#weird christian overtones!

[nine-frames]

銀河鉄道の夜 (Ginga Tetsudō no Yoru - Night on the Galactic Railroad / Ñokto de la Galaksia Fervojo), 1985.

Dir. Gisaburo Sugii | Writ. Minoru Betsuyaku | DOP Nobuo Koyama | Art Dir. Mihoko Magoori

[tarisbackyard]

Here's how to write an authentic Grimm style fairytale, brought to you by a Certified German TM:

Forget everything Disney movies taught you, besides maybe Snowwhite, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. But even those are on thin fucking ice. Also ignore modern fantasy literature conventions, especially Dungeons & Dragons type stuff.

Ideally only the protagonist or none of the characters ought to have names. And the names should either be really fucking ordinary, or some kind of epithet. Like, either that's a Franz or a Bramblesock, cause when Bramblesock was a child he lost a sock in a shrub of brambles. Everyone else is either the king, the grandma, or the carpenter.

The common types of protagonist: Regular working class guy who cons his way into a life of riches, poor downtrodden peasant who through hardworking kindness is granted salvation (usually via gaining riches), too pure too good for this world princess who can't catch a fucking break, too nasty too bratty for this world princess who gets taught a lesson in humility.

The characters are generally very one note and the only kind of character growth they can experience boils down to "maybe I shouldn't have been a dick, huh?"

The location is either as vague as possible or super fucking specific for no reason; either the story takes place literally nowhere or in the town of Buxtehude.

Animals and inanimate objects that can talk for no apparent reason and no one bats an eye at are always a great addition.

If you want to add any fantasy races, use giants (large, dumb brutes), dwarves (angry little guys who live in the wilderness and get really angry if you touch their beards), or gnomes (mischievous house spirits who might be helpful but watch out!), but never more than one of these. Fairies are rare and usually the "tall beautiful wise woman" type, not the small annoying pixie type. Dragons are very pointedly no-where to be found, those distinctly belong in sagas, which are their own distinct type of literature.

Weird moral of the story that either boils down to "be smarter than all the other fuckers", "good things happen to good people, bad things happen to bad people", or "don't upset the supernatural".

Random tidbits of gore that no one bats an eye at.

Witches eat children, if a mother gets more than single line dedicated to her she's evil, fathers are spineless and/or assholes who either die or come around in the end.

Ugly means evil, pretty means good. Except when it doesn't.

Optional: Repeated rhyming phrases and numbers. Seventh son of a seventh son kinda stuff. The numbers 3, 7, 12, and 13 in particular.

Ideally a 19th century scholar should be able to read some clumsy Germanic pagan wishful thinking into the story, no matter how big and obvious the Christian overtones are.

Optional: Start the story with "Once upon a time" and end it with "And if they didn't die, then they are still alive today."

[mollysunder]

For once I actually went through the Arcane AMA and found those quotes about Silco's motivation. It's kind of wild to see it in full context.

First, I didn't even know the "dirty little thing" insecurity was an agreed upon perspective, I just thought it was one writer's opinion but no, Christian Linke (Praeco) let us know that was Silco's thing. Ok. I can see how that can tie in to how Silco and Jinx connected, personal insecurities from a hard life.

But then Amanda Overton (leeloo104) goes into detail.

I already know the creative team said they don't think political struggle is "relatable" (yikes), but I've never seen this extra tidbit before!

What do you mean this all so Vander will respect Silco again?!!??!? First of all I could really go in about how Arcane's team seem incapable of having any character fully articulate an actual in-depth explanation about on their grievances with the status quo and what changes should be applied that isn't somehow about familial validation. *looks at Jinx*

Instead, we need unpack how this motivation is at best, very weird, or flat out doesn't make sense. The quote makes it sound like Zaun was fully Silco's idea to win back Vander's love and respect, but Silco said a free Zaun was their shared dream. And regaining Vander's respect seems like a moot point when Silco killed Vander.

Unless Silco knows Vander isn't dead, and that Singed's been slowly turning Vander into Warwick. But then why does he talk to the Vander statue like Vander is dead? I don't doubt Silco wouldn't visit Warwick even in Warwick's confused state. Either way, the Vander that Silco wanted to receive validation from doesn't exist anymore.

I get that they probably wanted to connect Silco's motivation to Jinx's obsession with Vi, but that can be problematic too! It just ends up where Silco and Jinx are written in a way where their search for emotional validation takes precedence over any attempt for them to communicate a coherent and detailed observation on the surrounding politics of their environment.

It would be one thing if they were minor characters, or this was just related to Jinx because she's the youngest in the cast and her story is about understanding who she is. But it's both of them, Silco's at least in his forties, and they're a part of the main cast. On top of that, I'd say their the two most politically influential Zaunites in the cast, and we know NOTHING about what they stand for, what they think the future should look like. Nothing, just vibes.

[higuchisora]

Seen a lot of people saying Vi becoming an enforcer HAD to happen because of the game (as if they didn't fuck with game canon already) so here's some alternative ways this could happen in a hypothetical better season 2:

Honorary "knighting" after some kind of service, likely incidental (saved someone who happened to be important or something). Even funnier if she didn't want the title but was convinced for external reasons.

Becomes an "actual" enforcer - as a spy/inside guy for the Zaunite revolution. Even better if: A) Maddie was a Noxian spy from the beginning and they do some weird "two spidermans meme" side eye communication, or B) Maddie was Caitlyn's dumb GF that accidentally gives Vi a boatload of sensitive information on the Council/Caitlyn

They actually went with her amnesia arc from the previous version of League lore, and Caitlyn basically gaslit, gatekept, and girlbossed her way into convincing Vi she's her enforcer partner and they need to fight Jinx, their sworn enemy, and that they're totally the good guys (makes for awesome sister angst and Vi identity crisis angst + Jinx coming to the realization and helping her could be rad AF)

I'd love to hear any other suggestions because I'm entirely convinced there were a million ways they could've played this without being this dumb. Honestly even just having her get guilted into it MAYBE could've worked in a "I need to find my sister and they won't let me do it my way" situation if they'd been thoughtful about it, but I think we all realize by now that "thoughtful" is not, in fact, in Riot's/Netflix's/Christian Linke's/Amanda Overton's vocabulary.

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

It's a very run of the mill rebel story, I think it'd work well enough as your typical Star Wars spin off, whatever. Definitely not too concerned with anything else.

rebel moon is trying VERY hard to be star wars lol. it's kinda damaging to the movie because getting into it it felt like the worldbuilding and aesthetics were gonna be somewhat original. but nah.

[ceilidho]

I’m so glad I’m not the only one who felt that way about longlegs!! like you literally summed up my feelings perfectly. It was one of my biggest disappointments of the year honestly like I was looking forward to it so much 😢

some spoilers below

i will say the actual cinematography and sound design were amazing from beginning to end, no complaints there. my only complaints are with the plot itself.

the movie was so so strong when it stuck with the classic premise of "detective vs serial killer" but with supernatural undertones, not overtones. (a detective with latent psychic abilities and a serial killer who may or may not be human)

also, conversely, i think they did Longlegs as a character a huge disservice when they made him just a dude serving the devil. he should've actually been the devil or some local creature/monster/demon that had been committing murders in the area for decades.

him having a backstory with Lee when she was a child was actually super interesting, but knowing that he was always just a guy absolutely killed any interest i had in him. it stripped him as a character of any real horror and made him more a vehicle or messenger of fear. he ended being less scary but more pathetic/pitiable towards the end, and the horror instead transferred to the actual devil character that would appear from time to time, but also felt so out of place that i actually wasn't scared of that either.

it's weird because there are individual things from the 3rd act that i can pull out and say "i really liked this as an idea or concept" (i.e. the serial killer living in her childhood basement, the police chief/her supervisor hypnotized at the end, and even the dolls themselves) but when put together, they just didn't mesh. it went from a vaguely supernatural detective vs serial killer story to an overtly occult story with christian undertones, but it happened to suddenly that it didn't feel earned (i.e. the story didn't do enough work to make it make sense) and it drastically changed the tone of the movie (for me).

[amummy]

I have some Arc*ne thoughts but i’m always afraid to voice my option online so i’ll put it under a cut

I like Arcane which is why I feel so frustrated by the writing of season 2. This will be a LOT of rambling with no content structure as a warning.

For example. Amanda Overton out here saying that Sky was the only person who understood Viktor. I’m not saying this with shipping goggles on when I say that Sky was barely a character. She may of understood Viktor but Viktor didn’t know her. He only knew her through his guilt of her death. And even then she felt oddly inserted into scenes when Viktor was exploring the Arcane. This isn’t Sky hate… it’s just that her entire role in the story is to make Viktor feel bad.

In the same breath i feel similarly about Isha and literally any of the child characters that aren’t the main cast. None of them have lines and all of them are employed to be a short cut for emotional weight and attachment. Yes, Isha was mute I know that and It is nice to see the representation. But her entire purpose in the storyline is to give Jinx a chance to heal and take that away from her.

And that’s another frustration I had was Jinx was a great character but reading an interview with fucking Christian Linke (fuck that guy) and Amanda Overton it seems like they had made it so that no matter what happens Jinx’s ENTIRE storyline is that she is a Jinx. That she’s not allowed to be happy because she will just ‘Jinx it’. They boiled down her entire story to her being unlucky and making everyone around her miserable. Riveting. No healing to be had. Because characters aren’t allowed to move on or have redemption I guess.

Back to Viktor. Ignoring my frustration with how disability is handled in the show, his entire plot in Season 2 made me angry(affectionate?). He had so little agency in almost every scene he was in. He was brought back from death TWICE without his consent(once by Jayce, second by Singed). He left the lab and seemed to follow the Hexcores guidance. When he healed Huck his hand seemed to puppet itself to do it. This isn’t to say he didn’t make his own choices after that for a time. Him healing people because it felt right to him was very much his choice. Him trying to save Vander’s humanity was his choice.

Jayce killing him then made him spur into a sad monologue about human nature. And from there i feel like the through line to villain hood was fast tracked and given literally no time to breathe.

A big part of why the league fans of Viktor liked him was his self modification. His experimentation with his body. Yes that happened in the story but only until a point. Him being fused with the hexcore was NOT his choice which flavors the whole interaction. I’m not saying he’s morally better or worse than the League version, because the LOL one took away free will as well. But all the build up in season 1 lead to a very weird escalation in season 2.

Mel’s plot while good in a microcosm was incredible shoehorned in and wasn’t necessary at all in the overarching plot. Ambessa acted pretty nonsensical in act 3 imho. She was very smart through out the show but her invading Piltover seemed blatantly dumb even with Viktor’s power.

Caitlyn… oh Caitlyn. Her plot while natural, completely undid ALL the development she has in season 1. I don’t think it was BAD to say how she was written, what was bad was how all her war crimes were swept under the rug in the end. And that dumb sex scene in the jail cell. Sorry I know people liked it but for me it felt wildly out of place for where it was placed.

Don’t even get me started on the class war that got shoved under the rug. The antisemetic language Linke used for Zaunites. How in act 3 Sevika doesn’t get a speaking line and is on the council as if that was ever a thing she would have accepted.

My favorite characters have always been Silco, Viktor and Jinx. So i guess in the Silco department I won. But ugh.

I’m not saying I was expecting a happy ending. But it was incredibly french to have an ending where literally everyone died but the lesbians p much.

I don’t know where i was going with this. I guess it’s hard to tell i really love arcane from the complaints but I truly do. I complain BECAUSE I care.

[silly-jewish-vents]

Weird question. Every time I learn about a historical critical lens regarding ancient Israelites and the rise of Judaism I get rather uncomfortable bc of the implicit Christian bias (not to mention it feels weird in general but the Christian lens is really what sets me off). Anyone know how one could learn more about it that doesn't involve a heavily Christian overtones? Or at least how to learn that actually is respectful to those who practice Judaism (I don't need it to talk about Hashem as existing I do need it to not treat him like he's inherently archaic? idk.)?

[rallamajoop]

There’s definitely some stuff pre Miranda in terms of pagan imagery, no? Between the ancient Kings with clawed hands and feet protecting the “holy grail,” or the Lord of the Castle creating a dagger to slay demons, or goats and goddesses and so forth — I wonder, why Miranda didn’t necessarily get rid of it all. And on top of that, there’s a lot of Christin art in the ruins from the ceremony site to the alter. The stronghold was once occupied by non “heathens,” so — the history feels rich here.

Well, firstly, calling everything pre-Miranda 'pagan' is simplifying a lot. Here's some of what you can find around the village which presumably pre-dates her:

The statues of the four founders, which are referenced in a diary which seems to be centuries old (They don't have clawed hands in the game, though I guess they have kinda weird nails in some of the concept art? Is that what you're referring to?) We don't know if they worshiped the megamycete, or whether they perhaps even claimed the 'grail'/Giant's Chalice was a legit Christian artifact, so 'pagan' isn't really accurate.

Images of Orthodox Christian saints painted on the walls of the village church and other locations, implying the building was repurposed by Miranda for her cult.

The statue and relief of the Maiden of War protecting the village from a demon with her goat's head shield, and a recurring motif of goat heads or goat sacrifices for protection.

The dagger has no obvious spiritual motif, and probably doesn't even come from the village (poisons on it supposedly come from "across the continent"), so not much to say on that one.

"The stronghold was once occupied by non “heathens,”

The term actually used is 'heretics', not that it makes a lot of difference. But given what part of Europe we're in, 'heretics' could well be a reference to the Ottoman empire ‒ or heck, maybe even just some other Christian sect to whoever's defending it. The letter exists to contextualise the existence of the stronghold (past battles fought in the region), and to emphasise the age of the statues (though it's undated, so all we really know is 'they're old'). I wouldn't take it as necessarily significant of much more than that.

"I wonder, why Miranda didn’t necessarily get rid of it all"

So, here we get to the real crux of the question! But really, why bother? None of that history threatened Miranda, and plenty of it enhanced her own image. Being able to claim her four lords were descended from ancient founders with those enormous statues could only boost her authority. Images of Miranda from around the village are thick with appropriated catholic or orthodox imagery too. And why discourage a tradition of goat sacrifices if people could just sacrifice goats directly to her? You don't have to rebuild everything from scratch.

Savvy religions do this sort of thing all the time. It's not unheard of for newly Christianised regions to turn local culture heroes into saints, recast fairies as fallen angels who tithe to hell, and add a layer of religious overtones to older seasonal festivals like Christmas and Easter. It creates the illusion that your new religion has been part of the landscape since long before it actually arrived, and saves on disillusioning locals who don't want to give up old traditions.

Obviously, there are also plenty of histories and cultures which have been lost under the spread of Christianity (or Islam, or whoever else has just moved in and reclassified whatever it doesn't like as pagan heresy). But not all conquerors bother, and even major religions can be remarkably pragmatic when it suits their purposes (and I'm sure plenty of individual locals will do likewise, when they want an excuse to carry on like they always have). Heck, half the real-world cults out there today start with someone sharing their weird bible fanfiction. Try and build it all from scratch, and you'll just alienate people.

As for RE8 specifically, well, it's pretty safe to say that any village which has gone merrily on treating goats' heads as a protective symbol well into its Christian era is not going to be an village that's keen to throw out all its old traditions overnight. Why build a new church when you can just retrofit the one you've got?

Maybe some of this history dates back to when there was supposed to be a whole section of the game set in the past. Other elements were clearly there in concept work from long before Mother Miranda became the centre of the cult. There's guaranteed to be a wealth of other unused material written to flesh out the village and its history that we never got to see.

Now, as I said in my post on the goats, I don't know how many of these beautifully-formed sedimentary layers of religious history were laid down by the writers deliberately, or how much was simply an artifact of a complicated development history, but I love it anyway. Real European history from places like the village is frequently every bit as layered as this, and then some.

Miranda's cult may have been around for a century, but that's nothing in historical terms. Before that, the village was presumably Orthodox Christian. But the mould had clearly left its mark on the landscape since long before Miranda's day, and the giant's chalice attests to something much, much older. The note from the stronghold suggests those statues were ancient even in medieval times.

Was the demon pictured on the maiden relief a mould-empowered monster? Was the goat's head pictured on her shield the origin of the protective goat's head superstition, or merely a reflection of it? Who knows ‒ even the writers may not have had specific answers in mind - but you can imagine you see remnants of these pre-existing eras and superstitions still reflected in Miranda's cult in the present, and that creates something that feels genuinely organic to me in a very satisfying way.

There is a wealth of material hinted at here that could easily form the basis of RE9, but I have no idea whether Capcom means to do that. What matters is that what's already in RE8 works on its own merits, even absent hypothetical further lore dumps from future installments.

[protagonist-reviews]

Never Let Go

Interesting but ultimately kind of messy movie about isolation, self-doubt, and delusions. And maybe The Evil. ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

The main issue with Never Let Go is that it feels like it doesn't know what it wants to do. Is the mother delusional or is there really an Evil out there? Is it something she created or something that invaded her? Are the kids so brainwashed and starved that they're susceptible to delusions or susceptible to The Evil?

The problem is it seems like the movie doesn't know if it wants the evil to be real. It's one thing to be left ambiguous, but another to not actually know what you're trying to express.

The main two child actors were very good,but it felt like they weren't given much to work with. Same for Halle Berry. The whole movie seems all over the place, and it never really engages the audience. Ooooh is the mother crazy or is the invisible Evil real? Unfortunately I don't really care. Either way she's a pretty bad mother and doing weird shit constantly without explaining things to her kids.

Her logic doesn't make any sense. She literally has no way of distinguishing what is The Evil and what is just bad shit happening. How did she find out the rope was safe? Why did the grandpa build the house if the evil was something the mom made happen? Why is any of this happening?

"The evil can't touch you in the house." Okay. Why. Is the house special. There's Christian religious overtones but like. Why in the world would the house protect you from evil. It's not even a special house? Grandpa built a special house and it's protected by evil just cause. It kind of removes any possibility of there being a supernatural element (or solely a supernatural element) when there's no fucking logic.

They try to pull out "oh the Evil was real the whole time" but the Evil being real doesn't explain anything. Is the rope special? Why does the rope being attached to the foundation do...anything? What even is the evil? It's spooky people the whole time and then randomly a hand monster. Ahhh! Scary! And thematically inconsistent! AHHH!

It's just not cohesive. It felt like the story was being pulled in two different directions and neither really made sense. Ideally if you want the audience to doubt the perception of the characters, you don't want to make it seem like their actions are till fucking stupid if they're right. Genuinely the whole backstory where the mom leaves home and then comes back to kill everyone seemed like a more interesting movie premise.

Also if the only thing protecting them from the Evil is the fucking rope why don't they use better knots. Stupid fucking movie.

[nikrei]

July Comics Round Up

Trying something new where I actually record this as I read and not all at once at the end of the month.

Hawk & Dove (14-28) (1990-1991)

V v good!! I love Dove she's my baby girl, and by the end of it Hawk was even starting to grow in me like a fungus. Also, thank gawd they stuck to their guns and never did a romance between Hawk and Dove, I really liked their love interests. (Also Babs shows up!!! Love love love) this finished up this run, it was pretty short. 100% recommended reading, especially if you are interested in the lords of chaos/order dynamics.

Doctor Fate (14-31) (1990-1991)

One thing I can say about DeMatteis's run is that despite all the weird "xtianity is the true religion" overtones, the insistence that the center of the universe, the greatest power behind everything, is pure unending joyful compassionate LOVE really gets to me. Could do without the overwhelming unsubtle proselytizing tho. Messner-Loebs follow-up is sooooo good tho holy shit, love love love the social commentary going on.

Starman (20-37) (1990-1991)

Will is such a good boy but he can be so dumb sometimes. Watching him learn and grow is very fun! This run strikes a good balance of drama humor and sincerity.

Doom Patrol (30-44) (1990-1991)

Excellent storytelling, and i got to meet Danny the Street!! Morrisons run is practically crossing itself over with the magnus archives they fit so well together. A little out of step with the rest of dc's mythology but that's sort of the point of it <3

Hellblazer (27-45) (1990-1991)

Most of 1990 I was thinking that John is really not doing a lot of magic stuff, just getting into wierd situations then 91 hit and bam, lung cancer soul selling arc! It was exciting to read after seeing it mentioned in so many places.

Swamp Thing (91-109) (1990-1991)

Okay Wheeler has me feeling all sorts of ways. Obviously his whole deal with planetary afterlifes has me going insane, but also he is so so wierd about christianity like his whole set up of the eden situation with angels that consult god, its all so awkward with established Swamp Thing mythos. Also, the Grey has been introduced and posites that fungus and decay are extraterrestrial life imposed on earth and I sort of hate it. Back in Moore's run, towards the beginning, all discussion of decay was as a part of ecosystems which is true! Having decay be an imposed malicious force is sooooooo dumb I hate it. Wheeler can tell a story but all his subject matter is sus as hell.

The Demon (1-16) (1990-1991)

Does not further my blood/etrigan agenda as much as I would like, but it is pretty fun. Also Klarion and Lobo showed up which was exciting

Batman (443-469) (1990-1991)

It's timbo's time to shine! They really are shilling hard for this kid, but I love him so its okay.

Detective Comics (612-637) (1990-1991)

Frustrating that Jason's name is anathema until tim shows up and then it's all victim blame-y bullshit to make tim look better.

Robin (1-5) (1991)

This is one of the first dc comics I read! So it was very exciting to come back to it with a better understanding of everything going on, especially more Shiva background. Also, new version of Ace the bathound showed up!

Legends of the Dark Knight (1-20) (1989-1991)

Some good stories but I am so tired of the clumsy mystic noble savage trope that these authors love to pull when they involve indigenous folk. Also, the more stories that happen that take up months the funnier i think it is that all of these have to be happening in the first the years of Bruce's career because Dick isn't there yet.

New Titans (65-80) (1990-1991)

Jumped back into the town just in time for my last favorite arc, Wildebeest Jericho, doing my precious baby boy wrong on every possible level. Good slade content yeah, but at what cost? And it gets all mucked up with the Armageddon 2001 event in a way that is just messy storytelling.

The Flash (34-54) (1990-1991)

Wally is my dumb little guy and he is living and learning and trying his best. I'm so glad that he has a full pit crew for his high powered racehorse disposition. Also he got a dog named mercury! So far this run has been a good mix of funny and sincere, action and drama. Deffo recommend.

Suicide Squad (37-57) (1990-1991)

Amanda Waller is really peak boss in these issues. She's softened up in some ways and gotten sharper in others. Very fun to see the squad do the freelance thing. And also BABS IS HERE!! (Oops I mean 'amy') I love her ahhhh

Captain Atom (37-57) (1990-1991)

Finished this one up, all in all it's a good run. Nathan is an interesting hero and there's a lot of themes about truth vs lies and the shitty nature of the us military, but also there are some very funny silly moments. Recommended!

Animal Man (23-40) (1990-1991)

Holy shit Morrison's run was so gooood, 4th wall breaking meta level shit I'm very into it. A very wierd follow-up after that, but it involved Animal Man positing multiverse theory that spit in the face of ordained dc canon (but aligns with my thoughts on the subject hell yeah) But yeah, Buddy is going thru the wars in this.

Green Arrow (29-50) (1990-1991)

They are really leaning into this whole "Ollie kills people now" thing. Also, Dinah continues to be a footnote in service to Ollie's story and I hope she leaves him soon. They aren't bad stories but I think Grell leans too hard into the 'Dark and Gritty.'

The Question (34-36) (1990)/Question Quarterly (1-5) (1990-1992)

If I had realized there were only three issues left on the og I would have just finished it up last time! Proud of Vic for leaving Hub City, truly the worst city in America. Conversely, also proud of Myra for staying and trying to fix things. As far as quarterly goes, I can't believe what they did to Jackie holy hell. Honestly, as far as the whole series goes, the downward spiral of Hub City is so extreme that it really is just a reflection of how everything is getting more uneccessarily dark and gritty on a meta level.

Action Comics (252-285) (1959-1962)

And I am officially back in the silver age!! I started 'Tec/Batman when Batgirl showed up so I figured I'd start Action/Superman when Supergirl showed up! Tbh silver age doesn't really do it for me, so I am skimming these just a bit sometimes, but it really is fun to see just how wacky things could get back then! Also, Clark is wayyy too mean to Kara!! She's always crying wanting to be adopted and have a loving family and he's like! Too bad! Be my secret weapon! Also, these comics have such a messed up idea of adoption and kids having to prove that they're worthy of being loved and the adults shopping around. Is that just what things were like?? Anyway in 285 she's revealed to the world! She has a loving family with the Danvers! It's everything I wanted!!

Superman (130-150) (1959-1962)

Started this at a point to be contemporary with AC. Silver age Clark is certainly a guy, I'm collecting panels of him eating weird things. Also, 60s Lois is the gal of all time absolutely. I sorta can't wait until socials mores move away from "women must want to be married, immediately." Also this current continuity has the Kent's having died before Clark moved to Metropolis, which is sorta wild.

Adventure Comics (247-280) (1958-1961)

The Superboy stuff is honestly really silly when you think of all this shit happening while Clark is a very narrow age range, but also they keep referring to things that happened in previous comics as happening a few years ago in universe. Time isn't real baybee! Anyway I started here because it was the first issue with the Legion! I didn't realize that I was getting Green Arrow and Aquaman backups until I started so that was a fun bonus, especially getting to read Garth's first appearance! Honestly I love that in this time period Arthur is sorta just a homeless loser who has nothing to do with Atlantis but is calling himself the king of the sea anyway.

Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen (40-58) (1959-1962)

Jimmy is the sokka of the group sorry I don't make the rules I just say the cursed truth.

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane (1-28) (1958-1961)

This comic truly is gaslight gaslight girlboss. Aka 66% is Clark gaslighting Lois about superman and the other 34% is Lois being a v 50s/60s girlboss, I love her so much, but oh my gawd this time period goes hard on MARRIAGE. I will be honest the gender essentialism in this does get very annoying. Its in all of the comics but is most focused in this one because it's about Human-Woman Lois Lane.

World's Finest Comics (100-123) (1959-1962)

For the most part I'm not that into these because there's not much actual character interaction, its all just new fight with a new gimmick. This is especially obvious in the Green Arrow backups where they only have 6 pages and it's all to showcase the newest arrow. Didn't read any of the Tommy Tomorrow backups sorry my dude i do not know u i do not care.

Green Lantern (1-10) (1960-1962) + Showcase (22-24) (1959)

This is a lot of fun! I think I like silver age comics like GL and Flash better than batman or superman because they are new characters with no status quo to uphold. Hal can do a lot with his ring, like transmuting matter, that I'm pretty sure can't be done these days, which will be neat to watch develop.

Justice League of America (1-8) (1960-1962) + Brave and the Bold (28-30) (1960)

Fine!! I caved!! I let my terrible completionist nature get the better of me and I'm gonna read the first 75 of these that I skipped last time. Its sorta wild tho, because reading the solos of this time period you'd think that nobody is sharing the same world except superman and batman, and aquaman sometimes, but then there they are on the justice league! (No seriously, superman has been to at least two separate "mysterious Amazon islands" that have nothing to do with paradise island. And he's never made mention of knowing an amazon.)

So my recording as I go experiment has worked, which is honestly a really good thing because I would be really hard pressed to review the stuff from before my time jump right now, oops.

[timdrakesplacenta]

DONT FALL FOR THE (admittedly very compelling) APPEAL OF THAT SPECIFIC TRANSFEM KON BC THE WRITER KNEW LIKE -15 THINGS ABOUT KON & THE WHOLE STORY HAD A WEIRD CHRISTIAN OVERTONE DESPITE THE FACT THE CHARACTER THAT KON IS CONNECTED TO HAS JEWISH CREATORS 🧎not to say i dislike transfem kon in general i think she is wonderful…. not that version tho

I don't actually know what the story pitch is I'm afraid, just that I saw the artwork circulating around Tumblr a few times 😭

I thought it was the design itself that was the pitch for a transfem kon. That's very weird of them to implement that theming I suppose

[fertbutt]

watched sam raimi's spiderman for the first time the other day and i know if i was a 90s child who grew up with it id be just as obsessed with it as millenials are today but oh my god. I can't even call it bad or anything because this movie doesnt even feel real. the horrific effects. the body horror of peter's organic webs oozing out of his fucking wrists. willem dafoe crawling over the fucking floor constantly sweating and sobbing and screaming for his role. the weird christian overtones. goblin's completely deadpan "oh." before being sliced open by his glider. the opening narration. the fact that there are grown men on the internet who will tell you to die in a fire if you dont take this movie seriously enough. it just isnt real

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 3/7/2023

soooooo there's another classic Dad Movie character ive adopted bc ive decided he's bisexual

listening

Black Hole Baby by Superorganism. i would put a marker down and say this is the sound of the summer but this came out last summer :/ the very flat (slightly chiptune?) delivery of the lyrics combined with the hyper bouncy...squelchy??? lasers? is extremely fun. this song is neither creepy nor wet but it is viscous bc u are on a spaceship partying as a black hole is Getting You

listen. anything that starts off with subway chimes and the following lyrics is going to be good. these are good song choices in my mind.

I've been eating fruit I've been sleeping well when I can

the bridge in the middle with bits and pieces of radio hosts shouting them out-- i could take it or leave it. i do like how this band namedrops themselves constantly. it's like an oil painting at an estate sale with a huge legible signature at the bottom.

-

reading

i have read about three-quarters of raymond chandler's oeuvre (hardboiled detective/film noir author and screenwriter of note) this week. i cannot in good faith recommend these books because they contain some of the worst excesses of their time, which is good bc this is not a review series.

sometimes, i'm watching or reading something and i decide it would be a good tuesdaypost candidate. i hate the term consume but it's the quickest descriptor here, so bear with me. if i am consuming a work based on the recommendation of a friend, it changes how i consume the work-- i'm on the lookout for the elements they used in their pitch. if i'm consuming a work to write an article or paper (rare these days) i'm stopping halfway through to take notes, i'm rewinding to catch details, i'm delving into interviews, i often fully rewatch or reread. if i'm liveblogging something i am mostly on the lookout for humorous and/or gay bits. if in the middle of something i catch myself thinking "ooh this would be good to talk about for the tuesdaypost" that introduces another like, film or lit crit level to the rest of my time with the work. it's very difficult to turn that part of my brain off.

when i am reading things just for me, none of that is there. i am fully immersed, my disbelief is suspended. i am not thinking about anything else but the story that is being told to me. ive spent a great deal of time with these books this week and it feels weird not to talk about them, but they are something i really enjoyed that was just for me.

i honestly don't know how to unpack my enjoyment of works that (at times) reflect the quite extreme racism of their author-- the one that grabbed me the most, Farewell My Lovely, contained some of the most callous and exceptionally cruel shit i've ever read. it also contained some of the most fascinatingly complex inner workings of an extremely closeted bisexual guy with ptsd i've ever read. i don't know how to talk about these books in an interesting or balanced way.

even if i did know how to unpack these things, the brief and light weekly roundup post on goddamn tumblr dot com (home to no nuance whatsoever) would not be the venue. this is an anti-review, in a way.

-

watching

a fuck of a lot actually bc i'm really trying to crank out this baby blanket and podcasts aren't really doing it. same username on letterboxd if u want to see early drafts of this tuesdaypost section.

i watched many films that came on two vhs tapes when i was little, bc charlton heston was one of my mom's favorite actors. i did not see spartacus when i was little but i did see the entirety of ben hur AND the ten commandments before i was eight. i can't make that make sense either.

anyway i have a soft spot for epics but only when i am actively doing things with my hands. this one has a more interesting making-of story than the actual movie, imo. this one also had oddly christian overtones, for being set in a time where christ and christianity did not yet exist. like many critics of the time, i have no strong feelings about mr douglas' acting. i really, really liked the soundtrack-- a delight to hear the love theme in context after hearing it in a thousand different soundtrack theme compilations!

-

playing

nothing that wasn't a phone game i've already talked about

-

making

five and a half repeats!!! i am aiming for ten repeats plus some sort of i-cord border so this is roughly halfwayish

i took this in broad daylight after a meeting like "if i knit more tonight i'll take another photo" and then i didn't knit any more tonight i read a bad western and halfheartedly liveblogged it

[1mnobodywhoareyou]

This show is such a strange experience and i would hate that I like it so much less if it weren't for the weird Christian overtones

[spider-xan]

Okay, this is a random thought I had about Dracula and some of the meta commentary regarding who should have died in the story instead of whom, and I know I will forget if I wait until November to write about it, so I'm obviously not going to tag it with the main DD tag, but I will also put it behind a cut for major spoilers, specifically character deaths and the epilogue, just to be on the safe side.

So I was just thinking about how it's not an uncommon opinion that Seward have died instead of Quincey at the end bc he sucks and deserves to die for all the terrible things while Quincey is perfect and deserved to live, and leaving aside the problem of acting like the purpose of stories is moral reward or punishment (which has weird Hays Code vibes tbh, it's not just about sex, and the weirdly Christian overtones), that's exactly why Seward being killed wouldn't have worked - the final death has to be a sacrifice that saddens the reader when he dies and is heartwarming when it's revealed the Harkers call their son Quincey to have the intended effect, which works with Quincey, but if it was Seward, a lot of people would be cheering that he got what he deserved and then groaned when Jonathan says he and Mina call him Jack and that his spirit was reborn in him.

Related to that, my unpopular opinion regarding Quincey, though I like him, is that the reason why he's so unproblematic compared to everyone else is bc Stoker barely writes him or gives him lines, so it's a lot easier to never say or do anything wrong if you rarely say or do anything; I also noticed last year that the DD fandom has a lot of hypocritical double standards around him bc Arthur, Seward, and Van Helsing would be demonized as evil misogynists for agreeing to Mina's request to kill her if needed - but Quincey makes the same promise, and is actually the first to do so, yet people acted like he didn't, which is like, okay, if you really believe that about the promise, then you kind of need to accept your fave is shitty too instead of conveniently erasing it to prop him up as morally superior.