#way back when I made like a parody version of this for ''how to tell your spider-men apart by adjective''

[oliveroctavius]

Sorry About The Spider-Man Acronyms: A Guide for the anon @hawkogurl got, or anyone else who needs it. This is only a small selection of Spidey media, but it's the ones that are commonly referred to in shorthand like this.

Movies:

SM1, SM2, SM3: Spider-Man movies directed by Sam Raimi, starring Tobey Maguire.

TASM, TASM2: The Amazing Spider Man movies directed by Marc Webb, starring Andrew Garfield.

MCU: The Marvel Cinematic Universe.

ITSV, ATSV, BTSV: Into, Across, and Beyond The Spider-Verse animated movies.

TV shows:

TNAS: Spider-Man The New Animated Series (2003). People mostly forget this one exists.

TSSM: The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008). Sometimes written as SSM.

USM: Ultimate Spider-Man (2012).

MSM or MSM 2017: Marvel's Spider Man (2017).

Comic series titles:

ASM: The Amazing Spider-Man. Sometimes written as TASM.

SSM: The Spectacular Spider-Man. Sometimes written as TSSM.

WSM or WOSM: Web of Spider-Man.

SM/DP: Spider-Man/Deadpool.

USM: Ultimate Spider-Man.

SM2099: Spider-Man 2099. (Miguel's origin series.)

Frequently used comics universe numbers:

616: The main Marvel comics universe, including ASM, SSM, WSM, and virtually every mainline comic since the sixties.

1610: The "Ultimate" universe, including USM, launched in 2000 and closed in 2015. Miles Morales' home universe.

65 or Earth-65: Spider-Gwen's home universe.

MC2: An alt future universe where Peter's daughter is Spider-Girl.

6160: The... new alt future "Ultimate" universe just opened in 2024. I still don't know what's going on there.

Other random acronyms you'll see:

SM PS4/MSM, MSM2: the Marvel's Spider-Man games from Insomniac.

OMD: One More Day, the name for the 2007 story arc which broke up Peter & MJ's marriage, among other changes.

BND: Brand New Day, the comic arc immediately after OMD. OMD/BND are really two halves of the same whole, so you'll see people use them interchangeably.

KLH: The Kraven's Last Hunt storyline.

TCW: The Child Within storyline.

JMD: J. M. DeMatteis, a comic writer who did both Kraven's Last Hunt and The Child Within.

I hope this helps and, uh, good luck.

[dvchvnde]

EXCERPT: JOHN PRICE, WINTER SOLDIER AU.

You're still getting used to the sight of him—bare faced in patches: the beard shorn off into a mere shadow of what it was before; a choice he'd made for himself after scrubbing down in a long shower, refusing any help or medical aid—and he doesn't make it any easier for you in these brief, uncomfortable stages of acclimation you suffer through.

Hands lashing out into dead air. Fingers catching, unyielding and firm, on your skin. Nails—split and jagged; regrown in patches after being ripped off over and over again (for hree years, is the mocking whisper snaking along the nausea when you look at the pinked-tinged beds)—burrowing into your flesh. Anchoring you in place as he bends down, moulds his frame around you. Malleable shadow eating you whole.

Indomitable.

John Price was always an intimidating man.

Towering. Broad. Gruff. Surly. Mean old man was often thrown around amongst the new recruits, ones too scared to voice what they really thought:

Miserable fucking bastard.

His weight thrown around like an extension of himself—all raw, barely contained anger trembling out through the cracks. Lashing thick, brutal lines across his forehead. In the sharp, downward tug of his mouth tucked behind a bed of brunt umbre hair.

He was difficult to deal with on a good day, even when he'd offer that mocking smile of his. A parody of geniality—lips split upwards like a crocodiles maw.

(come, come, put your hand inside this beasts jaws; he won't bite—)

As fucking if.

You've only known him in pieces. Patches. Barely enough to make a whole picture, but you could still fill in the empty spaces with that grizzled anger of his that seemed to roll off of him in waves.

(no wonder he burns so hot—it's all that fury.)

Mostly, he'd come to dress you down in front of everyone watching. Snapping at the sight of your desk—organised chaos a true oxymoron (and for the most part, that seemed to be what he thought of you: a moron)—and how you handled files, and how you waltzed around like you owned the place—

and do you, sweetheart? do you own this place, mm? is that why you never listen to a goddamn thing i tell you?

All-in-all: a miserable fucking man.

And one made of sharp, brutal contradictions. Paradoxes layered over each other. Sealed with fury—of the righteous, pragmatic kind—and reinforced with an utilitarian core. Forlorn hope in the distinct shape of a man, one always readying himself for a pyrrhic victory (but a victory, nevertheless).

Easy, in hindsight, to deal with when you knew how to navigate the frothing gyre of anger and juxtapositions that made up the man who brute force, physicality, to get what he wanted.

By sharp contrast, the version of him who stands before is more enigmatic than the mangled mess of savagery and labyrinthine defenses. Almost unknowable. Unfathomable.

Even more so when he lifts his hand—scarred up, still blistered and bruised from fighting his way through fire and kin to get to you—and presses those mangled knuckles to the swell of your cheek, as tender as a man like him could ever allow himself to be, and runs a soft, shallow line down the side of your face. Eyes—still that same, dizzying blue—darken into liquid sapphire as he stares at you. Inexplicably soft. Lids crested. Half-mast in pleasure as if staring at your face was relaxing. Comforting.

Something swirls in those deep, endless lagoons. Some implacable emotion—all at once too much; too heavy—frissoning over his feature. A paroxysm. You can't catch it. Can't define it.

It's unquantifiable. Unknowable. And yet—

You know, instantly, that John Price would never look at you with something this archaic, this intense, brimming up like geysers in the endless spill of blue that can't seem to look away from you.

This man is not John Price.

But when he pulls you into a kiss—one softer and sweeter than you'd ever imagined the infamous captain could ever be capable of—you let him.

In fact, you kiss back.

And you'd really rather not think about what that says about you.

[go-scottishgal14]

Great essay in The Telegraph, 7/28/2024, hits nail on head imho....

Not even France can escape the West’s cultural decay

Our civilisation is surely doomed when the best Paris can offer is a drag queen parody of the Last Supper

TIM STANLEY -- 28 July 2024 at 7:30 pm

At the Olympics they often sing Imagine, containing the line, “Imagine there’s no countries …” Well, if there were no countries, there’d be no Olympics, which would be marvellous. Who wants to watch two weeks of muscular women throwing sticks and balls at each other? The only entertaining bit is the opening ceremony. Britain did a good ’un back in 2012; so good that it entered folklore, along with the 1966 World Cup and Dunkirk. When our grandkids ask, “What did you do in the clash of civilisations?” we shall reply: “We pushed Elizabeth II out of a helicopter.”

Paris, by contrast, offered us drag queens doing a parody of the Last Supper – insulting Christians, mocking God. When I described the scene to a priest, he replied: “That explains the torrential rain, then.”

It was blasphemous, sure, but it was also tacky; the crime aesthetic as well as religious. You have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to sell your country to tourists, and what did France go with? A dozen men – one with a beard – twerking to Freed from Desire. Actual culture necessitates discipline and taste. In the 21st century, people just “party”, cos it requires zero effort and any idiot can do it.

Kicking Christians is very easy because we have no power and, when we’re angry, we don’t fly planes into things. And yet some people cannot leave us alone. They feel a need to ridicule our beliefs and subvert our images, to drag Christ down to the gutter – as if crucifying him once wasn’t enough.

It’s probably because faith is beautiful. People don’t know how to react to it. When you’ve been raised in ugliness, to be confronted with the profound, transcendent beauty of the Last Supper can inspire awe, yes, but also fear. Think of those apes going bananas at the mysterious monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Beauty pierces the illusion of a comfortably banal existence.

Imagine if instead of the drag queen parody, the ceremony had paused to display the real painting by Leonardo da Vinci. No music. No fireworks. Just Jesus&Co. Millions would’ve switched off the telly – because they’d find it boring, no doubt, but also strange, unnerving, possibly offensive. There would’ve been thousands of complaints. We have engineered an entire existence around pleasure and distraction. Stop the disco for one minute and people might fill the silence with thought, even prayer … or they might riot.

Either way, you’ve got a revolution on your hands, and the powers that be can’t have that.

L’Hexagone faces a fate worse than death: becoming Great Britain

Organisers have apologised for any offence caused, but wise-guys insist the whole thing was a very French joke the world didn’t get. But how French was the ceremony in total?

Celine Dion is Canadian. Lady Gaga is from the United States. “This is France!” tweeted Emmanuel Macron – in English, something one could never imagine De Gaulle or Mitterrand doing. In fact this version of France looks suspiciously American, and drag is another import.

Men have been dressing up as women for a laugh for centuries, and long may it continue. But the art form’s current vibe was promoted by Ru Paul – obviously influenced by Voguing – and the notion that drag queens are apostles for progress is 100 per cent “made in the USA”.

I’m old enough to remember when a drag act meant a bloke, often married, dressed as Barbara Cartland telling filthy jokes about foreigners in the Dog and Duck. The Yanks have mainstreamed this subculture, transforming it into a mass consumer product, which was another reason to yawn rather than boo at the drag disciples. This stuff ceased being brave or transgressive 20 years ago. Like the rainbow flag (designed by an American) or Pride (begun in America), it is banal because it is ubiquitous.

So, Brits shouldn’t gloat over the tawdry French games. If we held them today, we’d make identical mistakes. Our ceremony would also be a celebration of diversity – every Western nation has become diverse to the point of looking exactly the same – for diversity is something one promotes when you’ve lost confidence in your historical identity. When you’ve decided everything you did pre-1960 was racist, and you’ve stopped writing great novels, composing symphonies or painting beyond primary school standard.

The West is culturally dying. It only looks alive because we’re dancing among the relics of what we used to do well – and are so embarrassed by these past accomplishments that we feel moved to ridicule their ideals.

The Paris ceremony, of course, featured a headless Marie Antoinette. Let’s laugh at a victim of an earlier experiment in egalitarianism. It’s interesting how gender always haunts debates about civilisation. In 1790, Edmund Burke – a philosopher writing before Marie’s execution – predicted that the lack of chivalry shown towards the queen would eventually spell disaster for all women and all France. In a world without etiquette or distinction, he said, “a queen is but a woman; a woman is but an animal, and an animal not of the highest order”. Abusing monarchs, like burning books, erodes dignity and encourages murder.

France’s decline is nothing special. In some regards it is ahead of us; in others, behind. The depressing point is that it is familiar. These Olympics have been marred by racial tension, incompetence, poor taste, unreliable railways, filthy river water and terrible weather. France’s fate is worse than death: she has become Great Britain.

[nitewrighter]

(Book binding anon) Anon has been given blessings to ramble? *deep inhale* Cindy perfectly encapsulates everything, and I do mean everything, that I have missed from so many fairy-tales, love stories, and fanfictions in the past decade or so. Every character is so lovingly simple--like, everyone involved has their flaws and strengths and a strong voice in and of themselves, but the prose is to the point and simple for their mannerisms, movements, and actions. For all the big, grand things that everyone does (or has done, looking at you, Mrs. Queen), the narrative always treats them as a person making choices. (Just a Lil Guy, if you will.) Which! Is! The Point! Of Cinderella!!! She is amazing because she has always always always chosen to be kind despite the shit going on, and the narrative subtly reinforcing that at every turn not JUST through lawn-chair-sitting author and their impeccable and funny inserts DIRECTLY calling out Cinderella, but in how it frames every character? The Prince's reflections? The slow understanding of everyone around the two of them how powerful that can be if you take the moment to think about it? Amazing!!! (Know that if I could put more exclamation marks and even more synonyms for "amazing" here without cluttering things, I would.) I remember as a kid finding book series like Skulduggery Pleasant which made use of short descriptive phrases and formatting (almost screenplay-esque?), and it read so easily; I'm always delighted to find things that make similar use of the dashes and ellipses to really hit home that cozy conversationalist tone. I can hear every character! Every! One! And there's JUST enough similarity to the way lawn-chair-sitting author speaks for that doubly nice reminder that yeah, we are sitting in their backyard getting told a fun story. Can we also appreciate that set-up? How it parodies so many funny retellings or strangely modern ones, sure (Masterpiece Theatre anyone? Does anyone else remember the horse lady?), but the readers aren't being talked to as kids? Like...lawn-chair-sitting author is tired, man. But they're hopeful. All their asides and inserts and descriptions feel like they're scooting to the edge of their chair to look me in the eyes and ask drunkenly but earnestly, "life fuckin sucks sometimes. But sometimes it's also good. This is my reminder." and sprinkling in all those other classic reminders of all kinds of other morals that make fairy tales so comforting. And! And and AND! It's so! Loving!!! To Cindy!!! I love the bits where the narrative "gives her space," builds her up even though she can't hear, lets her feel, and gets angry f o r her!!! It's just...it's so rare to find pieces where the characters are really, truly loved. Every time I reread it I feel like the story as a whole is just setting a big blanket on Cindy's shoulders and vicariously hugging her through the family she builds. Cindy and the Prince? The build up? The awkward second meeting? The constant communication? The quiet understanding? The build up of e v er y o n e 's eventual friendships??? The whole thing is just...so genuine and loving. I want to gush more, but at this point, trying to put how much I adore it into words just has me sitting at my keyboard making little grabby hands. Much love for your writing style, from the voice you have to the descriptions you use. They're all really wonderful, and when I get this thing bound, I'll send pictures <3

Sorry it's taken me a while to respond to this. I've just been reading it over and over.

I've never read Skullduggery Pleasant! I remember hearing vaguely about it online as a kid in the late 2000's/early 2010's, but I always thought it was a webcomic or something!

It's a little embarrassing to recall it now, but I actually did drunkenly tell a version of Cinderella from a deck chair... I want to say back in 2014? It was actually Sapsorrow from Jim Henson's "The Storyteller," which is closer to Donkeyskin, which uses the whole "Dress the color of the sky/Dress the color of the Sun/Dress the Color of the Moon" mechanic. We were *all* drunk and also passing a bong around but even then I was like... totally thrown off by people actually paying attention to me??? It always stuck with me, but I honestly wasn't even thinking about that time when I made that initial Cindy post. It only really came back to me around chapter 6, and I was like "Oh--this is like that time!!"

But the voice and the sense of spontaneity was very important to me throughout the whole thing. It still like... hits me that the story still emotionally affects people two years later--and I'm not saying that because I'm over it or anything! It's just... easy to kind of feel like you're not doing enough creatively when everything is 'content content content--are you putting out enough content?' these days. It's just... really affecting to be hit with "you floated this out into the world and it means something to people." It really means so much to me.

Thank you so much, I really mean that.

[cherrylng]

Matthew Bellamy exclusive interview - Muse [INROCK (December 2018)]

Matthew Bellamy exclusive interview

Muse's latest album 'Simulation Theory' is out now

"It's got a very colourful sound and it's a progression towards a brighter version of Muse."

Matthew Bellamy / Muse INTERVIEW : P.G. BRUNELLI / INROCK L→R Matthew Bellamy (vo./keys./g.), Dominic Howard (dr.), Chris Wolstenholme (b.)

Fantasy has become reality and simulation technology is now part of our lives. The most frightening part of this is that we can no longer distinguish between reality and fantasy. Matthew Bellamy has spotted this and has created Muse's new album, Simulation Theory, their 8th album. Matthew has had a lot of trouble in his personal life, but this has not made his life darker, nor did it in any way influence this album. To begin with, Muse albums have never been straightforward and normal, and this one is no different. This album is also very deep and contains self-analysis and analyses things from many different angles.

Muse has stepped out of the confines of the UK and become one of the world's leading rock artists. So little time was allocated to Japan for the release of 'Simulation Theory', and as a result, INROCK was the only one allowed to cover the event.

'Thought Contagion' is a song about US news and US President Trump, and about other people hijacking your thoughts, but isn't that the same situation in every country, not just the US? Matthew Bellamy (vo./keys./g.): Yeah, I think so. But this song, although it's about the news, has nothing to do with Trump. I don't know why it seems to be misinterpreted. It's actually a song based on the ethics of Richard Dawkins (animal behaviourist). It's about how human thoughts and beliefs are like genes, capable of dividing and replicating. In fact, he also coined the term 'meme' (Meme. A humorous parody of a photo or video that is spread via the internet), which you see a lot on social networking sites. The internet has changed its meaning, though. The term was originally coined to explain that our thoughts behave like genes and expand. In other words, the human brain has the ability to change even the truth into something else. That's what this song is about.

Do you miss the '80s? Matthew: No, I don't really feel that way…

But didn't you once cite the '80s as "the era that had the biggest impact on you"? I mean, technology wasn't as advanced as it is now, but… Matthew: Ah, so you asked if I miss the '80s. If that's the case, the '80s certainly had a big influence on me, and I think that's reflected in this album. I've also been re-discovering some of my childhood influences while making this record. I think the strongest influence on a newly formed band or an artist at the beginning of their career is their teenage years. In our case, it was rock music. I also developed a big interest in classical music in my late teens, so that's part of it, but anyway, I think the first 15 years or so of this band has been based on those teenage influences. But as you can tell by listening to our early songs, there was always an artificial sound somewhere. Like the use of synthesisers. With this album we wanted to go back to that kind of sound. I was heavily influenced by horror film soundtracks as a kid, and that kind of '80s sound is definitely a big influence on this album. It's a reflection of the influences I had before I formed the band.

Dom (Dominic Howard, dr.) spoke to me a few days ago about the music video, but can I ask you one thing about the video for 'Pressure'? Did you always dream of playing guitar while rolling around on stage like Michael J. Fox? (An act from the film Back to the Future) Matthew: Hahaha! I guess you could say that (laughs). I don't really remember. I think I was about seven years old when that film was released.

Yeah, that film was released in '85, so you were born in '78, so you must have been seven years old then. Matthew: The most memorable images you see when you're a kid stick in your head for a long time as an adult, and I think my first guitar player was Michael J. Fox in that film. I think that image came back to me subconsciously as I was re-discovering my childhood influences. Anyway, I had a lot of fun shooting that video.

"Maybe the characters in the game are a lot more intelligent than we think, maybe they'll become conscious and emotional in time…"

There are other influences like 'Gremlins' and various '80s films? That car that appears a few times is also reminiscent of the DeLorean. Matthew: That car is a Lamborghini. It does have a DeLorean look to it. Thanks for noticing all the little details. I played quite a few VR (Virtual Reality) games while I was working on this album, and through them I discovered that not only can you go to different worlds, but you can also go to different times. You can visit places that existed in the past. I've recently been playing a game called Star Trek: Bridge Crew, which is a lot of fun because you get to spend time on a spaceship in the '70s. It's a very strange feeling to be in the 'future' as people imagined it back then. I like that kind of lost time. It's not connected to the present, but it's somehow connected to the past or the future. I like to create experiences where you don't know which era you're in.

You've released eight albums so far, and this is the first time your faces have been on the cover. Is this design also inspired by the gaming world? Matthew: Yeah, the jackets are very much inspired by the game. The idea of being trapped inside the game world is one of the themes of the album. You gradually realise that you've become your own digital avatar and you try to escape from this game world or programme that's trapping you. It might be a very strange idea, but when you play a game for a long time, you start to think about that kind of thing. I think that maybe the characters in the game are a lot more intelligent than we think, and maybe they'll eventually become conscious and have feelings. That's a very strange feeling, don't you think? An artificial intelligence that one day discovers that it was created by humans, but it's trapped inside the game world and can't escape anywhere. Maybe that's an idea that has a connection to our human lives. I think we all have that feeling of being trapped in a programme at times.

"I'm strongly attracted to the feeling of not knowing which era you're in."

Kyle Lambert, who designed the jacket (pictured above), also did the artwork for Stranger Things and designed the jacket for the super deluxe edition (2CD + 2 analogue records + box set including hardcover book, art prints etc). Paul Schipper has done artwork for Star Wars and Marvel films, how important was it for you to work with people involved in the world of film and television? Matthew: It was incredibly important. It's great to work with people who have experience in creating virtual worlds. It's the same with the videos. Making all the videos with Lance Drake [video director], I think we were able to create a certain world. It's the first time for us to make all the videos with the same director, but we like it a lot. It allows us to build a deeper relationship with each other, and when you do four or five videos together, you start to think about the connections between each video, and you can pay attention to the details. Like what kind of connections you want to make and how you want to develop the ideas. That's why the visual world is very important on this album. In the past we weren't so much into the videos, we only focused on the music, but with this album we've really tried to focus on the visual side of it as well.

Just one more question about the video - is 'Dig Down' inspired by Max Headroom (a CG character created in the '80s as a virtual presenter for TV shows)? Matthew: Yeah, exactly. That's where the whole idea of merging the virtual world that the album is about with the future world that we all used to imagine came from. Max Headroom was the first virtual presenter, but it was only on film, someone was actually playing as him. But at the time, the idea of having a CG character as a presenter was still very interesting. I'm very much attracted to that kind of future that people used to imagine. In the early science fiction films, they often depicted a future world where artificial intelligence and robots would appear and rule the world, but we actually live in such a time now, which I think is very interesting.

As far as the sound is concerned, you seem to have combined a lot of different elements at random, without setting any limits? Some are quite electronic, some are quite rock, some are acoustic like 'Something Human' and some are mellow like 'The Void'. Matthew: I think we live in a time where we are inspired by multiple different art forms. Even in our day-to-day lives, we're influenced by a lot of different things, and as a result, we can easily go in a lot of different directions. It used to be taboo to do something retro, but now we've moved past that. We don't feel the need to stick to one idea or one genre anymore. Nowadays, listeners listen to a lot of different genres, and there are a lot of artists who fuse everything from hip-hop to urban, dance, modern rock - and create new genres and styles of music. But by fusing different genres, sounds, and styles from different eras, as I mentioned earlier, you get the feeling that you don't know which era you're in, and as I said before, I'm strongly attracted to that kind of thing.

You collaborated with the UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) Bruin Marching Band on another version of 'Pressure' on the Super Deluxe version, where did that idea come from? Matthew: There are a lot of synthesisers and electronic sounds on the eleven songs on the album, and the sound concept of the album was to blend that with an organic sound, and the Super Deluxe version is very organic, plus a lot of extra stuff. We wanted to include eleven organic, stripped-down versions of the songs (ten are actually on the Super Deluxe version). The result is that some of the songs are acoustic, some are piano-only, and all of them are very simple, except for 'Pressure', where we were like, "How the hell can we do this?" I was struggling with that one… It's a very up-tempo song, so I didn't think it could be done with just acoustic guitar. Then the idea of using a brass band came to me. There's actually a bit of that in the original. So I thought it would be great if a brass band could play on it, and I immediately thought of the UCLA brass band. They've actually performed Muse songs at halftime of college football games in the past. I saw the video on YouTube and thought it was great. Incidentally, they performed a medley of Muse songs including 'MK Ultra', 'United States of Eurasia', 'Resistance' and 'Knights of Cydonia' at halftime of a game against the University of Southern California in 2010, and again in 2013 when they performed 'Unnatural Selection' after a game against the University of California, Berkeley.

'Dig Down' is also an acoustic gospel version, which is totally different from the original concept, isn't it? Matthew: Yeah, that song is totally different from the original. The original is the most electronic song on the album, with a lot of synthesisers. If the original is more artificial and manufactured, the other version is all organic and natural sounding. If you listen to the other version, you can hear how the songs on the album were written. It's before all kinds of sounds were added.

What made you feel the need to make a super deluxe version? Matthew: I like expressing myself through music. That's my favourite part of the job. I think it all fits together and it all flows well as a piece of work, even though each song is a completely different version. The way albums are made nowadays is completely different from the way they used to be. There's a completely different concept. Because it's digital music, there's no limit to the number of songs you can have, you can have 50 songs on it, you can have eight songs on it. We came up with different versions of each song when we were making this album, but in this day and age we didn't want to put a limit on the number of songs, so we didn't feel the need to reject them.

You wanted to move away from the heavier, darker vibe of your previous album, 'Drones', didn't you? However, the album's content is not lightweight either, is it? 'Propaganda' is a very dangerous song, and 'Break It To Me' is so dark, it doesn't sound that different from 'Drones'. Matthew: There are definitely some darker themes, and I think they will continue to be present on future albums. But I think there's a big difference between the last album and this one in terms of style and atmosphere. 'Drones' was a very dark album, and the show was very dark as well. We wore black every night. Everything was black. Of course this album still has elements from the last one, but I think it's more colourful in terms of the sound. There's always been a dark element in Muse's music and I don't think it's going to change. Still, this album is quite bright for Muse. Anyway, we've moved towards a brighter version of Muse. The tour will definitely be more fun too.

Translator’s Note: This interview took so much of my time to read through each and every line in Japanese to get it right. Why? Because for some reason, the text gets printed in weird ways that it ends up missing a small yet very important thing: the ‘ー’. It’s a long vowel mark, usually only used in katakana. That missing long vowel mark can mess up the translating software so much, as it affects not only the word, but also entire sentences.

To put it simply, without that long vowel mark, there’s a VERY big difference between “ダーク (dark)” and “ダク (dork)”. And a VERY big difference between “'Drones' was a very dark album” and “'Drones' was a very dorky album”.

[thedupshadove]

Thought that came to me out of a clear blue sky…Little Shop of Horrors roleswap au. 

Same setup at the beginning, but it’s Audrey who impulse-buys the Strange and Interesting Plant (which she probably names Seymour the Second), cares for it, and discovers its…unusual dietary needs (maybe instead of bandaids, she covers the wounds on her hands by wearing gloves more often, apparently as a fashion statement. Or maybe she chalks it up to Orin.) Success comes to the shop, with Audrey being the one to get radio interviews and sudden acclaim (boosting her confidence somewhat, but only convincing Seymour even more firmly that he could never ask her out. She was always too beautiful for him, and now with this influx of cash she’s going to end up a lady, so how could somebody like him have any chance? If only he knew…)

Once the plant begins to talk, it convinces her to kill Mushnik first, by highlighting how mean he is to Seymour after that boy’s done nothing but slave for him all his life in exchange for scraps of scraps. She tells herself that she’s going to confront him first, and only if she can’t make him see reason will she use the derringer in her purse, but inevitably… 

I want to preserve the “I can off this guy by staying in the chair” moment, but obviously Mushnik doesn’t use nitrous oxide recreationally…right now I’ve got it down to a choice between a sudden heart attack where Audrey just…doesn’t call an ambulance, or else he’s eating during their conversation (to show how little mind he pays to requests to treat Seymour better), and she conspicuously fails to Heimlich him when he chokes. 

In the aftermath of Mushnik’s death (which of his two assistants did he leave the shop to? I’m not sure yet), Audrey does her best to help Seymour through his tangled emotions, assuaging his guilt at not being as sad as he should be by pointing out that Mushnik was never as nice to him as he should have been, after all. This culminates in an impulsive kiss that breaks the tension between them into an open declaration of love…which Orin just happens to overhear. 

He corners her later that evening, more angry than she’s ever seen him (and we all know that’s saying something), but unfortunately for him he made the mistake of staging his jealous little rage in the flower shop, so when she bats her eyes and calls him “Doctor” and explains that the plant has some spines on the front, so if they make love with her back against it surely that will show him just how sorry she is…well, Suppertime indeed. 

From there things can run pretty much the same as the original, to whichever version of the ending you prefer. Now, let’s talk songs! 

Most of them can be kept pretty much the same, with at most some shuffling around parts and re-writing lyrics. “Suddenly Seymour” can even keep its title phrase, with the lyrics being shifted to be about Audrey convincing Seymour that he’s someone worth paying attention to. The only real sticking point is “Somewhere That’s Green”. Since Audrey, as our new main character, will be getting the likes of “Grow for Me” and “The Meek Shall Inherit”, it seems only fair that Seymour, having been moved to the position of Love Interest, should get the Love Interest Song. But it can’t be as simple as moving some pronouns around–a guy wishing for the woman he’s interested in to be a parody of a 50s housewife has a different vibe from a woman wishing to be one herself. It’s a little too unsympathetic, especially now that Seymour isn’t even the murderer. But then what do we do with it? With Audrey being the one leading the way to financial success, is the song now about Seymour’s secret, socially-deviant desire to become a malewife?

[ashtonsunshine]

hey carmo!! i'm wondering if i can ask you maybe a couple questions/for advice as someone who's on other social medias than just tumblr? (to which i have to say 1) you're so pretty omg and 2) congrats on ashton retweeting you and liking your poster) i've been off basically all my other socials for about a year now and i'm realising i'm much more able to be myself on here without the expectations of all the people i still have on my socials from school and uni and every part of my life, and showing this side of myself on say, instagram, is kinda terrifying me, but at the same time it's important to me to push through this and get to the point i can be more genuine on there, i know it'll feel good when whoever still follows me knows a version of me that isn't as fake and highly masking as i've been for most of my life.

kinda pressuring myself on this rn too because i've gone and made a parody of red line that's about protesting genocide and i know if i post it there's a nonzero chance ashton will see it and if he sees it he will absolutely love it but i've never posted any of my music online before and i've also never sung anything in public either. and these are just things that are scary but i can get through them, but in the meantime i did want to ask, how do you do it, how do you decide what to post on there vs here, etc, if you're willing to answer at all? anyway thank you so much <3

Hello! 😊

Thank you so much! That's very nice of you. 💛

I've been on Tumblr for so long now and I'm pretty sure that people on here who follow me from the beginning can attest to the fact that I'm not the same person I was back then. I've grown a lot here. More confident. More outwards. More free. More unashamedly me.

Back then, there were no relatives on my Instagram, which made it easy for me to just do whatever I wanted. I've always been very careful in keeping family away from me online (hence Tumblr) because, as you said, expectations. That's why my Facebook is dead. All of them are on there. I was never afraid of my friends or uni colleagues. At 23, I had stopped caring in a way. I just wanted to be me, but it still didn't come naturally. I was still in my shell and afraid of what people would think, but I kept posting photos I liked that I wasn't ashamed of.

However, as the years went by, relatives started migrating onto Instagram, and I couldn't just block them (I mean, I could, but, ya know, interrogation would follow), so I just let it happen. I did block them from seeing my stories, though, so I still have some total relative-free freedom on there. Now they comment on my pics online and irl and they just accept it. What are they going to do? Tell a (almost) 30 year old woman what to do? I don't think so. I'd tell them to fuck off. They know not to mess with me anymore. 🤣

I personally always used social media for the things and people I like, and not to please anyone but me. I created and upkept my own bubbly, happy and genuine bubble, and I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm still very awkward in person, though, but I'm embracing looking stupid and silly in order to be able to move on with my life. It's not easy, but we roll anyways. 😎

My point is: it takes time and a it's a constant effort. You don't need to go all out, just bit by bit. You'll reach a point where you don't care anymore. And if someone has anything unpleasant to say about you or what you like, then bye bye! You don't need them in your life. You said "whoever still follows me", and that's exactly it. Those who don't mind your quirks and genuinely like you will stay, and that's all that matters. Hell, they might even encourage you further! 😊

When it comes to what I post here vs anywhere else, it's simple. I have different standards for each. Tumblr is for fandom and for me to be silly and fun and weird and insanely unfiltered. Instagram is for me irl, so it's more curated (my photos, my art, be it 5SOS or not). And Twitter is for...., honestly, I don't know. The reason I still have Twitter is because Ashton follows me on there, so I have a higher chance of him seeing my stuff. My Twitter page is very quiet. My feed is basically updates from artists I like. I don't do the social on there because I've always been scared of Twitter fandom, ngl. 😅

I only started posting my art on Instagram and Twitter because I wanted 5SOS to see it, and it has paid off on various occasions, which made me very happy. So there is a chance he will see your song, but you have to tag him in it. That's what I do. That's how he saw my StyH poster.

My advice to you, and for anyone who's reading this, is to be yourself, and I don't mean that in a magical oh just be yourself kinda way. I mean it as be genuine in what you post, wherever and whatever it might be. Masking or not masking. If you post something you truly like and that you are truly fully comfortable with, then there's nothing to fear. If people leave, then they leave. It doesn't need to be grandiose. It can be something little for a start. A photo that you absolutely adore but think that people will find weird, for example.

For me, I've learnt over the years to just be. I'm living my life, and I'm not ashamed of what I like. I'm insignificant, so I'm just gonna exist my own way. I don't care anymore. If people think I'm crazy for liking a band so much, so be it. I'm not hurting anyone. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I kinda ramble a bit, but I hope it was helpful. 😚

[porphyriosao3]

Day 11 - Poet

Bilbo loved the Feast of Sunreturn; he always had, even as a faunt.  The winter cold was beginning to set in, yes, but it was still new enough and cellars were still full enough that it was exciting rather than worrisome.  The evergreens hung on all available surfaces made everything look festive and bright, and the candles and bonfires to welcome back the newborn sun in the darkest night were a joyful presence. 

Needless to say, the dwarves had their own take on the festival - living beneath the mountains, the seasons were not as relevant and it was always light in the kingdoms below with their seemingly infinite lamps.

What made the dwarven version of the feast worthy was that for the only time in the year, Thorin (and even more joyfully, Bilbo) didn't have to wear crowns and robes, all the regalia and pomp of their position getting in the way of any normal interaction.... no, for the three days of the feast, they were just treated as normal people, and it was so terribly pleasant the hobbit could barely wait each year.  They were still protected, of course; wouldn't do to have royalty subjected to the common brawling, for example, but even so!  Free to wear regular clothes outside the royal quarters!  Being able to serve himself his food!  Being able to go visiting like a normal person!  Oh, it was everything he had never thought to value and didn't realize how much he would miss, all at once!  Thorin gave amazing and deeply thoughtful gifts, but if Bilbo was being honest, he found the freedom to just be a plain hobbit for a bit to be the most joyous of all.

Which made Thorin's behavior as they entered the Great Feasting Hall that much more unusual when they walked in and Thorin immediately grabbed his arm and tried to turn him around.

"What... Thorin!  Let go!  What has gotten into you?" Bilbo said crossly, snatching back his arm.  A suspicion crossed his mind, but... "Is Dain here?"

"No," Thorin groaned, "worse."  This was news to Bilbo.  Fairly alarming news, at that.  Worse?  Dain was capable - more than - of causing chaos up to and including setting fire to the dining hall, so Bilbo had to take this seriously.

"Tell me," he sighed.  "What's going on?"  A roar erupted from the hall in whose doorway they stood, and for the first time Bilbo saw an unfamiliar dwarf waving a tankard the size of a hobbit's entire head over his enormous set of unkempt, greying braids.  This dwarf looked, quite frankly, like trouble.  He was larger than Dwalin, even, and twice as disreputable.  Broken teeth, crooked nose, the scars of many battles (and brawls, looking at his knuckles), his mouth gaped in a grin with his eyes shut like some sort of parody of the concept of drunken comedy.  "Oh.  Who's that?  Is he the problem?"

"Yes," Thorin said, scowling.  "It's the Poet."  As he said that, the dwarf stood with the tremendous solemnity only the deeply drunk can muster.  Grinning at a dwarf standing near the stage, he placed his hand over his heart, swigged the remainder of whatever was in that giant tankard and paused for a moment while the crowd seemed to hold its breath.  A torrent of Khuzdul poured from his lips, sounding (as always) to Bilbo as though the dwarf was gargling with a mouthful of pebbles, but the roar of the crowd's approval was so loud it was almost a physical presence.  The dwarf he'd been gazing at seemed to try to laugh along, though he was glowing crimson and soon slunk away.  Thorin snorted and grinned in spite of himself, Bilbo could tell, because he immediately scowled and looked quite cross.

"The... Poet," Bilbo repeated slowly.  "Right.  What sort of poetry does he write, then?  I mean, I rather like poems myself, although..." A dubious look cast towards the stage finished the sentence for him.  Just as well, he supposed, because the dwarf had looked over and seen them framed in the door.

"The King!  And his wee Kinglet!" came an astonishingly stentorian voice ringing over the crowd.  A slightly uncomfortable silence fell, and Bilbo wondered if this was going to be considered a bridge too far, even for the period of faux-normality.  Dwarves had a very constrained concept of lèse-majesté, he had found, but when it was crossed... Bilbo saw the guards look up from where they stood and hoped something terrible wasn't about to happen. Instead, another rumbling, rattling stream of words followed as the enormous dwarf smiled beatifically, belched, and tried to bow, ending up falling on his nose.  The crowd's roar was the loudest yet, though Bilbo barely noticed as a flaming-cheeked Thorin physically dragged him back out of the room and down the hall.

It took Bilbo substantially more than three days to get a translation of what had been said.  By the second day, he assumed it must be quite scurrilous, but every attempt was thwarted.  Finally, by deploying the secret weapon of threats AND biscuits, he got the weakest member of the family to crack - Kili, of course.  That night as they prepared for bed, Bilbo glanced up at Thorin where he was removing his breeches.  "So, tell me Thorin," he said guilelessly, "how exactly did the Poet know how 'oversized' you were?  Something you need to confess?"  It is with the greatest regret that the scribe must inform his readers that history does not record the remainder of this conversation.

[fizzyorange-v2]

yeah you put all of my thoughts about david and william's relationship into that one post they're so tragic... i cant help but think of a different timeline where they could have been awkward brothers together, maybe one where they didn't both come from deadwood. the foreshadowing on william's part too, where in the Michael in the Bathroom parody intro from ep 32 (of all places) william sings "he's always such a bummer, he wants to trust his brother" in referring to himself. Also, the implication that everyone who comes from deadwood is messed up makes me wonder how william's parents are. maybe it has to do with the hallway of fears all the way from season 1, where william's mirror showed his father behind him with messed up eyes?

/ pd ep 33 spoilers referenced beware

Maybe in a totally different universe they could’ve had an awkward and strained but mostly healthy and normal sibling relationship. but god knows with who David is in this universe (a morally corrupt ceo) any version of William that allows himself to get close with and trust his step brother is a version that is either equally morally corrupt, very manipulated or both, and no matter what it wouldn’t be a healthy dynamic. (and that’s not really a compliant on my part, i adore fucked up and messy relationships in media lol).

Totally agree that the Michael In The Bathroom cover gave us probably one of the clearest looks into William’s psyche during this whole thing. William really did go that far because he wanted to trust his brother, and he knew if he backed out then he could lose that potential sibling relationship forever. But obviously once he realised he’d actually KILLED someone for it… the betrayal and horror overpowered that old yearning.

William’s parents have always been a source of interest to me because like… William has never said anything outwardly negative about them, but then his actions and demeanour around them always portray something slightly different. I do believe he loves and cares for his parents. But I also think the relationship there has always been kind of strained. My guess is, on top of the general David was the big shot success story William could never live up to, William was always quite distant with his family. He could always see the supernatural (something that even then made him somewhat a freak from this weird but still rural seemingly conservative leaning town) and he spent most of his time out with friends on hunts that I doubt he ever told his parents the truth of before he actually died.

His parents are canonically church goers, it would make sense that William wouldn’t want to tell them he was messing around with devilish stuff, nor that he himself was possessed in some way and able to see the dead. But then he dies, and his freakishness goes from 1 to 100 and there’s no way he can hide it now, especially not if his parents are shown his dead, lifeless body before he wakes back up in it. And maybe his parents saw this as a miracle at first, rather than the work of the devil, but either way we know from the recent rolled that William truly believes his parents see him as some freak, and I’d definitely guess the other towns people if they knew… maybe it wasn’t great for the family reputation wise in such a small town.

And there is something to the fact that, well, in the end when the monsters came for William they did just give him away to the heroes. And sure, they stayed in touch somewhat? But even then it’s one or two calls in months to years of time to your teenaged kid (though I’ll retract that if it’s implied that it was William dodging their calls… but even that leads to a point I’ll make in a bit).

But then whenever they do come back,,, even after everything they don’t seem to take William seriously. Which is very interesting. They’re often worried about him, but they don’t seem to listen to him as we saw in their recent scene where his mum got mad and had to be really persuaded to leave. They don’t seem to comprehend the severity.

They don’t understand what’s going on with him, they don’t have a clue, and I don’t think they ever really did. I think William has always been too afraid to tell them the truth about what’s going on with him (whether that was being able to see the dead, or now all the hero villain mess he’s stuck in), he’s always been afraid of them seeing him like a freak, them no longer loving him. And so he keeps it a secret and he keeps it away from them and he distances himself the best he can. He’d probably argue that it’s to keep them safe, but I think he’s mostly protecting his own heartbreak of them finding out “who he really is” and rejecting him. I think that’s his big fear, and it’s a fear he’s carried around with him since even before his first death.

So while I don’t think his parents are,,, necessarily malicious. I think they’ve definitely fucked up with William. I don’t think they ever made him feel safe enough to be himself around them. I don’t think they’ve ever been there for William when he really needed. And I don’t think they’ve ever known who their son was. But then they still act like they know best for him, they still play the concerned parents. And I think they genuinely believe they do know and want what’s best for William. But the issue there is… they don’t know who William is, and they haven’t for a really long time.

David left too, y’know? He also got the hell out deadwood as soon as he could. He also talked to (and bonded with) William over their clear joint disliking of that place. And I wonder if his parents are oblivious to how much their kids hated where they grew up, if they’re just oblivious to all of the weirdness of deadwood. Why they chose to live and stay there in the first place. They still live there to this day!

I don’t know,,, I have a lot of thoughts about the wisp-bell family and all the mess and dysfunction there. I didn’t even really get into the religious trauma of it all, which is likely a strong part of why William felt the need to hide and distance himself from his parents,,, but yeah I’ll stop rambling for now lol

[castaccio]

cas it's been all over my dash, please what is up with incredibox i thought it was just a beat maker how does it have lore????

It was the art post that parodied My Immortal wasn't it. Yeah I'd have questions too

I'm so sorry for the invasion my broski.... but I'm glad you're in it with me now! teehee :3

Alright SO

The main game Incredibox (which you can buy for £4.99 on Google Play, Steam, and the Apple Store) is pretty simple. It has its sounds you assemble, and if you assemble them in the right order you can unlock 3 little cutscenes called Bonuses!

Most of the time they're just really cool mini-music videos that have a cute animation playing to an new spin on the sounds. Coolio visual spectacle. But SOME of them have visuals and lyrics that connect to each other! A little bit of worldbuilding! It built up over time until it culminated in the 8th official version, which has very long bonuses that connect together to form a gorgeous-looking 3 minute short film. Which was, insane! at the time. Especially since the film revealed that one of the guys from an earlier version was not only given extreme Story Importance in these bonuses, but also superpowers.

Yeah it was wild man,,, I wish I could've been in the fandom at the time

The 9th official version is much more lowkey with its storytelling, but it has a bunch of visual cameos and lyrical references that connect it back to the 8th. Its 2 (for now!) bonuses are shorter but jam-packed with gorgeous visuals and just,,, such earworms. (All of the bonuses are on YouTube btw, and all are named as well—that's where we get names for concepts.)

Nonetheless, Incredibox's story focuses on building up visually interesting concepts into a world, and picking one or two characters to drive a story if needed. Being a FNAF fan, I love this kind of implicit storytelling.

Some fan-made Mods of the Official Game take a similar, but more explicit approach. The most iconic one is the Evadare series of mods, which have some of the best fan-made bonuses to date. The last mod in the series, The Void, is also musically better than any official version. Each mod goes for the short-film approach, telling an explicit—if a little wild—story. The music was built first and the story built second, like the official game, but because the story is more explicit, we get some wild turns. We're in space. Then we're in Halloween town. Now we're pirates. Now we're in The Void.

There are many good mods that you can download and add to the official version of the game. But for fans who:

a) don't have the official version,

b) don't know how to program with json,

and/or

c) don't know how to animate with an Adobe Animate sprite sheet,

Scratch is the prime way to mod. Stories are all the rage in the fandom, but it's hard to add bonuses on Scratch. So to tell stories, people instead opt to make lore documents, with each sound having its own (sometimes gruesome) backstory...sometimes at the cost of sounding good. Orin Ayo is the most popular example of this, popular enough to form its own little sub-fandom. People love making OCs in the story, though there are better story-based Scratch mods like the Colorbox or Sepbox series.

As much as Incredibox pervades your dash now, it'll probably be gone in a few months when I move onto the next oingly spoingly...but it's still something I recommend you try out!

[flower-boi16]

I know many people see the episode Witches Before Wizards as nothing but a filler episode, but I disagree, it's one of the most underrated episodes of the show imo. The episode first shows how The Boiling Isles isn't the idealized fantasy world that Luz expected it to be, as Eda and King say it's actually very nihilistic. Then while delivering stuff for Eda, Luz comes across a wizard in a castle that says she's a chosen one to get the celestial staff.

After Eda and King mock her for this, Luz goes on the quest and goes into what looks like a village, something that looks more like Luz's idealized fantasy world that she thought the boiling isles was gonna be like, and for a second she does think that this is what the boiling isles really is, because it fits her idealized version of a fantasy world more than what it's actually like.

However, as the episode progresses, we begin to see that Luz is being tricked, when King tells Eda what Luz is doing and finds that Luz is being tricked. Later in the episode when Luz reaches the end of her quest and she gets the staff, it was a trap all along as a weird creature thing reveals itself and says that he wanted to lure Luz in because he knows Eda will come to save her, and ofc, she does. After they fight off the monster and defeat him we get the ending scene.

Luz is sad that the boiling isles isn't the fantasy world she thought she was, and to cheer her up, Eda goes and takes Luz to a mystery flight on her staff, and takes her to a beautiful view of the boiling Isles bones. They tell Luz that while the boiling isles is kind of a slimy, stinky and gross place, if you look at it from a different perspective, it could look beautiful, and Eda tells Luz to choose herself instead of just waiting to be chosen.

I love that the episode took the chosen one trope and subverted it in a way that's interesting, where Luz wants to go on a fantasy quest to make herself feel special because she felt like a nobody back at her home, and wants to try and think that the boiling isles is idealized fantasy world she had in her head. She didn't feel like she was special back in her home, so going on this quest that is exactly what her version of boiling isles looked like made her feel like Azura (the main character in a book series that Luz obsesses over), a character who Luz wants to see herself in, so going on this quest made her live this fantasy world she always wanted in real life.

It's great for Luz's character and develops her in a great way. I also love the ending, where Luz sees that although the Boiling Isles isn't the perfect fantasy world Luz wanted it to be, if you look at it from a different perspective it could look beautiful in its own way.

Witches Before Wizards is the most underrated episode of the show for how it cleverly subverts and parodies the typical chosen one story into something interesting and what it does for Luz's character. Probably one of, if not the best episode of season 1, and one of my favorite episodes of the show. This episode does NOT deserve to be considered "filler".

[azumasoroshi]

minidura chapter 3 react

im gonna say this like 50 million times but i really cant get over how cute they are hhhhhhhhhh

he got mikado's name right!!! congratulations shizu-chan

i think im just a sucker for surprised chibi shizuo or something he has no right to look so squishable

shizuo wants to be a good friend and give advice. noted for my fanfiction

the way he phrases "calm down and stop throwing" is. pfff

i wonder if that's some wordplay in the japanese version too

heiwajima "i hate violence" shizuo: punch your fiance.

also noted for my fanfiction: when frustrated shizuo's first thought is to punch, second thought is to tell him directly, third thought is a work in progress pffff

if i ever made like a vine compilation id use that "hmmm" panel as my transition between vines

they're so tiny so cute waguh

im definitely not going crazy over those shizuo panels

celty and shizuo's friendship kills me btw it's so sweet and i love how laid back they both are. best blunt rotation /j

also wtf are those "tik tik tiks" is that a fucking bomb

i swear to god if it's another shinra gift that just looks like a bomb but explodes to celebrate their 4 month mark's anniversary or something im giving celty permission to strangle shinra

i know it's for parody but shizuo punching a bomb has to be the funniest thing ive heard today

goddammit shinra

he's like the ultimate malewife but in the most annoying way possible. twitter malewife enthusiasts got what they wanted (trophy husband who will do literally anything for his girlboss wife and is madly in love with her and would shrivel up and die without her) but at what cost

[luthwhore]

Waaay too late to the party, wanted to write back when you made the post about the twitter thread complaining about possibility of Lex being redeemed and forgot 70% of what I was gonna say, but I agree. Beyond personal preference, my argument is that the big part of the character and his dynamic has always been the "You could've used your genius for good" tragedy, and that just doesn't work if he's written as the evilest man on Earth. Might as well talk how sad it is Darkseid ain't running a utopia. I get how that can get unfomfortable with "He's a BAD billionare instead of a good one, which would be the best thing ever", but I think it can just as easily be framed as "he chose to be a billionare instead of a scientist"-hell, the vigilante thing fits into that pretty well!

exactly!! and tbh the fact that lex isn't an irredeemable monster is honestly one of the most interesting things about him? lex seems himself as a hero and he wants to do good, but ultimately his own ego usually ends up getting in the way of it, because he's usually more concerned about how other people perceive him than the actual effects of his actions.

there are also only so many stories you can tell that are "superman vs a super evil guy who has a lot of money and keeps buying his way out of trouble" and eventually, it's going to get boring and repetitive, esp bc it's disheartening to see superman lose over and over again.

his story is far more interesting, imo, when there is some kind of emotional stake for superman. when you have a superman who sees a sliver of good in lex, no matter how small. that's part of why i like seeing stories where lex is contrasted with the joker, because lex -- at least when written well -- has standards and isn't usually interested in harming civilians.

(probably the thing that will make me groan and tune out of a lex story faster than anything is seeing him referred to as "a sociopath", both bc i feel like it's a gross misrepresentation of his character, and because I'm personally really tired of seeing personality disorders tossed around as pejoratives.)

i think it's also very telling that -- at least in my observations -- people who care deeply about superman lore tend to prefer pre-crisis and superman: birthright lex over the byrne-era, whereas most people who want lex to just be the evil CEO -- or worse, who want him to be "updated" into just being a musk parody -- tend not to be people who actually read his comics or engage with superman lore in any meaningful way.

there's a reason, imo, that most superman content from the 2000s onward has been trying to retcon lex to be either closer to his pre-crisis iteration or closer to smallville, and that's bc those are the versions of the character people actually... you know... like.

[lafcadiosadventures]

Madame Putiphar Readalong. Book Two, Chapter XXVI, Part One.:

Including:

Architecture terms!

sexy mandolin playing and foot kissing

Borel’s version of Like a Virgin!

a great idea for art analysis and sadly ends on Orientalism

endless cultural references, -i didn't cover them all, I didn't even mention Borromini my beloved- and endless asterixes and parenthesis on my behalf :P

A Mermaid on a Dolphin's Back. Illustrated by John Gilbert Engraved by the Dalziel Brothers.

Let’s get the worst out of the way shall we? We have had various chapters sans big interventions by the narrator, here we have a pretty big, essaistic one. The questions Pétrus tackles in it is a fascinating one. Why is official art of a certain time period like it is, and what does it tell us about the ruling classes?  (more concretely, why is Rococo art influenced by """The Orient""")

Like Rousseau* before him, Borel doesn't separate the artform from the power it represents (something we invariably see brought up in pop culture/divulgation discussions on Asian, Egyptian, or Precolumbine art and architecture) but we rarely see this same scrutiny applied to Greek temples, or European Palaces (yes, I have a specific and relatively recent documentary in mind where the presenter was wanking hard at the enlightened beauties of ancient Greece and early modern Europe. Then we got to the Mexica chapter,,,, the focus was obviously put on Human Sacrifice-someone was in a bad need of reading Montaigne’s des cannibales, there WAS human sacrifice with religious and political aims in Europe at the time- the presenter argued that the intrinsic, racialized thirst for blood of the ancient Mexica lived on in Mexico today, and as an example our very bright presenter showed an audience enjoying.... a corrida.......... a Spanish import.)

*[I cannot find the original Rousseau quote, only how Kant paraphrases it in Critique of Judgement: “If someone asks me if I find the castle before my eyes beautiful I can surely reply: (...) like Rousseau, declaim(ing) against the vanity of the great ones who misspend the people’s sweat in such superfluous things. (...)”]

So, the problem at hand -how art voices the intentions/ideologies of those in power-, is interesting and legitimate. However, the complex, hard to pin down Borelesian Narrator, reaches some pretty fallacious and biased conclusions (what is this narrator like? Is it like Diderot’s stand in, the “je” in Rameau’s Nephew? a Diderot stand in, but also evidently portrayed by Denis as a classist, bland bonpensant (for example when the Nephew, who is usually the venal, cynical, sexist and more importantly, of a lower class character, says something “correct”, the character labelled as “je” condescends to him: “you don’t know how right you are!” the nephew bitterly replies, “yeah, you Philosophers think we (aka, the people) are correct only by accident!” Diderot makes the narrating je look and sound like him, and share some of his positive qualities, but it also voices flaws Diderot saw in himself, becoming a kind of self parody, and parody of the figure of the Philosopher as a whole. Borel’s narrator is contradictory, some of his views change from chapter to chapter, and his emphasis on chastity and religion for example do not seem consistent with views expressed elsewhere-> @sainteverge brought up the tale Medianoche, where the heroine is a Diderot reader while her father is a repressive religious fanatic, and the portrayal of Dillon and the dark priest in La caverne d''Arcueils hardly seem like creatures a catholic fanatic would come up with...)

So, what are the causes of orientalism in 1700’s France? The French aristocracy was as soft and decadent, and as autocratic as “the orientals”, that’s what made them interested in their art (the main problem here is that Borel does not distinguish between the diverse cultures and social strata that form the pot-pourri the Europeans melded into a monolith they call(ed) the Orient. Borel doesn’t have in mind the arts of the nomads of the Mongolian steppes for example. He has a very specific artstyle in mind, and his thesis wouldn’t have been that insane if he had not implied there is an “oriental” nature, like he wouldn’t speak of an "European" nature since he percieves the nations conforming europe as pretty diverse surely.... and if he had specified which strata of the cultures he had in mind he’s speaking of. If he had said, the autocrats here enjoyed the art of the autocrats over there, because it is an art form that both utilizes slave force to be crafted and expresses that way of government, which is the core of the idea he seems to be proposing, I could have agreed with him.) He does this instead:

“The limpness, the pleasures, the incest, the polygamy, the pederasty**, the joy, the no longer chivalrous but rather Moorish gallantry; the slavery and finally the lack of care for slavery, had assimilated two populations that are so different in other points. Up to Pharaoh who had his favourite sultana, his Parc-aux-Cerfs, his lettres-de-cachet, just as Mustapha had his harem and his cords. The Christian dogma which had rehabilitated Aesop was destroyed. Hercules and Venus, incarnating physical strength and beauty, were the only objects of worship. No more melancholy, no more chastity, no more modesty, no more meditation, no more reverie; nothing great, deep, sad, sublime! Eternal contemplation of God’s splendour, ridiculous! Instead, Muhammad and his joy, Muhammad and his sensuality, Muhammad and his houris. Indeed pure Islam reigned: in point of fact, under these wigs and baskets one was as muslim as under a turban and a basquine.”

(tr. @sainteverge )

The islamophobia is patent, the presentation of Christian culture (another monolith) as superior too. Is this supposed to be ironic? I cannot tell.

** (as everyone reading this surely knows, the term pederasty in the french 19th c included sexual attraction between men of the same age) I think it’s important to note that Borel figures in the index of pederasts of the French police -an index of people being surveiled for being sodomites, who curiously where also “loud and turbulent” republicans (as michael blix defines it, thanks cam for sharing that.)

After this thoroughly unpleasant paragraph, Borel returns to the events of the story. He focuses on the effect the legitimately intoxicating and seductive view of Pompadour playing her mandolin has on Patrick. The ambiance has the desired effect on Patrick’s still innocent soul, overcome with doubt and admiration, he plunges to Pompadour’s feet and kisses her soles. Her eyes fall on him from the heights of her nonchalance.

Then we get what Like a Virgin would have sounded like if Borel had written it:

“A suave feeling, of which she had lost the memory and which for that reason seemed as new to her as the first pulse of love in a young girl’s heart, was moistening her decrepit soul. Her body, worn out by debauchery, could usually not even be titillated by pleasure anymore, and yet it swooned before the chaste touch of a mouth placed on her foot.”

 (tr. By sainteverge)

(also I was exited to see Borel mentioning Philomela, but sadly not linked to Deborah as I had supposed in an earlier chapter, with the nightingale song, but curiously to Pompadour.... it’s an interesting choice since Philomela is clearly a victim and an avenging angel, none of which Pompadour is portrayed as, but it’s Patrick the innocent who calls her that, not the narrator, and he is refering to the singing)

Putiphar praises Patrick’s lyricism comparing him with gallant as Richelieu and poetic Dorat (writer of light, pleasing comedies, favoured by the mundanes in the VXIII th c), Patrick chooses more transgressive authors to correct her, “no, I’m actually like Young and Bayard” ->the latter a playright satirist of bourgeois mores. Putiphar enjoys conventional and conformist art, Patrick fights those choices with more transgressive authors. It’s like a miniature, low key battle of Hernani.

What follows is a key line about profit, money and the arts and voicing one’s opinions. Patrick obviously can earn very little by how he speaks. He is pretty fascinating here, definitely under Putiphar’s spell when he walks in, but he won’t flatter her like that other time or compromise his opinions when speaking to her... and that upsets her, there’s no way Patrick’s way of speaking will ever be lucrative for him, or help him ascend in court etc. He’s a terrible arriviste, Patrick replies he never had any intention of making his speech and feelings lucrative. That is such a slap in the face for Putiphar’s life credo...she’s kind of stunned that someone can think in ways so archaic (perhaps embodying what Borel mentioned above as Chivalry, Patrick is Quixotic) but more importantly, so radically disinterested, he wishes to transit the world speaking his mind and being true to who he is at all times. Putiphar changes the subject -because the conversation is turning too serious, and she has other projects in mind- and asks Patrick for a song from his land (Pat replies with a biblical citation) finally accepts to sing for her but he is afraid she won’t be able to appreciate it as Pompadour’s taste is too accustomed to Opera. In return Patrick asks her to finish her mandolin song (about Isis choosing between an blond or a brown haired man) When she finishes, she expresses the song couldn't be anymore perfect to which Pat, incapable of flattery at the present time,  replies the song is “bland, mannered”, has “rather silly lyrics”(So Pomps is like, well if your taste is so refined, show me the best song from the best poet from your country, after telling him how if someone heard him his candid opinions would worsen matters for him -love of the arts in court and in Pompadour’s worldview is nothing more than political posturing and statements, you have to like what is in, and that’s that) Pompadour starts flirting more aggressively with Patrick, who jokingly refuses her. She starts writhing sexily, showing her legs and remarking on how hot she is, even while wearing a very light robe. Patrick' is's attitude is cold, but his eyes betray him and Putiphar notices it. Patrick is in a very enlightenment man way, having a struggle within him between passion and reason, appetite and duty. His senses responded to her invitations, yet his mind begged him to refuse them. (it’s an interesting change from their first meeting, where Patrick seemed to be implied to be giving her more than just a few kisses in her hands) Patrick is also thinking of Pompadour’s body in a patriarchal sexist way, he recovers his wits when remembering, not only Deborah, but Deborah as someone who was a virgin before him, Deborah as the standard of Virginity, Pompadour’s body is beautiful and enticing, but when he remembers that perhaps there wasn’t a single virgin spot in it for him to pose his lips, an iron curtain fell between him and her and only then he thought of Deborah, one who was only his. Gross, etc.

Yet Patrick is afraid he’ll succumb so he hilariously gets up and starts looking at Putiphar’s paintings and boiseries. She calls out from the sacrificial altar, begging him to return claiming he owes her an irish song. So Patrick returns and plays what seems like the longest, least sexy irish balad he could think of. Yet Putiphar is in ecstasy while listening, looks at him both like a mother and a lover proud of her choice. When the song is (finally) over Pompadour straight up poses Patrick’s hands on her heaving breasts. (in a quasi “frenetic” way)(since the chapter touched the arts in a romantic/classicist way, the word frenetic seems loaded) Pompadour cannot praise him in any better way than telling him he sounds like a neapolitan. Patrick of course corrects her telling her that the Irish have always been great at song. She insults the English language thinking that would please him, she does this shrewdly, since “all loves are brothers and that a soul which trembles with enthusiasm is usually an easy ship to catch.” (and Borel takes the chance to praise Gaelic -and Spanish comparing the sonorities of the two languages as majestic- and to complain about how English is advancing in Ireland while Gaelic declines) She asks Patrick to translate his song, is it a love song? She coyly asks? Is it about a cold lover who disdains an unrequited woman?

Is Putiphar right? Is Pat such an easy prey? Will he bite the bait? Find out.... soon XD

( @sainteverge @counterwiddershins )

[kevinsreviewcatalogue]

Review: The People's Joker (2022)

Just because I left Fort Lauderdale, and with it Popcorn Frights, behind when I moved to Boston last year doesn't mean I have to give up on horror festivals. And just as I managed to sneak in a trip to the Telluride Horror Show amidst my adventures in Utah back in 2022, so too did I find that -- where else? -- Salem, Massachusetts hosted the annual Salem Horror Show in April and May. Tonight was the first night, and they screened one of the festival's token non-horror films in The People's Joker, a queer Batman spoof made without any official approval from DC Comics or Warner Bros. (They originally had a screening of Hocus Pocus planned with Kathy Najimy as a special guest, but Najimy had to cancel at the last minute.) How was it?

The People's Joker (2022)

Not rated

<Originally posted at https://kevinsreviewcatalogue.blogspot.com/2024/04/salem-horror-fest-week-1-day-1-peoples.html>

Score: 4 out of 5

The People's Joker exists in a place very similar to that enjoyed by Escape from Tomorrow. In both cases, you have independent filmmakers making unlicensed, unauthorized use of American pop iconography, Disney in the case of Escape from Tomorrow and DC Comics in the case of this film, as a way of satirizing and critiquing it with a particular focus on its corporate ownership and its role in the modern economy. Unlike Disney, which permitted the release of Escape from Tomorrow, DC Comics and Warner Bros. actively tried to clamp down on this film, which was ultimately saved by fair use laws protecting parodies like this. And of the two, I'd argue that this film pulls off what it was trying to do a lot better. While both films are elevated by a particular psychedelic edge and punk-rock attitude, Escape from Tomorrow was too incoherent to really stick the landing or even really convey what it was trying to say, while The People's Joker manages to successfully pull off being not only a dark parody of Batman in which the Joker is the hero, but also a hilarious comedy in its own right, a queer coming-out story, a satire of the entertainment industry (especially stand-up and sketch comedy), and a film that manages to get its message across loud and clear. For obvious reasons, I don't expect this to be more than a cult classic, but it's one I enjoyed and do not regret watching.

In this take on Batman's most iconic villain, one that's most obviously based on the movie Joker but draws on many versions of the character (as well as elements of Harley Quinn), the Joker is now a trans woman who leaves her disapproving mother in Smallville, Kansas for Gotham City in the hopes of becoming a comedian like her idol, UCB Live star Ra's al Ghul. There, upon being exposed to the gatekeeping and hypocrisy of the world of mainstream standup comedy, which here serves largely to prop up a corporate-run dystopia even as it still claims the legacy of those who once spoke truth to power, she starts her own underground "anti-comedy" troupe in an abandoned carnival that comes to be comprised of many of Batman's traditional baddies from the comics. (Her trademark gag is inviting people onstage to tell the world their saddest experiences and then huffing Smilex and laughing her ass off at their misery, because after all, this is still the Joker we're talking about.) This eventually puts her on a collision course with Batman himself, who's depicted as not only the jackbooted thug that more cynical deconstructions of superhero comics have framed him as, but also a perverted closet case on top of it. (Let's just say, this film gets a lot of mileage out of all those jokes you've heard about his relationship with his sidekick Robin.)

The film ain't exactly subtle in what it's saying. UCB Live is a clear-cut parody of Saturday Night Live, right down to the fact that Lorne Michaels is a character in the film, and moreover, its initialism is lifted straight from the famed Chicago comedy troupe the Upright Citizens Brigade that played such a major role in the development of standup and sketch comedy in the '90s and '00s, including producing multiple SNL stars. And while the film never names him so directly, you also get the sense that its writer, director, and star Vera Drew really isn't a fan of Joe Rogan or the standup circle he's built around himself, either. The Joker's introduction to UCB Live's casting has her body being scanned and her being deemed a potential comedy superstar because she has a small penis and is therefore mistaken for the kind of insecure man who the industry is built upon. Her comic idol Ra's starred in a Borat-like film whose main joke was making fun of foreigners. The whole reason Batman, an avatar of the elite if ever there was one (being the CEO of Wayne Enterprises and all), comes after her is because she directly criticizes and threatens the ruling class in a way that the corporate, sanitized world of UCB Live merely pretends to. Drew is somebody who clearly has experience with comedy and the people who inhabit it, and is very much writing that experience into the meat of the story, a metaphorical representation of an entertainment industry that, in her view, only cloaks itself in populism and progressive language enough that it can fend off criticism without actually making any meaningful changes.

Much of this is told through a mix of a riotous and raunchy comedy and the Joker's romance with her fellow comic Jason Todd, aka "Mr. J", a trans man who's envisioned here as a mix of Robin and the edgelord Jared Leto version of the Joker from the DC Extended Universe. The gags came flying at a mile a minute, and often had me busting my gut in laughter. The whole cast is game for the material, with Drew making the Joker a compelling anti-hero not just as a comic presence but also as somebody whose journey from a Midwestern girl-trapped-in-a-boy's-body to a flamboyant Clown Princess of Crime was one that I found myself genuinely invested in. Kane Distler as Mr. J was also an interesting presence, somebody whose relationship with the Joker starts promisingly only for him to turn emotionally abusive and self-centered (complete with a "gaslighting" pun that had me cracking up), indicating that, when he transitioned, he wound up embracing the most noxious forms of hypermasculinity. And as for the style of the film, Drew goes for an exaggerated feel that combines live-action filmmaking, highly stylized CGI, what appears to be a mannequin representing Poison Ivy, and very crude animation both 2D and 3D to create a feeling that reminded me of watching Adult Swim or surfing Newgrounds back in the 2000s. There clearly wasn't much of a budget here, so Drew instead leaned on creativity, both her own and the dozens of artists worldwide who each contributed to the film. It was as unique a film to watch as it was an entertaining comedy, one that demonstrated a lot of talent and commitment on the part of everybody involved.

The Bottom Line

There's no way in hell that The People's Joker is ever getting a wide release, but if it plays near you, I highly recommend seeking it out, as a twisted, countercultural sendup of everything from superheroes to mainstream comedy to who gets to call themselves "the counterculture".

[infernia-inferno]

One thing that I've noticed recently that's been pissing me off is when people who try to make a part or feature announced for a game before it's finished

I'm talking the "I made Minecraft tales and trails update in a week" shit, the fanmade deltarune chapters that pass themselves off as "Chapter 3" or whatever and the FNF mods of weeks that were leaked or announced

Admittedly the first one in that list doesn't piss me off that much because usually it's just an excuse to speculate on new features and at least the ones I like watching are usually "here's this update but I horribly bastardized it" which I genuinely love

But like

Straight up just making content devs have announced? No parody, no speculation, no nothing?

It rubs me the wrong way

Like, The deltarune example

Imma be honest I'm outside the loop of the fanmade chapters and shit, But I've seen certain characters that advertise themselves as bosses or characters of certain chapters, and I'm dead ass sure they're not the bosses of said chapters, unless there's some really weird aspect of this I'm missing. I think I've seen fangames or fanmade chapters. Toby is hard at work making his game and that's not the character of the chapter. If you're making a fanmade character for a fanmade chapter, or several, then make that clear. Don't just say it's like, chapter 3 or chapter 4 or something. That is something actively in development, and making a fanmade version of it that ends up being completely different is likely going to end up confusing a bunch of people

Now admittedly I might've got some things wrong with that, because again I haven't been paying attention much to that side of the fandom

But the final example pisses me off the most, or at least it did back when I still played it. People making mods of Friday night funkin of announced weeks or announced characters. Like, yeah fanmade stuff is cool, but when you're just straight up taking leaked game assets and creating the week before the devs have time to make it, then that probably feels like a kick in the stomach to the devs because they wanted to make their version as good at it could be before they released it, but you had to go make a version of it regardless of its quality. They're making a whole ass game with whole ass animations and everything, cut them some slack for taking so long to get it right. They shouldn't be punished for taking their time to make their game the best thing it can be.

A lot of the things I said in each of these apply to each other, I'm just listing my scattershot examples

I myself am an aspiring game dev who would sure as hell be pissed off if someone made a fan version of the story I was trying to tell and passed it off as what happens next like in my deltarune example

I'm not talking what ifs or anything by the way, I'm just talking straight up advertising it as what's next

Fan projects are cool but make it clear it's separate or it's own continuity or parody or whatever

Don't call it the next part or just outright make the next part from what's been announced

It's kinda scummy

Also to be clear, this isn't "fan content bad" this is "fan content that tries to make something before the original creator can is bad"

I hope I got my point across to some extent here

You could probably make a similar argument about people trying to compose the rest of a song after hearing a small teaser of it, but that's not my field. If you are a composer though I'm curious how you feel about that. Probably some other similar fields like that as well, like that dude who used an AI to finish someone's picture before they themselves were done with it, although not sure if that's even remotely comparable because that is just unarguably a dick move