#Ruin Carroll

[randomrichards]

THE PEOPLE’S JOKER:

Depressed trans comic

Forms anti comedy troop

That sparks a revolt

[illustratus]

[rustandruin]

A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll

Sunday, 23 April, 2023

I’m fortunate to have been able to read an advanced reader copy of this graphic novel.

There is something deliciously dreamlike about the worlds Carroll sometimes creates, a kind of surrealism that is both grounded and haunting. A Guest in the House is no different.

The story begins with Abby, a cashier in a small lakeside town, who recently married the dentist who moved there with his young daughter, Crystal. Of course, in classic fashion, there are strange circumstances surrounding the passing of her husband’s first wife, Sheila, and the spectre of it begins to loom large in their relationship. It doesn’t help that Crystal admits to seeing her mother in the lake they live on the edge of, and that sometimes she even speaks to her. But as Abby begins to delve deeper into the events that led them all here, things are not quite as they seem. Especially now that Abby’s begun to see and speak to Sheila herself.

Carroll’s storytelling skill is on display throughout the book, but her artistic prowess is just incredible as she easily moves between different art styles, each evoking a specific feeling, that when brought together creates a kind of discordant tension that only ratchets up as the story progresses.

There’s the washed out greys of Abby’s day-to-day life, versus the brilliant reds and blues of Sheila’s manifestation; a gory sort of stripped back brutality to the blood, guts, and bone, tinged with a sensuality that feels almost tender. The grotesque can be almost seductive, in Carroll’s hands it’s almost guaranteed to be. But this gifts us with some truly memorable visuals. The kind that stay with you after.

My favourite of the styles is that in the beginning sequence that most eager readers will have seen in previews, with the almost midcentury style illustration of a knight evoking the concept art for the animated Sleeping Beauty movie, thus making it even more fantastical and dreamlike, when set against everything else when it does pop up.

A Guest in the House effectively plays with the themes and tropes of all good psychological thrillers, ramping up towards the conclusion as it goes on, Carroll’s visuals tightening the noose that is a growing sense of horror. And like always, she is the master.

I cannot wait for more people to be able to read this so we can finally discuss that ending.

RELEASE DATE: 15 August, 2023

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

[tilbageidanmark]

[dontmixpaintinyourcoffee]

Yeah there isn't even a family resemblance between the original and this one

Design notes under the cut

Alright, so Alistair was pretty similar to Chase for me, in that I feel nothing about them, but I had ideas for Alistair.

First up, his name- Alistair Wonderland is a bad name, at least Kitty Cheshire rolls off the tongue. So I changed it to Alistair Adventure. I like alliteration, I wanted to reference the title of Carroll's story, and I was changing the character so much that he might as well have a different name anyway.

Alistair is actually not a native wonderlandian! By nature of their story, the Alice line is from Ever After. That's what makes Alistair being raised in wonderland so strange (I like to imagine that Alice is a quietly loud rebel who never says anything rebellious so she doesn't get called out for it, but she's definitely trying to ruin Milton Grimm's entire life.)

Gave him a little adventurer ponytail. Guy looks like he's gonna look for the lost city of Atlantis. He looks like the sea-faring prince from that movie where Barbie was raised by a red panda and a peacock

This version of Alistair is very much a scientist, and that makes him a rebel by default. The role of Alice is to wander through wonderland until she stops wandering through wonderland. Wonderland has a specific dream logic that it operates on, and the story treats it like a dream. Alice doesn't question things, she doesn't act surprised, she acknowledges that "hm. A thing sure did just happen" and then goes on her merry way. Alistair questions everything. This Alistair is defined by his passionate curiosity and utter disregard for the concept of self preservation. Alistair can solve a riddle that would take Ever After scholars years to decode in ten minutes, but Bunny follows him around to slap strange mushrooms out of his hands before he eats them for science.

One glove on for handling samples and clues, notebook and quill always at the ready

Dude chews on his quill like crazy when he's thinking. It's probably fine

Basically I want each of the wonderland kids to have their own brand of utterly unhinged

[oldshowbiz]

During afternoon dress rehearsals at CBS Television City, Red Skelton horsed around, inserting “fuck,” “shit,” and “motherfucker” into sketches at random. CBS employees crowded the soundstage to watch.

“Those were legendary dress rehearsals,” says comedienne Pat Carroll. “People would come from all over the building because they were filthy. Martha Raye was the only woman who could stand toe to toe with him and match him filth for filth … He was a naughty, naughty man, but God was he funny. Red knew it and he played to it. The place was jammed. You couldn’t find a seat if you came in late. People came in from the other side of town for those dress rehearsals. There was nothing too filthy. It was called the Dirty Hour.”

Red Skelton was much beloved by those who didn’t have to work for him. His much beleaguered writing staff never minced words.

“He was crazy,” said Skelton writer Bob Schiller. “We would do a run-through on Monday night, and then do a rewrite; he’d come and do the show on Tuesday night. But Skelton would bring in a whole bunch of his old jokes – and really ruin it. We had good writers on that show. It was disappointing and heartbreaking to see a good sketch fucked up with old jokes.”

“He fancied himself a writer because he remembered old jokes,” concurred comedy writer Sherwood Schwartz. “Frequently he would introduce them into a script, which bothered us. Some evenings he was responsible for ten percent of the jokes or thirty percent or whatever he happened to change. But he was never involved in a writer’s meeting.”

“Skelton was mean-spirited,” said comedy writer Charlie Isaacs. “Insulting, autocratic. Skelton just thought you were nothing. He hated to have to talk to you, even. Skelton was really the one who felt that he should get all the writing credit.”

Comedy writer Milt Josefsberg said, “There is no doubt that he did make contributions to his program. But whether it was sufficient to entitle him to writing credit, and thus to sharing writing residuals on reruns, is debatable.”

He refused to have a conversation or make eye contact with his writers.

“Skelton’s writing staff rarely saw or conferred with him,” said Josefsberg. “When the script was finished it was delivered to him by messenger. Moreover, there were no discussions or conferences on the telephone, since Red had a phone phobia and refused to talk to his writers on that instrument. And most of the time, he never communicated with them in any other way.”

[browndresswithwhitedots]

Bad love affairs, bad timing, bad mood, bad breath, bad dog… We live our days moving through varieties of bad. But it is mostly a minor thing, mundane ‘shit on the bottom of your shoe’ stuff. A bad taste, a bad kisser, the bad view which permits us to see just enough to annoy us that we can’t see more. They are all minor irritants, dust in the eye sort of annoyances. Because the word itself carries little psychic weight anymore. 'Bad’ is today’s verbal shrug. In contrast, in the old days if you said someone was a “bad” woman, that one word in certain contexts could ruin a person. Now if you say she is a bad woman, you’re asked to be more specific. We rarely raise an eyebrow or a fuss when bad barges into our lives again. We don’t jump back or stagger when faced with bad smells, bad breaks, bad advice. Maybe we blink or pause, but then we continue. Bad in any form is rarely powerful enough to knock us out or stop us cold. At heart it has become a wannabe, a pretender to the throne, the player who sits on the bench the whole season because he’s simply not good enough to be in the starting lineup -Jonathan Carroll

[thatrandomartistjavi]

sending you an AIW ask, as requested: what theory or analysis about Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/ Lewis Carroll annoys you the most?

Hmmmmm that’s hard. Mainly cause there’s so much that annoys me I can’t pick one over the other

I think for theory it may be the whole Lewis Carroll was actually a pedo and in love with Alice Hargreaves. And yes I’m calling it a theory not a fact. But like from what I’ve read(which isn’t much but it’s enough to know about the whole general situation) there isn’t actually much evidence to it????

And this theory gets paired with the fact that he was specifically in love with Alice Hargreaves which has the basis of *checks notes* basically nothing. It’s said that’s what lead to the Liddells breaking contact but also there was a note found that might imply it had smth to do with rumors of him either trying to court their governess or court Lorina, Alice’s older sister. Which seems … contradictory to the narrative trying to be spun. And we do have letters of him asking adult women to go on basically dates with him. I’ve heard people claim that the books are just love letters to Alice which if that is the case these are about the shittiest love letters in existence. Imagine sending someone a book composed of love letters and one chapter has a character call the character they based on their love stupid and constantly write everyone screaming at that character for how “dumb” they are. Like come on guys let’s use our brains here.

Ok but let’s say he really was a pedo. Then it bothers me that the people who claim such things are so disrespectful about it. Like most of them use it as a way to “ruin your childhood” or to use it in their stories to make it spoooooookieeeeerr

Like if Alice was really at risk of being harmed then people are not treating it with respect and are just using it for edgy points like dude gross. It just seems to me that this whole thing is just people not comprehending that an adult man could ever be friends with a little girl and that it must be something sinister which seems more the fault of ours than his.

People who claim this also think that you shouldn’t read the book cause of it but dawg none of that like actually seeps into the books(mainly cause its probably not true but even if it was my point still stands that it doesn’t effect the book unlike J K Rowling with her slaves who like being slaves). Like babes this man has been dead for a long bit he is not benefiting at all from us reading and making adaptations. Chill

For analysis, I would say probably Cheshire being omnipotent of some kind. Mainly because I don’t think that We’re All Mad Here is how the actual world of Wonderland works. That quote is more serviceable to inform us on Cheshire’s thought process than actually informing us about Wonderland. The outcastes weirdo will always be the first to notice that everyone is actually super weird too. Honorable mention goes to that one person that thought that Cheshire ate the pig baby in the books. They also thought The Walrus and the Carpenter was Disney made so that should tell you on whether or not they actually read the book. It made me angry for a whole week but it does make for the basis of a good inside joke

[ruknowhere]

Jonathan Carroll

"From the beginning, the house they built together was made of paper and stone. That wasn’t intentional — it was simply the materials they carried within. When storms came, as they inevitably do in any relationship, the stone held but the paper didn’t. Then too soon their house was uninhabitable no matter how much they tried to convince themselves it was not.

Years later in their minds they often visited what was left of the large stone ruins that still stood. They were beautiful in their own cruel way, like an old photograph can sometimes stab you deeper than a knife. A sad reminder of what once might have survived the test of time if better materials had been used, greater effort made."

[ferronickel]

@stainedglassthreads asked about my inspirations when it comes to comics creation, which I am always excited to talk about! (You have unwittingly activated my trap card, so be prepared for a long ramble!)

My comics are primarily a product of the 2014 Image boom and the 2000s webcomic scene....

...and the main sources of my comics craft knowledge are the works of writer Kieron Gillen, artist Jamie McKelvie, and colorist Matt Wilson. They're an incredible team and everything they've done together is worth checking out, but I'm going to talk about two of their comics here. Young Avengers (2012) is a good place to start. Tons of formalism and interesting panel layouts. It's the first place I looked for inspiration when I was planning the design for Looking Glasses. Definitely worth checking out if you like cape comics, but also worth it if you don't, it's pretty stand alone. (Plus it introduces a lot of ideas and characters that Marvel is currently pillaging for the MCU, so it's always nice to see those ideas in their original context before my employers ruin it)

I can't talk about comics without bringing up The Wicked + The Divine (2014, written by Kieron Gillen, art by Jamie McKelvie, colors by Matt Wilson, lettering by Clayton Cowles). It's an incredible comic and a formalist masterpiece. 12 young people are reincarnated as gods, they have two years to live, and also they're pop stars. Issues frequently challenge the way you read comics, or break into completely other mediums (One issue was written almost entirely by real world magazine writers interviewing the in-universe characters). You can see my influences here pretty clearly: the interstitials, the style shifting, my recent (incredibly blatant) reference to Lucifer's transformation. Also the fashion, Jamie McKelvie is a fantastic designer! This comic is a must read for anyone interested in the medium of comics, especially Kieron's writers notes (all available here on tumblr at @ kierongillen), where he breaks each issue down panel by panel. The writer's notes are essentially a free masterclass in comics craft. (and when you've read that, check out the zine I organized with @gen-is-gone and 37 other artists here on tumblr at @iconic-zine) I cannot overstate that this comic is the reason I make comics.

I feel like I can't not mention DIE (2018, written by Kieron Gillen, art by Stephanie Hans, lettering by Clayton Cowles). Six kids disappeared into their d&d world and returned two years later, now they're adults and their past is coming back to haunt them. It's a fascinating exploration of portal fantasies, and has definitely influenced how I approach the dark world/darkners. (also, if you read DIE and want a good breakdown of the historical stuff, be sure to check out the podcast DIE-Compressed)

Honorable mentions: The visual stylings of Caspar Wijngaard in Home Sick Pilots (2021, Watters, Wijngaard, Bidikar, Muller) The colors of colorist Jordie Bellaire, in this case Injection (2015, Ellis, Shalvey, Bellaire) The work of Emily Carroll Everything from Pretty Deadly (2015, Deconnick, Rios, Bellaire, Cowles) A lot of stuff from Sex Criminals (2014, Fraction, Zdarsky), it's an incredible comic that goes way beyond it's (fairly nsfw) concept. There's a ton of formalist stuff here, and it tackles all sorts of concepts with a level of depth you wouldn't expect from such a silly setup.

In terms of webcomics influence, I am, unfortunately, a bit of a Homestuck. There's a lot to be said about this comic and I'm trying to keep my word count down here, so let's just say that it's arguably one of the most influential webcomics, and while many of it's ideas aren't necessarily unique or are derivative of other works it is singular in it's scope and presence. I find it mainly affects my own work in the way I think about the website design. (Plus, you know, Toby Fox)

Other notable webcomics that have influenced my work:

The works of Evan Dahm Barbarous Stand Still Stay Silent Lackadaisy (and a bunch more, but this has gone on long enough)

[icy-watch]

Alright, Through the Looking Glass Ruins.

It's been... over a decade since I last read Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll or watched any of the film versions of it.

The most I remember is the Jabberwocky from the 1985 film, which my cousins put on at some point in my early teens and continues to give me nightmares.

I don't really remember much about the plot, bc I was so confused why my cousins liked the film, and I read the book and was more confused. Not the only time I walked away from a story by Carroll and felt that way.

Anyway, what I do remember is something about reflections.

I'm thinking we're going to get a little bit about the fake Luz/the Author of the letters with Camila. Enough to kind of get an idea of whatever's going on there. And the Author being some kind of reflection of Luz.

Mirrors are a part of the Illusion Guild's symbol, so maybe some illusion magic is involved in that?

And I'm thinking we're going to get something with Gus this episode too, as he's our illusion guy. We're going to get a plot mostly focused around him, and we're going to learn more about illusion magic.

And that's where my brain is, and it won't let me think anymore, so on to the episode!

[coffee4jordan]

Finds from fanfic research (The Little Mermaid 1989, Alice in Wonderland 1951, Alice in Wonderland 2010, Disney wiki):

-Ursula accidentally kills Flotsam and Jetsam in the movie so WOW

-Disney wiki refers to Ariel’s cave of treasures as a “grotto” so I’m thinking “Ashengrotto” is a play on Ariel’s stuff getting destroyed by her dad lol

-Jetsam and Flotsam’s powers come from their eyes so I headcanon that Floyd’s signature spell comes from his eye like Jade’s does, but I need to replay the part where his spell is explained

-Floyd gorging himself on strawberries for a shortcake the Mostro Lounge was making could be a reference to a children’s book where Flotsam and Jetsam decide to ruin a garden by eating all the flowers and get stomach aches

-Jade’s ability only working on vulnerable people may be a reference to the eels plotting to offer Ursula’s deal to Ariel at a time when she’s vulnerable, i.e. after her cave is destroyed by her dad

-Ursula eats shrimp so that’s how Floyd sees MC lol

-(not about TW) Eric doesn’t even consider that Arielle might’ve lost her voice even though she insists he met her and he thinks she’s familiar, prime himbo behavior

-Headcanon that Azul doesn’t like dogs because Max doesn’t like ‘Vanessa’ (Ursula) and she kicks him at the wedding

-(not about TW) In the movie they didn’t find a way to destroy the contracts, Eric just kills Ursula, damn

-(not about TW) Is Eric really not going to ask any questions?

-Riddle’s backstory with his mom could be a reference to Alice having an older sister that tries to tutor her and wants her to be proper. Obviously Alice isn’t the Queen of Hearts but everything in Wonderland comes from Alice’s imagination so it’s partially stuff from her own life

-(not about TW) Is the white rabbit a drug addict? Why are his eyes red?

-Alice says the “drink me” potion tastes like a cherry tart.

-The mad hatter tells ‘riddles’ (“why is the raven like a writing desk?” like shut UP, it’s not a riddle if you don’t know the answer)

-That one Deuce chat where he says Ace pranked him by saying his clock was two days slow is something the mad hatter said to the white rabbit

-It’s weird that Trey is Riddle’s vice housewarden because ‘Tre’ is one of the cards that loses his head (Ace, Deuce, Tre). I would think his name would be different and he’d represent the heart or spade cards which were more loyal.

-Riddle saying “speak up and don’t twiddle your thumbs” (or something) during lessons is a reference to the Queen of Hearts telling Alice this when they met

-Riddle’s horse is named Vorpal which is the name of the sword that Alice uses in the live action movie. It’s originally from a Lewis Carrol poem called “Jabberwocky”

-I just noticed Riddle and Floyd’s pet peeves basically describe each other lmao

Some stuff is redacted for reasons lol. No I did not watch the entirety of all of these movies, I just skimmed them, especially Alice in Wonderland 1951 because it disturbed me 😓

[bracketsoffear]

The House on the Borderland (William Hope Hodgson) "Fishing buddies Tonnison and Berreggnog didn't bargain for what they found while on holiday near the remote Irish village of Kraighten. While walking along the riverbank, they're astonished to see that the river abruptly ends. It reappears as a surge from a chasm some 100 feet below the edge of an abyss, where also stand the remains of an oddly shaped house, half-swallowed by the pit.

Exploring the ruins, the friends discover the moldering journal of an unidentified man--the Recluse--who had lived in the house with his sister and faithful dog years ago. Its pages reveal the man's apparent descent into madness--how else to account for his chronicles of otherworldly visions, trips to other dimensions, and attacks by swine-like humanoid creatures that seem to have followed him home? After one particular vision in which he witnesses the end of the earth and time itself, the Recluse awakens in his study to find nothing has changed--except that his dog Pepper is dead, dissolved into a pile of dust. And then the "swine things" return…"

A Guest in the House (Emily Carroll) "After many lonely years, Abby’s just gotten married. She met her new husband—a recently widowed dentist—when he arrived in town with his young daughter, seeking a new start. Although it’s strange living in the shadow of her predecessor, Abby does her best to be a good wife and mother. But the more she learns about her new husband’s first wife, the more things don’t add up. And Abby starts to wonder . . . was Sheila’s death really by natural causes? As Abby sinks deeper into confusion, Sheila’s memory seems to become a force all its own, ensnaring Abby in a mystery that leaves her obsessed, fascinated, and desperately in love for the first time in her life" While most riffs on the Bluebeard story are probably slaughter, buried, or eye aligned, much of the horror in this story is the uncertainty and loss of a clear sense of reality. Also the art of Sheila feels very spiral.

[1americanconservative]

Ryan Fournier

@RyanAFournier

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In case you didn’t know, E Jean Carroll has accused many men of raping or sexually assaulting her… Including a babysitter’s boyfriend, a dentist, a camp counselor, an unnamed college date, an unnamed boss and CBS chief executive Les Moonves

- Per The National Pulse This is why she’s not credible.

The woman who just won $83.3 million from Donald Trump in court:

-named her dog “Tits” & “Vagina”

-told Anderson Cooper that rape is “sexy”

-lives in a cabin in the woods called the “Mouse House”

-paints trees and rocks blue

-lined up her entire allegation with the plot of an SVU episode

-called sluts “sexual geniuses”

-tweeted about learning sex tips from her dog Trump didn’t defame E. Jean Carroll, he just told the truth

— she’s batshit crazy.

The court ruled that Donald Trump is not guilty of rape in the case of E. Jean Carroll.

Yet, the same court still ordered Trump to pay the lunatic woman $83.3 million.

Another example of how the government has been weaponized against Donald Trump in attempt to ruin the man.

[maaarine]

Bibliography: articles posted on this blog in 2024

Posted in January

Men Just Don’t Trust Women – And It’s A Huge Problem (Damon Young, Huffington Post, Mar 16 2015)

Amsterdam sex workers protest against plan to move red light district (The Guardian, Oct 19 2023)

They were Israel’s ‘eyes on the border’ - but their Hamas warnings went unheard (Alice Cuddy, BBC News, Jan 15 2024)

The Heteronormativity Theory of Low Sexual Desire in Women Partnered with Men (Sari M. van Anders, Debby Herbenick, Lori A. Brotto, Emily A. Harris, and Sara B. Chadwick, Aug 23 2021)

A new global gender divide is emerging (John Burn-Murdoch, Financial Times, Jan 26 2024)

The secret of OnlyFans: It’s much more than porn (Marta Biino and Madeline Berg, Business Insider, Jan 18 2024)

—

Posted in February

Half of Spanish men feel discriminated against amid feminism backlash (James Badcock, The Telegraph, Jan 16 2024)

Parisians vote in favour of tripling parking costs for SUVs (Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian, Feb 04 2024)

Ireland kickstarts vote on constitution’s wording about women and family (Rory Carroll, The Guardian, Jan 25 2024)

Divorce rates plummet to lowest level in 50 years ‘due to cost-of-living crisis’ (Kieran Kelly, LBC, Feb 22 2024)

—

Posted in March

‘There are some really extreme views’: young people face onslaught of misogyny online (Clea Skopeliti, The Guardian, March 01 2024)

Johnson: Why men interrupt (The Economist, Jul 10 2014)

France makes abortion a constitutional right in historic Versailles vote (Kim Willsher, The Guardian, March 04 2024)

‘My self-worth plummeted every month’: the hidden disorder that can ruin women’s lives (Chloe Aslett, The Guardian, Oct 16 2023)

The tyranny of the algorithm: why every coffee shop looks the same (Kyle Chayka, The Guardian, Jan 16 2024)

DNA Tests Are Uncovering the True Prevalence of Incest (Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, March 18 2024)

Finland is world’s happiest country for 7th year while US drops out of top 20 (France 24, March 20 2024)

Swedish pharmacy bans sale of anti-ageing skincare to children (Miranda Bryant, The Guardian, March 20 2024)

Women are being diagnosed with ADHD at unprecedented rates. Here’s why. (Kaelyn Lynch, National Geographic, Jan 16 2024)

5 Takeaways From an Investigation Into Hysterectomies in India’s Sugar Industry (Megha Rajagopalan, The New York Times, March 24 2024)

English Just ‘Badly Pronounced French’, Paris Academic Says (Tom Barfield, Barron’s, March 09 2024)

—

Posted in April

Why are women more prone to long Covid? (David Cox, The Guardian, June 13 2021)

French Revolution: Cyclists Now Outnumber Motorists In Paris (Carlton Reid, Forbes, April 06 2024)

Long Covid may be the body trying to fight off other viruses (Sarah Knapton, The Telegraph, April 08 2024)

The Troubling Trend in Teenage Sex (Peggy Orenstein, The New York Times, April 12 2024)

Sydney knifeman who targeted women ‘was desperate for a girlfriend’ (Andrea Hamblin, The Telegraph, April 15 2024)

Revealed: Israel has sped up settlement-building in East Jerusalem since Gaza war began (Jason Burke, The Guardian, April 17 2024)

‘I was only a child’: Greenlandic women tell of trauma of forced contraception (Miranda Bryant, The Guardian, March 29 2024)

Hormones and their Interaction with the Pain Experience (Katy Vincent and Irene Tracey, 2008)

—

Posted in May

Study suggests injury risk varies in menstrual cycle (Katie Gornall, BBC News, May 01 2024)

‘Urination equality’: Amsterdam women win fight for more public toilets (Ashifa Kassam, The Guardian, April 29 2024)

You can want things you don’t like and like things you don’t want (Shayla Love, Psyche, May 07 2024)

‘A new abyss’: Gaza and the hundred years’ war on Palestine (Rashid Khalidi, The Guardian, April 11 2024)

The important link between eating disorders and past trauma (Giulia Suro, Psyche, May 14 2024)

Hostile Intelligence: Reflections from a Visit to the West Bank (David Graeber, 2015)

—

Posted in June

AfD: How Germany’s far right won over young voters (Hans Pfeifer, Deutsche Welle, June 10 2024)

—

Posted in July

Coloniser le sud du Liban ? Un fantasme d'Israéliens messianiques à prendre au sérieux (Ha'Aretz via Courrier International, 3 juillet 2024)

Tampons found to contain concerning levels of arsenic and lead in world first study (Vishwam Sankaran, The Independent, July 10 2024)

South Korea politician blames women for rising male suicides (Jean Mackenzie, BBC, July 9 2024)

“Violence against women a ‘national emergency’ in England and Wales, police say (Vikram Dodd, The Guardian, July 23 2024)

—

Posted in August

Menopause was a French invention at a time of revolution (Alison M Downham Moore, Psyche, July 30 2024)

Misogyny to be treated as extremism by UK government (Helen Catt and Charlotte Rose, BBC, Aug 18 2024)

—

Posted in September

What Is Synaptic Pruning? (Jacquelyn Cafasso, Healthline, Sep 18 2018)

‘Frightening’ Taliban law bans women from speaking in public (Annie Kelly and Zahra Joya, The Guardian, Aug 26 2024)

Elon Musk suggests support for replacing democracy with government of ‘high-status males’ (Ariana Baio, The Independent, Sep 03 2024)

‘Not our tradition’: calls in Sweden to ban fathers walking brides down the aisle (Miranda Bryant, The Guardian, Aug 31 2024)

Olympic runner Cheptegei defied her violent ex. She lost her life anyway (Ammu Kannampilly, Reuters, Sep 14 2024)

[about-faces]

Jervis Tetch/ Mad Hatter seems to have faded into irrelevancy these days. What do you think should be done with him? And why do you think he faded away? Is there any way to revitalize him?

I say this as someone who counted the Mad Hatter from BTAS as his second-favorite villain during my formative years: Jervis faded away (insofar as he was ever prominent enough to fade) because he's too creepy.

Mind-control hats were already a creepy enough addition to him in the 80's, but once Grant Morrison strongly suggested that Jervis was into little girls (likely channeling the allegations against Lewis Carroll, something I don't know much about and cannot comment upon), the character was pretty much doomed forever. And again, I loved the BTAS version, but it's hard to see him now and not think about incel culture and stalkers and all sorts of things that ruined the empathy and tragedy I once felt for him. And then you have Gail Simone deciding to have him actually fuck hats. And then there's the Arkham games which ramp up the creepy kidnapping/brainwashing factors. And those are just the examples off the top of my head.

What can you even do with such a character? Well, I'm reminded of what Geoff Johns tried doing with Toyman, another childlike character ruined by the 90's when he was turned into a child murderer and creep. Johns wrote a story where all the various incarnations of Toyman were all robots/toys who thought they were the real Toyman, and the child murderer was just a malfunctioning robot whom the true Winslow hated and destroyed.

I feel like there's potential to do something like that with Jervis, especially in trying to reconcile him with the redheaded, mustachioed "impostor Hatter." But even if one could figure out something, it wouldn't stick, just as it didn't stick for Toyman. His reputation as a creep was too strong to be retconned away even by Johns.

I really wish I knew what could be done to salvage Jervis, perhaps even revitalize him as a character. But I fear the damage is too great, the taboo of his past incarnations too appalling to be fixed. Which sucks, because I still have affection for Jervis, especially thanks to Roddy McDowall's lovely performance. But I'm truly at a loss for how or even if we can be rehabilitated as a character.