. Thomas isn’t really a musician, so we can only give him so much credit with how that sound developed. I honestly don’t know. There just must have been some sort of alchemy between the various players, and Thomas understood it and was able to encourage and guide it in the projects that followed over the years.

Page from Ain't It Fun

You also didn’t really detail Pere Ubu’s initial breakup – was there just not much to say?

Yeah, I think I mentioned it, but no, I didn’t really get into it. Pere Ubu is kind of a story unto themselves. But it might be worth mentioning here that Home and Garden was an interesting project that came out of that Ubu breakup. And Thomas also did some solo albums, but I’m not as familiar with those.

Yeah, I saw Home and Garden a few times way back, good stuff. You’ve mentioned to me that there were some people that didn’t want to talk to you for the book; and that people were very protective of Peter’s legacy and/or their friendship with him. To what do you attribute that?

It has everything to do with Peter’s early death. Some people are very protective of how Peter is remembered. And I think some people weren’t exposed to Peter’s dark side, so when they hear those descriptions of him it strikes them as untrue. I think Peter showed different sides of himself to different people.

I kind of felt as I was reading that you might say more about Harvey Pekar, as not only is he an interesting figure, but the most famous graphic novelist from Ohio, and I assume an inspiration of your’s.

Pekar’s great. Especially the magazine-size issues he was doing in the late ‘70s up through the ‘80s. It was important to me to include him in the book. But Pekar was a jazz guy, and that’s a whole other story, a whole other tangled web.

So, Balloonfest! Hilarious. I almost forgot about that. But I do remember Ted Stepien owning the short-lived Cleveland professional softball team; and for a promotion, they dropped softballs off the Terminal Tower, and if you caught one you won $1,000 or something. Do you recall that? It’s one of my favorite fucked-up Cleveland stories. Balls smashed car roofs, and cops immediately told people to run away.

Yeah, I’m aware of that baseball stunt. I generally try and stay away from anything even remotely related to professional sports teams — it gets talked about more than enough elsewhere. Oddly, I am interested in athletes who work alone, like Olympic skiers. I’m attracted to that solitary focus, where the athlete isn’t competing against other teams or players, but more competing with the limits of the human body, competing with what the physical world will allow and permit, that whole Herzog trip. I’m also interested in the Olympic Village, as this artificial space that mutates and moves across time and across continents.

As far as Balloonfest, I still watch that footage all the time. I use it as a meditation device. I’ll put it on along with Metal Machine Music and go into a trance.

A few years ago, as I am sure you are well aware, noted British punk historian Jon Savage put together a Soul Jazz Records comp of Cleveland proto-punk called Extermination Nights in the Sixth City. I grew up in Cleveland, lived in Columbus for awhile, and I never heard it called “the Sixth City.” Have you? If so, what does it refer to?

Nobody calls it that anymore. It’s an old nickname back from when Cleveland was literally the sixth largest city in the country.

I’d guess Ain’t It Fun was a tiring feat to accomplish. But do you have another book in the works? And if someone wanted to option Peter’s story for a movie, would you sign on? I personally dread rock biopics. They’re almost universally bad.

Yeah, I’ve got an idea for another book, but it’s too early to talk about that. As far as biopics, they are almost always bad, rock or otherwise. Rock documentaries are often pretty lousy too. A recent and major exception would be Todd Haynes’ Velvet Underground documentary, which is just goddamn brilliant. A film about Peter in that vein would be great— but there’s just no footage to work from. He didn’t have Warhol or Factory people following him around with a camera. So unless somebody like Jim Jarmusch comes calling, I won’t be signing off on movie rights any time soon.

Unless there is more you’d like to say, thanks, and good luck with the book and future ventures!

Stone Church Press has a lot of projects planned for 2024 and beyond, and I encourage anyone reading this to support small publishers. There is a lot of very exciting stuff going on, but you have to work a little to find it. Amazon, algorithms, big corporate publishers — they’re like this endless blanket of concrete that smothers and suffocates. But flowers have a way of popping up between the cracks.

Aaron Lange, 2023 (Photo by Jake Kelly)

[firesofdainix]

whenever a planet dies whether because they were involved in a collision or because they were punished by their star( assuming that executions happen outside of sol's system)what usually happens to their moons if they get to live? Theia, Proto and Oceanus didn't had moons and we dont know what happened with gaia after uranus died so its kinda of hard to tell.

During the war, the Giants killed the others moons first in order to weaken the Giants or planets resolve. Out of all of Hades's moons, only Eris survived.

Gaia in the Better Off Dead AU is still alive! They're stuck in this codependent platonic relationship with Neptune right now. Looks like someone stopped hating moons.

[tsikli]

Ðusyþ word of the day #345

almeð (sail)

/ˈal.með/ [ˈal.með]* ⟨eñlmeñðiñ⟩

*Standard dialect

Etymology

From Old Ðusyþ ęlmęðį "sail", from Ahmegon *ęlmeðį "sail", from Proto-Phytic *erimēþi "hemp undergarment", derived from *eri "hemp" (see Ðusyþ ej "hemp") + mēþi- "to sew" (see the derived stem *mēþinō "to weave", giving Modern Ðusyþ mesn "to weave"). See Wonic ömlőðű "rag", Staltan elmazy "undergarment", Eidhon eilmëðű "sail".

Definition

n.

sail of a ship

ðymeifllalmeðalpexallj xöþaförngwyn. vanish-PST-PF-sail-GEN-voyage-GROUP LOC-horizon The sails of the voyaging group vanished over the horizon.

2. sail of a windmill

3. (northern) cheek

ngösngksei xöþalmeð. kiss-DAT.1SG-IMP LOC-cheek Kiss me on the cheek.

[lichfucker]

in as vague and malleable an order as possible:

fishbowl

erie

the backseat

wyckoff and palmetto

things already known

go without

midwinter child

on bended knee

willow weep

mixed metaphor song (both)

beachgrass

arbor [title will certainly change but idk to what]

cry out

proto-spring (hibernator arises)

and that isn't including top half percent, untitled tree song, or no more favors (or the dozen other pieces I never finished but had like one good stanza lmao). I was even considering cutting out fishbowl and proto-spring because I didn't actually write them FOR this album but they just. fit so well.

I don't know how people are out here writing ten tracks and calling it a day, I really don't. I feel like even with all of this there's still more to be said. like I'm not finished yet. idk. there's a lot of composition left to do; maybe it'll feel more complete by then.

[quirkwizard]

How do you think the story would change if Izuku manifested Blackwhip during the forest camp arc? Like specifically when he is trying to reach Bakugo?

For the sake of this, I'm still saying Bakugou will get captured. I could see a scenario of Izuku pulling him out in time, but Bakugou not being captured would radically change so much and I want to focus on your question. For this, let's say the feedback of "Black Whip" hurt his already damaged arms so much that he couldn't pull it off.

If you are talking about story changes, while I don't see any major differences in the plot. I can't imagine too many situations where he would act or react that differently with the extra power. However, I do see things getting a lot easier for Izuku going forward. "Black Whip" is one of the most useful Quirks Izuku has on hand, so giving it to him so early on is going to be a major boon. Saving Bakguou will be easier with a giant fishing line for him to grab. He's going to breeze right through the License Exam with the extra range and defense and would likely win against Bakugou in their rematch. He might even take the chance to escape with Eri thanks to the whips giving him an easy way out. After that, "Black Whip" won't be as helpful due to how enclosed and chaotic everything is in the Hideout Raid. It could be useful in the fight against Overhaul himself, like using it to combo attacks, having it intercept Overhaul's touch, or destroying even more of the environment. It may help the most with Gentle because it would give Izuku more mobility and control over the situation and work around Gentle's Elastic affect.

As for anything character focused, I could see a lot of changes with Bakugou as well. Between all the insecurities he has been feeling around Izuku and him getting suddenly another Quirk would put quite a bit more mental strain on him. He's going to have a lot less time to come to terms with everything, but I could still see him doubling down to surpass Izuku and maybe recognizing Izuku as a hero a lot faster. As for Izuku himself, it would be immensely more difficult to hide the fact that he had "One For All". They could pass it off like they did in cannon, but that is only going to work for so long. Other wise, I could see Izuku going a lot of what he did in canon, that being keeping an eye out for more Quirks, turning to his friends to learn how to use it better, and trying to master "Black Whip. Though there are all the benefits of having it for more time could bring, like learning how to control the black whips or coming with new techniques with it, such as a proto version of the Faux One Hundred Percent. Since he still learning to use Full Cowl, he could try to pull that internalizing trick early to better protect himself while he practices.

[nylazor]

First sentence game

Tagged by @voxofthevoid 💙💙💙

Rules: share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

So I was tagged over a month ago but I only now have the motivation to do it, I counted most recent as most recently posted (possibly because there's another tag game specifically for wips I'm doing right after this)

1. Ritsuka opens the sliding door to see Proto!Cu sitting on the balcony, overseeing the lush garden. The moon was high in the sky and stars winking down at them, uncovering a breathtaking atmosphere. (Fate/GO, Proto!Cu/Ritsuka, gift fic, smut, here)

2. Ritsuka's hand goes down and circles Billy's wrist, nails digging into the flesh, letting out a wanton moan. "Billy!" (Fate/GO, Billy/Ritsuka, giftfic, gunplay, smut, here)

3. Ever since Ritsuka summoned Mori and they'd had their big reunion, he'd seemed to be avoiding him. (Fate/GO, Ritsuka/Mori, self indulgent, smut, here)

4. We’ll leave the Servant summoning using Chaldea’s Saint Graphs for later. (Fate/GO, retelling of story, here)

5. Angra was hanging out in the cafeteria, chewing on some jerky. (Fate/GO, fluff, gift fic, here)

6. Ritsuka watched as her servants fought. (Fate/GO, smut, gift fic, petplay, here)

7. Ritsuka had a tell. (Fate/Go, character study, Ritsuka/Mori, here)

8. Eri watched as Chisaki stuck the needle deep into her thigh, straight into her femur. Through thorough research that he didn't share with her, she knew that bone marrow was a necessary component to the bullets that erased quirks. (BNHA, Villian Eri, here)

9. Ritsuka snapped the book shut with a bang. (Fate/GO, vent fic, Mori/Ritsuka, here)

10. The first time she throws up is right after the Baobhan incident. (Fate/GO, gift fic, monster!Ritsuka, here)

wow, I really write short sentences. anyway...

I tag (no pressure) @basedbogwizard @moniesmonsters @arysthaeniru @monsterkissed @candleshopmenace @artsy-deathand @ch-amanyone else who wants to!

[thefirstknife]

I have not played since The Traveler left and Rasputin died. WHAT is GOING ON in there? THere's pyramids, Eris is a Hive god, Xivu Arath is dead(??? unsure), there's a. A Veil in the Traveler? ??????????????????????

Oh dear, welcome back! I highly recommend checking Destiny Lore Vault for playlists for the campaign, post-campaign quests and seasonal stories (Defiance, Deep, Witch, Wish)!

Speedrun cliffnotes:

Lightfall! Witness found something called the Veil on Neomuna. The Veil is to the Darkness what the Traveler is to the Light; a paracausal entity that controls aspects of it. We also knew about it because Osiris had a vision of it and Rasputin confirmed that! We go to Neptune where we find Neomuna and Cloud Striders, a civilisation that escaped the Collapse. The Witness tricks us into getting near the Veil and uses our Ghost to create a link between the Veil and the Traveler which opens a big portal on the Traveler. The Witness goes through and has been missing since. This whole year was dedicated to figuring out how to follow it into the Traveler!

Defiance! The Witness left its fleet to attack Earth, we defend the Earth from its forces. Mara and the Awoken help us, Crow and Mara begin their reconciliation, Amanda dies sacrificing herself to save civilians.

Deep! Titan returns from the anomaly! We've been told previously that we have to go there because an "enemy of the Witness" lives there; the enemy is a proto-worm Ahsa who fled the Fundament and settled on Titan back in the Golden Age. Ahsa helped Sloane survive on Titan. The two of them team up to help us against Xivu Arath and to figure out the portal. Ahsa tells us that Savathun knows how to get into the portal which means we have to rez her.

Witch! We meet up with Immaru who tells us that Sav left instructions for this exact situation; she will only tell us about the portal if we "deal with" Xivu Arath. Eris embraces her Hive side and bonds with Ahsa, to become a temporary Hive God of Vengeance. She collects tithes from us, the Guardians, and becomes super powerful. Once she's ready to face Xivu, we rez Savathun and Eris kills her, scooping up all of Sav's power on top of our tithes and becomes the most powerful Hive god briefly. She uses that power to cut off Xivu Arath from her throne world; Xivu is now mortal. Eris releases her power and returns to normal, rejecting the Sword Logic and laughing in the face of every Hive ever. Savathun honors her deal and tells us that she already showed us how to get through the portal, then she strikes another deal; she is to be free, but we keep Immaru so if she does anything we don't like, we can crush him. Savathun's answer is hidden in the pattern of her wings - it's the 15th wish. The 15th wish is to get one person through the portal. We need an ahamkara!

Wish! Mara and the techeuns conjure Riven's spirit through her cleansed heart; ahamkara persist after death! Riven tells us she will grant the wish only if we help save her remaining uncorrupted eggs because she wants her children and her species to go on. We agree to this and spend weeks saving her eggs which were scattered through the ley lines to protect them (this was done by Riven's mate, Taranis, a kind and benevolent ahamkara). We fight the Sol Divisive Vex for these eggs, who are doing incomprehensible things as Vex do, and when we succeed, Riven grants the wish. Crow is the one to go through the portal because he and Mara share a bond and through that bond, Osiris and Mara figure they can use the Veil just like the Witness did and forge a connection that will open the portal for the rest of us. We're currently waiting for the final mission of Season of the Wish which will likely conclude by showing us that Crow made it and that the portal is opening.

That's the shortest I could get! Definitely recommend checking out DLV and all the stuff because there's A LOT going on and there's a lot of stuff also happening in the background, especially in dungeons, and with everything that appears to be hinting at post-TFS content. There's also a lot of stuff with the Veil and the nature of Light and Darkness, mostly in LF campaign and Parting the Veil quest from post-campaign; some incredibly cool reveals and information going on.

I'll be happy to answer any further questions, if anything interests you more than other stuff, but also feel free to dive into the content yourself! And as usual, Ishtar Collective will help as well, with all the lore books and lore tabs.

We're currently in the free update, Into the Light, which focuses on the continued attack of the Pyramids on Earth, something that appears to be a last ditch effort of the Witness' forces to prevent us from following it to the portal.

[wonderwafles]

Five fic recs of mine, having been tagged by the fab @undercat-overdog! Thank you! <3

1. I’m proud of Metathesiophobia, which is a lighthearted chat between the Witch Queen Savathûn and Queen Mara Sov of the Awoken about death, afterlife, and change. I like the style of this one as well as the content, and I’m proud of the way I wrote it. Also, it’s always a pleasure to dig into the more mind-bending implications of Destiny lore.

2. I’ve recced this one before, but gosh golly, I’ll do it again; Love in the Time of Werewolves is probably the Tolkien fic I’m happiest with just as a full work. The style of writing is soooo fun and one I hope to do more of! :D

3. Far Old Places is my average-ly ongoing drabble(?) collection about the Krill AU, the timeline where the proto-Hive on Fundament receive the blessing of the Traveler and become Guardians. It’s still in my thoughts on how to continue it, I promise, no *really*

4. Path of Wisdom is a fic about the Halo tv series that I wrote two and a half years before the show came out, and honestly, I still like it. I enjoyed obliquely tying religion and alien biology together in a way that feels like it would make a really good ongoing premise, in what would be a pretty severe TV show AU nowadays.

5. This untitled fic I wrote for Destcember 2021 is a spooky Dark Age fic about how creepy Guardian resurrection can be. I like doing ghost stories as it turns out :D

I will tag @cappurrccino, @eri-223, @xivu-arath, @synnthamonsugar, @ageless-aislynn, and @seventhscorpio!

[monoukotori]

Kain’s sleep deprived Saint Seiya’s rec list

Made for @silverzeze

Movies: These movies are canon to the anime so u could watch them first before jumping to the manga

Evil Goddess Eris (1987): The goddess Eris possesses some poor girl that is shipped with Hyoga (?)

The Heated Battle of the Gods (1988): This is loosely based in a chapter extra of the manga and was like the proto-Asgard saga (the movie got popular so Toei turned it into a very alright filler arc)

Legend of Crimson Youth (1988): happens roughly after Poseidon’s arc. A god named Abel appears, tries to romance Athena (his sister), tries to destroy earth and shenanigans ensue (this movie is very pretty)

Warriors of the Final Holy Battle (1989): Seiya and co vs Lucifer, yes that one

High Priority: Everything made by Kurumada. Not because the spinoffs are less or something, but because there are so much content people get confused about what’s canon or not. Only the things made by Kurumada are canon, and the spinoffs often contradict canon info (often because the spinoff was released before this information became public) and the spinoffs constantly contradict each other, so it’s better to read the canon stuff first to avoid confusion

Episode Zero: narrates the event of Saga’s coup and Aioros escape from sanctuary with baby Athena

 Origin: Shows how the twins ended up in sanctuary and the origin of Saga’s double personality

Destiny:  New scenes with Kanon and the marinas, narrates how Kanon decided to fight for Athena and how Saga was recruited by Hades

 Next Dimension: oficial sequel manga. It starts almost inmediately where the OG anime left it and it deals with time travel, its wild

After this almost anything is fair game, it depends of what kind of story you’d like to watch/read

Manga

Lost Canvas: the most popular Spin-Off. Narrates the holy war from when Dohko and Shion were young (A lot of people mistakenly think this is canon when it’s not) Its finished and has a lot of Gaidens for extra content (It has an anime but has been unfinished since 2011 so don’t bother, pick the manga)

Episode G: The first Spin-off, less popular but considered one if not the best spin-off of them all. Aioria is the protagonist, it narrates his life living as the brother of the traitor, and the attack of the god Kronos to sanctuary. This manga’s characterization and story are great, but the art style is ugly and confusing :v. Its finished and has 2 sequels: Episode G Assassin (my personal favorite. Finished) and Episode G: Requiem (unfinished, releases a new chapter every month) No anime

Saintia Sho: An interquel focused in the saintias. Something like the personal maids of Athena, different from feminine saints, they do not use masks and act more like ladies-in-waiting than bodyguards. The protagonist is Shoko, and her journey to save her sister that became the recipient of the evil Goddess Eris (yes, this manga is partly inspired by the Eris movie) Finished, it has a side manga named Saintia Sho memories, which is unfinished and has only like 2 chapters so far. It has an anime but its DOGSHIT and unfinished, do not watch it. Pick the manga

Kurumada Suikoden: Crossover manga of all the manga made by Kurumada and illustrated by a BL artist. Not recommended since it has been in hiatus since 2016 :c

Dark Wing: focuses on Shōichirō, the Wyvern specter from a different dimension and the Holy war agains Athena, but things are not as they seem… This manga deals with the multiverse and is one of the newest spin-offs, it only has 22 chapters and releases a new one monthly, is the most unique spin-off I’ve read

Time Odyssey: A French official saint seiya spin-off. I don’t know a lot about this since it released last year so we have very little content still (also I want to buy the thing once it get licensed so I have not read the scans :v so my knowledge of the plot is spotty at best). The villain is Kronos again, trying to fuck up the timeline to stop the bronzies to fuck up the Olympus and kill god (Hades) Since it’s a French comic and not a manga it releases in volumes. Next Volume will release later this year. First volume is focused in Ikki, next one will be in Shun

Rerise of Poseidon: After the Hades arc, Athena and the bronzies are trapped in the destroyed underworld. The Olympus flips out and sends the goddess of divine punishment Nemesis to destroy earth as punishment to kill a god. Hades now turned into a butterfly wakes up Poseidon and temporarily revives the marinas(+Kanon) to stop this (cuz both Hades and Poseidon want to rule the earth, not destroy it). With only 2 chapters is the newest spin-off. This one is a doozy cuz it releases a new chapter whenever (1 september, 2 january, 3 will be in april)

Anime

Soul of Gold: Odin revives the goldies after dying in Hades arc to stop shit going down in Asgard. This is pure fanservice :v. The animation is not very good and the plot is not very good but again, its fanservice so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Omega: a sort of “next generation” for Saint Seiya, haven’t watch it so can’t say much. A lot of people don’t like it, but has interesting ideas. Also it has adult Sagittarius!Seiya and adult Aries!Kiki sooo, it doesn’t hurt to check it out

Movies

Legend of Sanctuary: a movie that tries to fit the entire sanctuary arc in 2 hours. It was a valiant effort. This is where the Pandora box dog tags comes from and at some point DM has a musical number with literal dancing crabs (?) watch it.

Saint Seiya Tenkai hen: Another that is a doozy. This is the first and only movie from a cancelled trilogy, this trilogy was supposed to be the official sequel to the OG anime,but at the end Toei didn’t follow the script that Kurumada wrote (which caused a fallout between them and it’s the reason Next Dimension exist) and also Toei didn’t give it publicity and released it on theaters the same week as THE LORD OF THE RINGS. So, it failed and the rest of the trilogy was cancelled. It’s probably the prettiest and best animated movie of them all, and I am very sad about everything surrounding it. It still worth checking out imo.

Light novels:

There are two: Gigantomachia and Golden Age but haven’t read either of them :/ I put them here so you know they exist

Gigantomachia is a fight against the Titans, and Golden Age is a fight against the goddess Astreia. Idk much more

[mantleoflight]

—Mission File—

DESIGNATION: ####

DECRYPTION KEY: QF4LYZX16G$IKO-###

SUBJECT: Echo-17 Mission File

Designation: ECH-119 Name: Echo-17 Race: Exomind Class: Hunter Subclass: Arc Ghost: Whisper

Risen: previously presumed 2 years ago, but recent evidence indicates a possible earlier rezz date. Investigation is ongoing.

Status: Limited Active Engagement

Missions Previously Assigned:

BL: Aftermath Cleanup -- As ECH-119 was presumably rezzed after the defeat of Eramis, she has been on patrols to ensure the instability of Vex and House Salvation military forces, escort and ensure safe departure of Eliksni refugees, and the maintaining of Vanguard presence on Europa.

TWQ: Active Engagement -- one of the second wave of guardians to follow after the YW and enter Savathun's Throneworld to aid in preventing invasion, and theft of the Traveler. Was involved in a controversy regarding the invention of new grips called "bubble gloves" designed to capture hive ghosts and prevent them from raising hive light-bearers. Hive POWs were found unacceptable by the Consensus and ECH-119's proposal was revoked.

TWQ: H!AU[REDACTED]: [During one of her investigation assignments of the throneworld, ECH-119 went missing for a period of 3 months. After said time, a light-bearing acolyte was killed in combat. Upon its death, however, the acolyte's chitin disintegrated, revealing ECH-119, presumably under some spell of the Witch Queen. With aid from Eris and other guardians, the hive magics afflicting ECH-119 were purged though some traces remain. ECH-119 is under close surveillance and is only permitted to engage in Vanguard Duties under other guardian supervision

SotH: nightmare dispatch assistance — Assisted in nightmare management and containment while the YW aided Crow, Zavala, and Caiatl in nightmare-to-memory rituals. ECH-119 was recused from further Leviathan missions due to Nightmare-related instabilities. [ADDENDUM]: After several months of medical leave and some assistance from fellow guardians, ECH-119 seems to be sufficiently coping with previously referred Nightmare-related instabilities. Observation is still ongoing but permission to return to active duty has been approved.

SoP: Treasure Hauler—Worked with SAL-103 assisting House Light in recovering stolen goods for the benefit of Vanguard and House Light operations, recovering relics from Eramis's recruited crews, and aided in construction efforts to improve living standards for the House of Light.

SotS: Seraph Assist—Engaged in assisting Ana Bray in the reconstruction of Rasputin, infiltration of Submind facilities, and recovery of Submind data. Assistance was disrupted due to a critical OS malfunction. The cause of the malfunction is unknown. Aid was received from an unknown agent. Medical Leave is provided on grounds of recovery.

SoD: Weapons Tech — remained on medical leave but did volunteer skills to aid guardians in the field.

SotD: Active Engagement— Returned to active duty, aided in OP: L0NG-GIRL with operatives SAL-103, PEI-271, DRX-398, DAR-218, MFW-611, FAS-482, and MRK-807. Successfully aided Sloan in both connection with and recovery of proto-worm, Ahsa, from hive forces of Xivu Arath. Successfully intervened in disrupted mission, rescuing and returning MFW-611, DAR-218 to Tower for medical assistance.

SotW: Active Engagement— Currently working closely with Eris and Ikora to secure victory against Xivu Arath.

[b-else-writes]

The Great CLAMP Re-Read Part 4: Duklyon: CLAMP School Defenders

Part 1 (RG Veda) | Part 2 (Man of Many Faces) | Part 3 (Tokyo Babylon)| Part 5 (Clamp Detectives)| Part 6 (Shirahime)| Part 7 (X)| Part 8 (Chunhyang) | Part 9 (Miyuki-chan)

Let's go a bit backwards in time to their fourth work, Duklyon: CLAMP School Defenders. It ran from 1991 to 1993, concurrent with all series mentioned in my past review, and in the same world as Tokyo Babylon/ X. It feels like the real start of CLAMP's interest with shared universes, meta-textuality, and self-reference, because so much of this series is tied to your knowledge of their other work. Proto-Tsubasa? Maybe that's a bit too much credit.

Like Man of Many Faces, I had never known this existed. It had no anime adaptation (but 1 drama CD). It's out of print and was released in English by Tokyopop in the early 2000s, in two volumes comprised of 13 chapters. I read this entirely online and like with Man of Many Faces, am not likely to ever get a physical copy unless I feel like completing my collection. "Spoilers", in the loosest sense of the word.

Synopsis: Higashikunimaru Kentarou and Shukaido Takeshi are freshmen students who lead double lives as masked sentai superheroes Duklyon, protecting CLAMP School from evil! Aided by the General and the fiery Eri Chusonji, they've got to fight the fiendish Imonoyama Shopping District from world domination (and also keep being main characters in their own story!).

The Story: Listen, this is a gag manga in the purest sense of the word. It starts off mocking the repetitive nature of tokatsu and kaiju shows, which made the first volume a slog. Satirizing repetition by being repetitive is not actually funny. Volume 2 improved by introducing a wacky alien love triangle and more CLAMP self-referential humour, which did land. The manga overall feels random and aimless, and while the latter chapters do manage to pull things together, the earlier chapters really struggle. The satire isn't particularly striking or witty, it's meant to ~cRaZy and poking fun for long-term fans. I'd rate this below average. When it leans into breaking the fourth wall and mocking themselves, it lands. When it parodies Super Sentai by just...being Super Sentai, it's a poor copy.

The Themes: There are no themes here. This is light and playful and silly and a way for CLAMP to poke fun at all the genres they like. I have learnt nothing from this and I think Takeshi and Kentarou would be proud of me.

The Characters: One thing I'm realising in these CLAMP re-reads is 1) the strength of CLAMP's character writing elevates their weaker material, and 2) they copy earlier character templates into newer characters. Takeshi and Kentarou are prototype Watanuki and Doumeki "stop saying we're close but actually they're in love". And it is charming to experience the second (first?) time, especially the flash-forward at the end where they're married (almost). I prefer the put-upon, fourth wall breaking Takeshi between the two, but their dynamic really holds things together. Sukiyabashi is pretty good as a fail villain with even more fail hair. There's nothing deep about the characters, but they're entertaining and carry the paper-thin plot.

The Art: It's competently drawn, comprehensible visual storytelling, and the detailing on the Sentai suits are pretty well-done (though something about how the codpiece connects to the legs bothers me anatomically). I do love the tokatsu villain costuming, but otherwise the character designs are quite plain. It was actually a little difficult to distinguish Takeshi and Kentarou at first. Like Man of Many Faces, it's fine, it gets the job done, but its lacking compared to CLAMP at their best. The colour spreads aren't even that fun!

Questionable Elements: I do think it's funny this is the ONE CLAMP series where an adult person-teenager relationship is treated as gross, and it's (so far) the only one where the adult is a woman and the teenager is a boy. Something something ageism misogyny. But otherwise there's really nothing to talk about here. Eri is portrayed as a lovesick harpy but it's mild, as sexism in shojo goes.

Overall: I can see why Duklyon is an obscure CLAMP work. Where Man of Many Faces had sweet charm to carry it, Duklyon treads the more fickle ground of comedy, and it just doesn't always work. There's some genuinely funny moments here, and I do like Takeshi and Kentarou, but I don't think it's a necessary read for anyone but the most dedicated of CLAMP fans. CLAMP can write a really dumb funny bit when they want to, but that's about it.