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[oldtvandcomics]

All this discussion about cultural appropriation and (mostly white) US-Americans imposing themselves upon other cultures, and... I wonder if it still would be such an Issue if most of the US culture wasn't copyrighted?

Like, the USA has got a great, rich culture! Superheroes are very famously US-American, but so are epics like Star Trek and Star Wars, zombies are a Hollywood invention, Supernatural is VERY uniquely US-American, with the road trips and the "we are going to fight the divine with guns" mentality. Just to name the few biggest ones off the top of my head.

.... and you are not allowed to use any of those, because even in the best-case scenario, some big companies are sitting, and will continue to sit, on the right for a couple of decades after our deaths. And then we are surprised why US-American authors keep taking myths from other cultures to base their stories on.

[oldtvandcomics]

OMG, IT'S HERE!!!

I will definitely read a Doc Savage story this year before October, I swear. 😅 For real, he's on my list this year.

Once again, I would like to express my gratitude for including the Lone Ranger and the Green Hornet, I assume, for my benefit. But also, Zorro!! And Imaro! <3 That was one good book. I wish the second part wasn't so impossible to get to...

Presenting...the Pulptober 2024 Prompts

It is months later than it should be, but I have finally gotten it together!

@chronivore, @oldtvandcomics, @themailedfist-blog, @skjam, @haldrada-art And anyone else who is interested.

1-The Shadow/The Hidden Master 2-Doc Savage/Sci-Fi Superman 3-The Green Hornet/I’m Your Villain 4-El Santo/Champion of Justice 5-Vampirella/Monster Hero 6-Steve Canyon/Adventures In Exotic Places 7-The Phantom/Beyond Their Homeland 8-Barbarella/Pulp From Around The World 9- The Lone Ranger/Weapons of Justice 10-Dark Agnes/Iconoclastic Icons 11-Carson Napier/Feats of Courage, Despite Feet of Clay 12-Jack Reacher/Unintentional Pulp 12-Conan/Blood-Stained Smirk 13-Hellboy/Pulp Survivor 14-Dhalua Strong/Behind Every Hero 15-Raffles/Pulp..Hero? 16-The Dragon Lady/Enemy To Ally 17-Doc Sidhe/The Highest Form of Flattery 18-Imaro/Warrior Hero 19-Charlie Chan/Pulp With an Asterisk 20-Sherlock Holmes/Man of Many Talents 21-The Domino Lady/Thrills, Not Kills 22-Zorro/Hero Of The People 23-The Spirit/Hero With A Harem 24-The A-Team/Team of Elites 25-Luke Cage/Hero For Hire 26-Red Sonya and Red Sonja/Not As We Know Them 27-The Sandman/From Pulp To Super 28-Ram Singh/Servant of Justice 29-The Punisher/Justice At Gunpoint 30-Bettie Page/Hero In Adaptation 31-Batman/Undying Heroes

[oldtvandcomics]

Oh yes. I still have to make a post about it, though. It was fun. Takes place in a slightly strange and VERY optimistic parallel universe, where the Pope goes out of his way to make sure everyone knows that he is 100% on board with those two random old Spanish ladies getting married. I wish I lived in that universe...

[oldtvandcomics]

POV you're Lois Lane.

Your partner is trying to hide their nonhuman nature. You figured it out months ago but play along because you find their antics amusing.

[oldtvandcomics]

You know, the WORST part is, this book has my exact writing flaws. And I KNOW that it has my exact writing flaws. I too tend to play fast and lose with worldbuilding and characterization, especially beyond my one or two protagonists. Mostly the worldbuilding, though. I KNOW that my worldbuilding sucks.

BUT AT LEAST I AM NOT A TRADITIONALLY PUBLISHED AUTHOR WHOSE WORK HAS BECOME AN INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS...!

[oldtvandcomics]

Posts that genuinely rewired my brain. Like. There is so much TRUTH in this post.

[oldtvandcomics]

Aaaaw, thank you!! <3

Well now I am in love with burned out Lilith with saviour complex.

Just the perfect unhealthy mix with depressed and traumatised Lucifer.

They are a mess and they cling to each other without knowing how to help each other, only making it worse.

[oldtvandcomics]

I wonder. Why Lucifer's mental health is still bad? Sure you won't 'get over' your depression with a snap of a finger, but he had 10000 years. So what if Lilith unintentionally prevented him from it?

Now I 99,9% believe she isn't evil and she loves Lucifer. But their stance on Heaven and Hell seem opposite. For Lucifer it is home. Even though he resents it now, he still misses it. And Hell is a constant reminder of his failure and trauma. But Lilith does not have this personal connection to Heaven. And she thrived in Hell.

After the Fall Lilith was the ONLY person Lucifer had, the only one that was always on his side. So he disregarded his own feelings to not bring Lilith down. The fall was hard for both of them and he could have blamed himself for Lilith being dragged into this.

This won't erase his trauma and depression. But it crippled his ways to cope with what happened to him, to come to terms with it to be able to move on. He just shut it out, but consequences are still there. And so he keeps dealing with them.

He was happy with his daughter and wife and yet from Charlie's memories we see Lucifer still had down times, was still not 'present' a lot of the times. And after splitting with Lilith 7 years ago it became so much worse, he fully secluded himself, barely keeping himself present.

[oldtvandcomics]

The third chapter is up, btw. Only one left to go.

Meanwhile I started to write a Hazbin Hotel fanfiction .... a while ago.

It is Alastor/Lucifer, the idea being that they keep making deals that accidentally (or "accidentally") bind them closer and closer together.

It is a work in progress, but I'm already halfway through. In case that anyone want to read it and say some nice things to me about it. ;-)

[oldtvandcomics]

#imagine charlie finally learning mental health is not just trust exercises#so she knows her parents need more than just be together

THAT. And that she can't just "fix" people. Be it the residents of her Hotel or her own father, there is only so much she can do, and that is mostly just supporting them while they work things through with a professional. WHICH SHE ALSO NEEDS. I think that Charlie needs help untangling her own issues from that of other people. Like, that is something that mental health professionals need to be trained for, of course she can't do that!

I agree with what you said about the pilot, that's my headcanon, too! Lucifer shut down Charlie while she was talking about her dreams one too many times, because well, it's all hopeless anyway, better spare her the disappointment of trying and failing, and Charlie took it as a comment on her value as a person.

Lilith having a savior complex would be interesting! I imagine her to be simply burned out, which is why she has spent the past seven years sitting on a beach, but imagine her showing up and being like "step back everyone, I will FIX this"! And Lucifer immediately retreats into his bubble, because, well, Lilith knows best, like always. Best he can do is not get in her way.

I wonder. Why Lucifer's mental health is still bad? Sure you won't 'get over' your depression with a snap of a finger, but he had 10000 years. So what if Lilith unintentionally prevented him from it?

Now I 99,9% believe she isn't evil and she loves Lucifer. But their stance on Heaven and Hell seem opposite. For Lucifer it is home. Even though he resents it now, he still misses it. And Hell is a constant reminder of his failure and trauma. But Lilith does not have this personal connection to Heaven. And she thrived in Hell.

After the Fall Lilith was the ONLY person Lucifer had, the only one that was always on his side. So he disregarded his own feelings to not bring Lilith down. The fall was hard for both of them and he could have blamed himself for Lilith being dragged into this.

This won't erase his trauma and depression. But it crippled his ways to cope with what happened to him, to come to terms with it to be able to move on. He just shut it out, but consequences are still there. And so he keeps dealing with them.

He was happy with his daughter and wife and yet from Charlie's memories we see Lucifer still had down times, was still not 'present' a lot of the times. And after splitting with Lilith 7 years ago it became so much worse, he fully secluded himself, barely keeping himself present.

[oldtvandcomics]

Oh dear. I am a third through Legends and Lattes, and I already feel that this book is going to end up on my List Of Infamy for 2024. Like, the concept is so good?? You could do so much with this premise?? And then it doesn't.

Listen. There are, generally, two reasons why someone would do a "people doing mundane things in a fantasy setting" story. You are either there for the world, or you are there for the characters. The world, we still know close to nothing about, beyond that it has generic DND vibes. What is the climate? What species exist in there, and how do they interact with each other? What is the role of adventurers in this society? What even is the city we're in like, beyond having a harbour, a market, a university and a main street?? And the characters, they seem to have zero internal conflict. Viv just left her life of adventuring and killing monsters, and it doesn't seem to impact her at all? Does she miss it? If so, what parts? Who were the people in her party? Even the ones who already appeared "on-screen", we only know their names. You mentioned that there is some prejudice against both orcs and succumbi, are you planning to elaborate on that?? AT ALL???

Just. *frustrated groan*

[oldtvandcomics]

My theory is that Lucifer's mental health hasn't been always this bad, it kind of fluctuates. He is going through a difficult time at the moment, and has been at a low for a long time, but he'd also had some centuries when he was mostly OK, despite being a little absent from time to time. And of course Heaven kind of cursed him, so that he can only see the worst of humanity. Which isn't the same as cursing him with depression, but it comes VERY close. Like, how could he NOT be depressed.

I think that the most interesting thing the creators could do with this family is to make them dysfunctional in the way normal families with a severely mentally ill member are. And yes, Lilith would 100% be making things worse, while having the best intentions.

Her husband is ill, so she takes it upon herself to rule Hell. This leaves Lucifer free to isolate himself even further, and completely forget that he himself would also be a good leader.

Her husband is ill, and she tries to protect her daughter by keeping them apart as much as possible. This ends up hurting both, by keeping them from forming a proper connection. Charlie is left with a father who seems cold for no reason, Lucifer is kept away from one of the few genuine sources of joy in his life.

Her husband is ill, and Lilith tries to shoulder as much of his burden as she can, instead of actually talking to him and working out a solution together. A few thousands years later, she simply can't take it anymore. Her temper becomes short, she snaps at Lucifer in ways that he absolutely will take too personally, and eventually, she has to leave, which pushes him into despair.

OR Lilith despairs and reaches out for whatever help she can find, and when Heaven offers her a deal, she feels like she needs to accept it, for the sake of everyone. In the end, Lucifer is still abandoned by the one person he has become dependent on.

OR we can go with the theory that Lucifer knows that Lilith has gone to Heaven, for either of the reasons above, and now he's sick with worry.

It would just be the most tragic, but also the most interesting way this story could go. Everyone does everything right, they all love each other very much, and yet they still go on to hurt each other, maybe beyond repair.

I wonder. Why Lucifer's mental health is still bad? Sure you won't 'get over' your depression with a snap of a finger, but he had 10000 years. So what if Lilith unintentionally prevented him from it?

Now I 99,9% believe she isn't evil and she loves Lucifer. But their stance on Heaven and Hell seem opposite. For Lucifer it is home. Even though he resents it now, he still misses it. And Hell is a constant reminder of his failure and trauma. But Lilith does not have this personal connection to Heaven. And she thrived in Hell.

After the Fall Lilith was the ONLY person Lucifer had, the only one that was always on his side. So he disregarded his own feelings to not bring Lilith down. The fall was hard for both of them and he could have blamed himself for Lilith being dragged into this.

This won't erase his trauma and depression. But it crippled his ways to cope with what happened to him, to come to terms with it to be able to move on. He just shut it out, but consequences are still there. And so he keeps dealing with them.

He was happy with his daughter and wife and yet from Charlie's memories we see Lucifer still had down times, was still not 'present' a lot of the times. And after splitting with Lilith 7 years ago it became so much worse, he fully secluded himself, barely keeping himself present.

[oldtvandcomics]

I love how this post is still making the rounds. That poor wolf must have been so confused, lol. I wonder what happened to them.

Edit: Never mind, I looked at the notes. So, apparently, this was a young wolf, who was released with a collar tracking his movements. The collar stopped transmitting, so it is assumed that the wolf is dead, but technology can fail for other reasons too, so who knows.

[oldtvandcomics]

The pain is real.

Get that damn twink wizard outta my face where are my knights

[oldtvandcomics]

While I'm finishing off things I should have done to some degree of urgency or the other:

Review of A Searing Faith by Audrey Martin

A Searing Faith is the first book of The Heart Pyre series, based on the podcast by the same name. This book is an adaptation of the first season, the next one will probably be out sometimes this year. Also worth noting is that Audrey Martin is Luxembourgish, and that I know her personally. So this book was rather high on my To Read List. (Martin is also here on Tumbr, as @audreywritesfantasy. Moien, Audrey...)

Sixteen-year-old Rena skips school to gather herbs in the forest, but when she gets back, she finds her entire village aflame. There are no survivors except for her, and maybe her sister, who she suspects had been kidnapped by whoever set the fire. The only clue Rena has is her sister's ring, and a bird figurine made out of clay that she finds in the ruins. Still, Rena sets out to find the truth, helped by a group of random people she meets along the way.

I liked this book. It was an easy read, and only took me forever because I had a bunch of other things to do. One of the things Martin told me when she sold me the book at a book fair, was that she wanted to write a story where the trauma the protagonist goes through isn't just some inciting incident, but actually affects her throughout the story. I would argue that she succeeded with that. Rena's trauma feels real, she is triggered or suffers from panic attacks, and is also nerfed by being a normal village girl who has no experience with cheating the system or sneaking around Government organizations.

Another thing that I know that Martin was going for (because she said it in the tags of a Tumblr post) is for her story to be kind. I feel like this is one of the things that stands out the most: Not only Rena is acting in a very realistic way, but so are the people around her. Which is to say, when they see a terribly traumatized teenager who just lost everything, their first reaction is to help her. Rena herself is very confused by this, but decides to lean into it, and actually trust random strangers, because, well, why wouldn't they help, if all the others did? It is always so nice to find a story where the majority of the people is just kind.

So yeah, good book, I'm looking forward to the next.

[oldtvandcomics]

I've just had this the day before yesterday. An acquaintance from our queer centrum is currently working on a thing for the Government to improve the situation of disabled, elderly and homeless queer people in our institutions, and she wanted to do an interview with me about it. It kind of went:

Me: Well, as an aro-ace person, one of the problems I'm facing really is that when I get old, I won't have a family to take care of me.

Her: What is your opinion on including chosen families into the hospital system, so that they could be named as your contact person?

Me: Oh, absolutely, that would be a very important first step. But we NEED to go further. I for example don't have anyone I'm close enough to trust with such a burden. Like, I actually do have friends, but we are talking people you know will handle your medical information in emergencies, that is a completely different level.

I love it when Aro/aces talk about having amazing friends but we also need to talk about it when aro/aces aren’t able to make meaningful friendships because of their current situation because it hurts

or anyone in general — aro/ace or not it sucks

[oldtvandcomics]

The Lone Ranger Origin Story is So Good Though (essay)

As far as origin stories go, the one of the Lone Ranger goes HARD. I'm going to base this on the first episode of the TV show, because the first of the radio show doesn't seem to exist any more (?), but I do assume it's close to being the same. Interlaced with some stuff from later adaptations.

So the first thing we see, is this:

"Six Texas Rangers ride across a western landscape, all courageous, straight-shooting men." Their leader, as we learn, is Dan Reid, a Very Brave Texas Ranger About To Do Very Brave Texas Ranger Things™.

.... and now he's dead.

This kind of bait and switch is something that we are used to in our story telling, but at the time, it wasn't exactly something you expected. The massacre of the Texas Rangers is shocking, even if you know that it's coming. So anyway, the guy you expected to be your Traditionally Masculine Protagonist™ is dead, and the only survivor is...

.... his younger brother, who manages to drag himself to a nearby cave where he finds some shelter and water.

So from the get-go, we have:

A traditionally masculine figure, who is presented to us in a way that we 100% expect him to be a "normal" Western protagonist.

Said masculine man getting killed unceremoniously, and replaced by his younger, therefore "lesser" brother.

Who then vanishes into a cave, which is a very traditional symbol of death/rebirth/transformation.

Also we never see his face, a creative decision that this show was very famous for.

(It's also something that later adaptations mess up, by introducing John much earlier. The whole point is that he was a Nobody before his brother got killed and him catapulted into a completely different genre.)

Then The Other arrives.

Said Other being of course our second hero, Tonto. And look, this is a story from the 1950s, based on the original from the 1930s. It has some issues with racism. But also, Tonto IS an Other, in that he is from a completely different culture than the (white) characters we've so far been introduced to. (And an outsider even to his own culture, but that is never really addressed.)

So anyway, he recognizes John BY THE RING HE GAVE HIM WHEN THEY WERE CHILDREN, a thing I'm VERY NORMAL about, and this kind of makes him stay to take care of him - which he definitely would have anyway, given the way he acts in every single story. (Homoerotic cave scene from 1981 my beloved. The only good part of that movie.)

Tonto's motivation in the entire story can be pretty well summed up with "either it's hella gay, or the writers were just racist and kind of forgot to give their character of colour a motivation beyond caring about the white hero".

Anyway. Moving on.

John recovers, and him and Tonto construct him a persona in the very fun way that he just goes with every single of Tonto's suggestions, even if said suggestions are nothing more than a throwaway line. One of said suggestions is The Mask, which Tonto very helpfully makes him from his brother's vest. The Mask doesn't really make too much sense in-universe (at least not past this first story), but narratively speaking, it fulfills the very important role of marking John too as An Other.

So.

Normal man walks (crawls) into a cave, comes out visibly marked as an Other,

He symbolically carries with him the Traditionally Masculine Hero in the form of said hero's clothes,

Which he LITERALLY wears as a mask.

Then they complete his metaphorical death/rebirth by digging a fake grave.

The rest of the story is spent chasing down the criminals who killed the Texas Rangers, but, like. This whole transformation the protagonist goes through, from a minor but traditionally masculine hero archetype to being his own (still masculine) hero who is visibly marked as An Other, is just, really nicely done. In my opinion.