#elementals are like...... a bunch of old men dicks..............

[ellaintrigue]

TIME AND PLACE (And, yes, the joke is a bit misogynistic but we're talking about boomers here lol.)

I saw this cartoon the other day and chuckled. This was my mom and grandmother's favorite joke actually! Mom told my grandmother, "why is being a hooker better than being a drug dealer? Because you can wash your crack and use it again!" The two women cackled away.

But they wouldn't have told this joke in church or in front of strangers. It's okay to have a dirty mind and free speech but you must use respect when exercising both.

I am by no means trying to promote the criminal element but as I've said, I date them. And I also meet a lot of non-criminal varieties who sleep with a lot of women, which aren't really my type. So why is it that most of these men are way more respectful to me than the good old country boys who work hard and live respectable lives??

I feel it is a matter of socialization. I am an uneducated rural woman but I have self-awareness and empathy. These things don't get taught when you grow up on a farm and are only exposed to your family and a handful of locals.

As a result, nearly every time I talk to a rural blue collar man, I hear the worst ignorance. I am not talking about them directly cussing me out or insulting me but they think it's okay to comment on big tits or make sexual jokes to women they barely know. And I know it's because they grew up sheltered and still are.

I dated one in 2021 and he said he went to a party, a woman farted, and he started yelling to everyone, "THIS BITCH FARTED." I said, why did you repeatedly call her a bitch? He was from the Rockies, WV. He said he thought bitch was just another name for woman. He actually listened to me and realized it wasn't respectful and corrected himself.

Earlier this year I met a man from a tiny rural Virginia town bordering WV. Very rough around the edges, uneducated, bad teeth. He was polite and kind but then a few days in he randomly told me he had a big penis. Okay? See, I'm not a prude, but I don't want any man I don't know coming at me talking about sex or his genitals. And he wasn't trying to be disrespectful, he was just plain ignorant. I saw his father's profile on Facebook and it was a bunch of right wing posts and pictures of busty women with captions like, "look at her floatation devices, she won't drown!"

I let it slide and he didn't say anything else sexual until the next day when he said, "your tripod is home from work ha ha." I blocked him. I don't care if he had a big dick, that's not how you respectfully address a woman you are trying to get to know. And he didn't know any better, that's just how his father had raised him.

As for the felons and manwhores? My theory is that they have been around enough people to learn social skills, even if it wasn't always good people. For instance prison is the worst place in the world but it seems some of these men come out of it knowing how they DON'T want to be treated and they apply that to how they treat others. Meanwhile if they had just stayed home on the farm all their lives with mom and pop and the farmhands they would still think it was acceptable to talk about bitches and tits in front of everyone. And the promiscious men? They've learned what women like because you don't get in a woman's pants by calling her a bitch and randomly leering at her breasts in public.

That's just my theory. Isolation is never good. I'm an introvert myself but in life you really have to get out, be around people, and be in social situations so you know how to act right. Because being around a small handful of people with no social skills is just going to turn you into one of them

I'd rather deal with a guy with no father who has lived on the streets and experienced life rather than a guy with a father who has been exposed to nothing but stacking hay and being taught lewd comments towards women.

[acephysicskarkat]

John Gaius is just the most amazing fucking dunk on the God-Emperor of Mankind, btw. Perfection. No notes.

Spoilers for Harrow, Nona and a bunch of 40K stuff below.

So 40K’s God-Emperor of Man has a bit of a writing issue - over and above the setting’s difficulty deciding whether the Imperium of Man is a somewhat hardline state that is Only Doing What’s Necessary or paying off the introductory blurb’s promise of The Cruellest And Most Bloody Regime Imaginable, although that is a factor.

But the thing about the Emperor in 40K is that he’s supposed to have witnessed a considerable chunk of human history, be one of the smartest men in the entirety of that history, and have launched his giant space murder spree in order to save humanity from the worst things in the universe; the problem is that the decisions he made in carrying out 3) call 1) and 2) into question. He embraces a fascist social model to Make Sure Humanity Can Survive even though he’s supposedly spent 28,000 years watching fascism repeatedly fall dick first onto highway spikes as it tends to do in the long term. He launches a genocidal campaign to kill a whole bunch of aliens for betrayals their remote ancestors may or may not have done 5000 years previously, and his execution of that campaign is slapdash at best and mostly propped up by Space Marine plot armour. He outlaws religion and refuses to be worshipped but his cult of personality is intense enough that its evolution into an actual cult got surprised Pikachu faces from literally nobody but him.

This leads to a bit of a conflict: we’re supposed to think the Emperor is Smart and Insightful and Everything Is Going According To Keikaku, but the actual figure we see is acting more akin to a sadistic asshole making bad decisions and lashing out petulantly when people don’t do what he wants.

Tamsyn Muir just does an end-run around the whole mess by deciding that John Gaius is, in fact, a sadistic asshole making bad decisions and lashing out petulantly when people don’t do what he wants. He’s not just a sadistic asshole etc etc, but he is that. And this makes him work narratively because while we can understand where he’s coming from in parts, at least, of his flashbacks in Nona, the narrative is also very much aware that his actions are wildly indefensible.

It also helps that he genuinely does not seem that old in the Nona flashbacks. The Emperor of Mankind’s decisions seem a bit disjointed because he’s supposedly spent thousands of years learning everything and either knowing or being a whole bunch of major historical figures and is still choosing to do transparently stupid things with a vague handwave about Losing Touch With His Humanity. John Gaius spent like twenty years learning to be a good cryogenics engineer, a few years tops learning to be a wizard and cult leader, and then devotes himself to the study of super bastard wizardry with incidental Cthulhu fights or mass murder attempts for ten thousand years. It makes sense that his decisions are not very good, because he’s just Some Guy who was kind of an asshole and ended up in situations, some of them of his own making, that sharpened those asshole elements into knives and used them to take out the other parts of his personality like they were making the world’s most fucked-up jack-o’-lantern. His wildly disproportionate obsession with murdering the remote descendants of people who wronged humanity once is shown less as a Key Component of a Legitimately Good Plan and more of a wildly unhinged obsession with vengeance that is a common element of his plans.

The Emperor of Man’s problem is that the narrative has him do clownshoes bullshit while saying that actually he’s very clever. John Gaius does clownshoes bullshit because he’s so much of a douchecanoe it compromises his judgment. One of these makes more sense than the other.

[boys-night]

Mickey and Ian - communication, sex, and relationship styles, post 11x07

Here’s my take on how Ian and Mickey relate to sexuality and relationship styles, thinking mainly about 11x07, but also looking more broadly at the series and including HoS. If you’re not interested in incorporating 11x07 in your version of canon, ignore this! I enjoyed 11x07 but I understand people have different ways of seeing Ian and Mickey’s relationship. I’m also doing the classic meta thing of taking seriously exaggerated/comic/contradictory elements in the show because that’s how I roll. 

Super long post under cut. 

I’ve been reading Sexuality: A Graphic Guide by Meg-John Barker and Jules Scheele which is where a lot of the following ideas and terminology come from. I’ve also been looking at Meg-John Barker’s free relationship zine on their website rewritingtherules.com. I highly recommend their work, including the podcast they have with Justin Hancock, The Meg-John and Justin podcast (although MJ has left now and it’s called Culture, Sex, Relationships, but you can check out the backlog!) 

They think about sex and relationship styles using various models including monogamy/polyamory, allosexuality/asexuality, romance/aromance etc. They look at these different facets of sexuality/relationship styles as complicated continua rather than binaries which shift over time. They also write about sexuality on an action/identity spectrum, communication strategies around relationships styles, and the windows into relationships. Here, I’m looking at all of these things thinking about Ian and Mickey’s relationship and as individuals within the relationship. 

The monogamy/polyamory continuum

I’ve seen a bit of debate about how to label Mickey and Ian’s relationship on the monogamy/polyamory spectrum and I think it’s a pretty complex question especially considering those labels mean different things to different people and that relationships shift a lot over time. While labels like these can be useful, they can also be rigid and restrictive in their own ways. 

Some terms that come close-ish to what they say they’ve decided in 11x07 are monoamorous and polysexual, considering they aren’t at all interested in romantic connections outside of each other but are up for sex (in a broad sense) with other people. But these terms don’t account for the agreement that they’re only exploring sex with other people when they’re together. 

As people have pointed out, some of the boundary setting around exactly how they’re involving other people in the relationship is left off-screen, and also they’re not necessarily going to form identities around how they act in one episode. I’ve also seen people suggest reading their relationship style as monagamish and/or that what they do with other people is part of kink/play. I think these make sense in different ways and that in 11x07 Ian and Mickey definitely focus more on what they do (action) rather than who they are (identity) in regards to monogamy/polyamory. 

In 11x01, Ian’s focus is more on identity. He sets up a binary choice between being monagamous or not in their relationship. 11x07 indicates they’ve moved through off-screen discussion into a much more personalised arrangement with more focus on actions allowing for flexibility over time. In 11x07, we see them agree on rules: sex in a broad sense is allowed outside of the primary partnership, love isn’t. They keep negotiations ongoing (e.g. in the bedroom, in the furniture store), and there is an indication that these rules could change over time. 

I’d love to read/explore more about the ways in which this approach has changed over the course of the whole show. At the start of their relationship, definitely prior to s4, they have much more implicit rules about who they can have sex with, and those implicit rules become problematic in s5, when they realise they’re not completely on the same page regarding them. They bring up clashing ideas around the rules when Mickey’s leaving prison in s10 too. In s11, their relationship becomes more intentional, with these rules stated aloud rather than assumed. 

The action/identity continuum in regards to gay sexuality 

On a slight tangent, I think there’s a comparison to be made here to how they relate to sexuality (specifically gender of attraction) and the idea of gay identity, which seems to develop in the other direction. For Mickey especially, for a long time having sex with men was something he did rather than something he was, and that’s gradually somewhat shifted over the course of the show. There’s so much more that can be explored here, for instance, about how the action-based approach is much more acceptable within the hyper-masculine environment he was raised. Terry also approaches it this way when talking about prison sex, for example. According to this very oppressive social script, having sex with men in certain circumstances can be OK but claiming that as part of who you are is absolutely not. 

But I also want to stress, I don’t think either approach to gay sexuality, looking at it through actions or through identity, is inherently better or worse. These different lenses on sexuality also intersect with class and levels of education. As explored in Sexuality: A Graphic Guide, the identity approach is also relatively a very modern way of seeing sexuality (late 20th century). Gender of attraction is also only one facet of sexuality (which includes amount of sex you want, type of sex, sexual roles etc.) but its now often regarded as the only or most important facet of sexuality. The identity-based approach is much more acceptable within the more aspirational/middle class settings they interact with in s10 and s11. In these seasons, Mickey and to a lesser extent Ian aren’t completely willing to accept it wholesale. I like how, for example, even well after “coming out”, Mickey often still approaches sexuality through actions rather than identity, e.g. his response to the woman at the flower shop asking if he’s a homosexual: “He is, I just like having another man’s dick up my ass.”

However, I also think it’s cool/interesting how Ian and Mickey both move towards and embrace various parts of mainstream gay identity in s11 too, and a large part of that involves combatting the sexism, femmephobia, and hypermasculinity with which they were raised, e.g. of course, singing and dancing to Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande in the bathroom.  

You could also look at the different ideas about the origins of their gay sexuality in HoS through this lens. Mickey goes for a psychological/behavioural approach (based in like early 20th century sexological theories); Ian goes for a born-this-way, biological/genetic approach (popularised in the 1980s as part of gay pride movements). 

Mickey’s approach is very old school (definitely a way of thinking that reflects his upbringing), which assumes straight is the norm from which gay deviates, to do with Freudian theory/the idea of homosexuality as pathology. He doesn’t, for example, seek to use the same model (Fiona’s bad relationship history) to explain why Lip is straight. Ian’s approach (”not because I was born this way?”) reflects his investment in the intractability of sexuality related to his strict opposition to conversion therapy models and the idea of being gay as a choice. It also reflects the way he reacts negatively/disbelievingly to Debbie’s more flexible sexuality (in s8?). While obviously it’s fucked up/impossible to force people to change their sexuality and it’s perfectly reasonable for him to define the origins of his own sexuality however he wants, this approach risks excluding more fluid experiences of sexuality. 

Again, Mickey’s approach is more behavioural/action oriented and Ian’s is more identity oriented. They both seem pretty willing to shift their ideas around this though (especially Mickey, who potentially is just regurgitating old stuff he’s heard without thinking). The concluding thought is that Ian is gay because he likes Mickey’s d, lol. 

Individual differences on sex and relationship continua

I really like the detail that Ian doesn't want to have sex and be friends with anyone else aside from Mickey. In 11x07, he doesn't want to make friends with the guys in the locker room although he's down for repeat sexual experiences which suggests he thinks he forms romantic attachment through a combination of both sex and friendship. It seems like it's important to him in his negotiation with Mickey that they don't form romantic attachments outside of their own relationship.

This relates back to the 87% thing in HoS where Ian says he tends to get at least slightly attached to everyone he has sex with and Mickey has 87% of his heart. Mickey doesn’t like the 87% thing at all but I reckon it outlines a really interesting difference between the two characters in regards to relationship styles. It indicates that Ian is comfortable with a slightly less mononormative way of doing nurturance/care than Mickey, while Mickey seems to initiate more of the polysexuality than Ian in 11x07. (Although of course, we don’t see how Ian would react if Mickey were to tell him he’s got 87% of his heart! -- but this is a very difficult to imagine scenario).

Sex is a big part of their relationship for both of them. Both Ian and Mickey seem pretty allosexual (e.g. they feel sexual attraction for other people generally), but Mickey is possibly even more so than Ian. Mickey also maybe falls on the aromantic/grayromantic spectrum (once again, the labels can be really useful but I don’t want to be too prescriptive/rigid). Ian seems to be more alloromantic, with a capacity to experience romantic attraction to a whole bunch of people. For him, sex and romance seem to be more interconnected in all cases although he can definitely separate the two (especially when thinking about transactional sex etc).

But I think it's more complex than that. For instance, Mickey reserves certain sexual acts for just between him and Ian and its clear that they have both intimacy and exploration in their sex life. From the outset, Ian and Mickey’s relationship involves exploration and excitement with sex, and provides a freedom to explore their sexualities in regards to sexual roles and kink. It’s clear that Mickey values the safe space Ian specifically gives him in this regard from very early on in their relationship. There’s a parallel here with the bathroom Gaga/Grande scene where Ian’s instinct isn’t to tease or make fun of Mickey but support him embracing more stereotypical gay behaviours and/or more fluid gender roles to the ones he’s grown up with outside of sex too.

Also it might be useful to complicate the idea of romance itself which is a really difficult idea to pin down and which seems to mean different things for both of them. I love the stress on friendship in 11x07. Friendship and also family connection play such key parts in their relationship with one another and the way in which they are attached, arguably even more so than traditional models romance. Both HoS and the Hopper painting discussion are interesting to think about in regards to the ways Ian and Mickey think about the concept of romance differently and the ways it intersects with or differs from their ideas around friendship/family. I like how Mickey’s willing to see getting a coffee together as romantic in a positive way for instance after Ian explains that it’s about togetherness in hard times. While maybe Mickey sees Ian’s suggestion of having a bath together as awkward/weird because he views it more as trying to live up to a social script of what is “romantic”.

Communication strategies around relationship styles

In s11, Ian and Mickey’s relationship is very entwined, and, in comparison to Tami and Lip, for instance, they disclose a lot to each other. Ian asks that they tell each other everything, and although Mickey is more resistant to that initially, he becomes much more forthcoming with his feelings in s11 (around Terry, around moving to the West Side, around becoming a parent). 

While I appreciate Ian’s role in initiating more communication between the two of them, I felt sorry for Mickey in their initial discussion in 11x01 in re “monogamous or not”. The turning over the paper method is a pretty binary way to open up a discussion about a very charged and complicated thing. 

They do seem to complement each other in this regard though with Ian generally more keen to initiate conversation but also getting more trapped into binaries, narratives of normativity and should-stories. While Mickey totally still projects an image that is informed by local expectations around masculinity and white supremacy, he’s also a rule-breaker in many ways and doesn’t have the same desire to conform to what society perceives to be “normal” (thanks HoS), especially behind closed doors and within his relationship with Ian (“liking what I like don’t make me a bitch”).  @fiona-fififi had a really good point in the tags a while back about how Mickey’s investment in their wedding and its success might have spurred Ian on further to embrace more normative ways of doing relationships. This is super interesting, and also makes me think just about how being married itself prompts Ian to think about taking a more active role in pushing the relationship further up the relationship escalator and in pushing for more communication around these steps in general. 

There’s also something to be said about pressurising each other in 11x07, especially when they jokingly(?) threaten each other with sex with other men if both of them aren’t around. I doubt they were making these suggestions seriously but it definitely doesn’t strike me as the most consensual method of communication. But there’s parallels here with generally using sex as a bargaining chip earlier on in the season. Ian seems to do that after having exhausted his attempts at trying to have conversations around money/monogamy etc, as a tried and tested way of getting Mickey to engage with him. And it definitely reflects using sex with each other and sex/relationships with other people (e.g. s3 Angie/Ned, s10 Byron/Cole) as modes of communication in earlier seasons. It kind of makes sense that they still have these habits in s11 even if they are no longer the primary mode of communication. 

Ian and Mickey relied so much on implicit communication in the early seasons and they have highly developed nonverbal ways of communicating. I don’t want to say that either verbal or nonverbal ways of communicating are inherently better than the other. They seem to understand each other on a deep level, which is really cool, but people have pointed out can make them think they don’t need to verbally communicate when they do, because they assume that they’ll understand one another and be on the same page. It’s super interesting to see them maintain that deep connection and continue to use nonverbal cues while also adopting more explicit and intentional communication styles in s10 and s11. 

The windows of their relationship

The fandom is always bringing up how Ian and Mickey leave the doors open when they bang, lol, and also making fun of how much Ian overshares. I think this is v fair but it also strikes me as pretty healthy that he wants people to see into his and Mickey’s relationship, especially in his discussions with Lip. But Ian’s got plenty of people around him who can see and help when things get tough. 

In s11, it’s great to see Mickey get closer to the Gallagher family and see various members defending him or taking his side in arguments, but he definitely does have less of an on-screen support system than Ian. (I wish that they had developed his and Sandy’s relationship in s11). I think the aftermath of the City Hall incident in s10 really reveals this particular imbalance in their relationship. On one level, Mickey moves in with Byron as a reaction to being hurt and even maybe a strategy of revenge/manipulation, on another, he doesn’t really have anywhere to go aside from the Gallagher house when/if he needs to get away from Ian. Also, the way he retreats back to the Gallagher house when he can’t deal with the Westside is an interesting development of this in s11. 

Ian’s need to share stuff about their relationship is kind of exciting considering his history of being unforthcoming about his relationships (and his history of being in a lot of secret relationships), as well as how difficult he found it to talk about Mickey while Mickey was away. But there is a different problem with ongoing talk around privacy and boundaries here too (Mickey doesn’t want Ian to chat about how he’s not into rimming!). Although to be fair, Mickey also chats about a lot of explicit sex stuff with strangers. 

Although they do ultimately decide against pursuing the pretty inorganic way of making friends in 11x07, Ian’s desire to make gay friends who he can talk to about relationship stuff makes sense in terms of the way he has been pushing for a more intentional relationship with more communication and more explicit discussion and compromise this season (and last season too). It also intersects with an idea of him/both of them going further to embrace gay sexuality as an identity. 

It’s interesting that Mickey’s the one to initiate this decision through ribbing Ian about his relationship with Lip. Why’s Mickey doing that? Is it just to be a little shit or is he also trying (subconsciously?) to activate Ian in some direction? (And also, maybe there’s a parallel there to getting their apartment in the west side, where Mickey’s the one inadvertently introducing Ian to the idea by pushing for them to go play in the pool). 

-----------

There’s a lot here which is just scratching the surface of thinking about Ian and Mickey’s relationship in the context of these different sexuality and relationship continua. For e.g. it would be really interesting to think more about this stuff in terms of shifting sex roles and kink exploration. Of course it’s all up for interpretation and I am sure I am highlighting areas that I’m personally interested in and inadvertently projecting myself/my own preferences and styles into this discussion. Very down for disagreements and discussions if other people are interested and manage to read all of this, lol. 

[neonir]

LETS TALK ABOUT THE PLANES

D&D has a bunch of planes, these are essentially a whole list of universes within the universe, while most adventures will take place on the material, many will dive into some other planes, or at the very, very least will interact with some of their inhabitants.

Gunna go over a handful of them for now

Structure: What the plane looks like, it’s general layout

Inhabitants: Who lives there, what they do.

Main threats: What your tombstone will say

Notable things: Fun facts about a neat place!

Further reading: If you want some things to look into on your own time

THE BLOOD WAR DUO FIRST:

These next two guys *hate each other*. The exaaact reason behind this can change on the setting, but essseeeentially a whole bunch of angels came down to act as vanguards against the abyss to stop demons from coming up and ruining everything. But it turns out, being in a super evil charged plane for extended periods of time, doing nothing but killing and being killed will do a number on you. Needless to say, they all kinda "fell" and are now devils, holding onto their old lawful nature, but replacing their good with evil and remain almost entirely dedicated to just killing every devil they can get their hands on

Demons meanwhile just kinda wanna ruin everything cause that's just what they like to do.

Anyways depending on the setting the blood war is either done and demons are in an even deeper pit for now, it never ended and they’re still at it to this day, or maybe it wasn’t called the blood war in that setting they just hate each other. Either way this is one of those wonderful cases where the guy you hate and the other guy you hate, both hate each other more, and constantly kick each others heads in. It’s swell.

THE NINE HELLS:

Structure: There's 9 layers of it, each one is ruled by an archdevil. Each layer has a different theme, each theme is more or less based on the guy running it. Or vice versa. Don't ask me they're matchy is the point.

Inhabitants: This is where devils live. The Devil is in the details, because of this they make deals. Lawful evil. Bad guys, but when they agree to something, they'll keep their end of the deal. By the letter of the law, not the spirit. Again, ruled by Archdevils, which are just the most powerful (politically, magically and physically typically) of the inhabitants of that layer.

Main threats: Devils are rude and super duper want your souls. Also demons keep invading. Which the devils really, really, REALLY hate. Also each layer can be anywhere from "on fire" to "Literally colder than the antarctic" so just jot that down.

Notable things: Devils like to make deals for the souls of mortals, specifically because they can claim these souls and either use them as a fun alternative to firewood, or can have them turned into handy dandy devil soldiers to fight demons for eternity.

Further reading: Archdevils are each different types of interesting and have a lot of shared lore to play with. Asmodeus is the top dog and has a lot of drama history with pretty much every archdevil in the place.

THE ABYSS:

Structure: Depends a little on the setting, but it can be anywhere from 99 layers to infinite layers, but it's essentially a big roiling pit of bad. Nothing is consistent and the only thing it exists for is to tear the rest of the cosmology apart. It's bad limbo, and limbo's already a mess.

Inhabitants: Demons live here, yes, that's different from devils. Chaotic evil. This is just a bunch of assholes. Literally looked up "How to be a dickhead" in the dictionary and then ate the book and spat on its writer because that's literally all they know how to do. They're ruled by Demon Lords, who are just kinda the biggest dicks of them all.

Main threats: This whole place is pretty much just the worst. Everything here just wants to ruin your whole deal. The only organization is enforced by big bad dude's literally beating the less big bad dudes into submission so they can order them to beat up less bad big dudes.

Notable things: Many powerful beings have carved out chunks of the abyss to call their own personal homes. These guys tend to freaking suck.

Further reading: Really you're gunna wanna investigate the river styx, it'll kinda cover a lot of useful stuff about how these guys go about stuff. More or less these guys are just bad for the sake of it.

THE AXIOMATIC ANACHRONISTIC PALS:

So these two are just kinda "Raw chaos" and "Pure order" There's actually other similar planes that share a lot in common with each of them, Archeron and Pandemonium, but they're just kinda like "What if you had these two planes...but they were kinda BAD!!!!" And we've just covered the bad versions of law and chaos so screw that nonsense tbh.

MECHANUS:

Structure: A wonderfully designed infinite series of interlocking floating continent sized gears that are in constant motion, be it fast or slow all simultaneously fitting into one grand ever turning perfect machine. This'd probably be one of the most wonderful to behold things in the setting. Shame if you kick a rock over you might be sent to infinite jail.

Inhabitants: Modrons! The lovely little goofy mechanical box/ball boys who fly around with very specific tasks (Such as counting every single living thing alive in the entire universe) or just organizing things "The right way". Each one listens to the one above it, which comes to an ultimate point with Primus, the ultimate law in the realm of absolutes.  There are also some very cool dudes called "Inevitables" which are just the shit.

Main threats: Well, Primus likes for its shit to stay the way it put it. Don't make a mess. If you are here, be here the way it allows people to be here. Otherwise you get an inevitable on your ass and these guys *do not* fuck around. They literally can't.

Notable facts: Did you know you can go to get contracts done up in primus' halls to ensure legitimacy? Did you know if you try to break one of these contracts one of types of inevitable called a marut comes over and rather politely yanks you and the person whose contract you broke back to Primus. You may then attempt to justify WHY you thought it was a good idea to break your contract, and should it not be a good enough reason, the Marut will then proceed to beat you unerringly into a fine paste.

Further reading: Look into modrons and the plane itself mostly, it can be hard to find details on the inevitables so don't stress too much about that. Primus can be interesting to investigate depending on how much history you wanna look into.

LIMBO:

Structure: Man fuck I ain't even gunna try. This place is a mess. It's literally whatever the fuck it happens to be at the time.

Inhabitants: A lot actually! Lots of folk call this place home from the very zen and chill Githzerai and their "Live and let live" jedi vibes, to the remarkably less chill Slaadi, who are big funky many coloured frog men who vary from "silly frog man" to "Sentient Hole in Reality" depending on how far up the pokemon style evolution chain they've climbed.

Main threats: Well, the whole place is more or less non euclidean mass of ever churning raw chaos. Aside from that, watch out for Slaad Lords, which themselves can vary from "Funky dude with god like powers who uses them to wander around doing whatever comes to mind" to "Lord of entropy who wants to more or less bring about the heat death of the universe"

Notable facts: With some force of will, one can actually instill some amount of order into this place, which is how the Githzerai make their homes, literally just concentrating on keeping an area of it "approximately home shaped" collectively defining the place they live as what it is.

Further reading: Honestly the slaad lords are equal parts fascinating, hilarious and on occasion a little dissapointing. The history of the slaad is neat (Primus is kinda responsible for their existence) and the plane itself has been through some stuff. The githzerai are one half of the race that once gave the mindflayers an unparalleled beating before turning their sights on each other and then bugging off in their separate ways.

NEXT TIME MAYBE: ELEMENTAL PLANES, THE ETHEREAL AND THE ASTRAL.

IF I’M LUCKY I WILL NEVER HAVE TO WRITE ABOUT THE FEYWILDS OR THE SHADOWFELL.

[popculturebuffet]

Mission Hill Review: Plan 9 From Mission Hill or I Married a Gay Man From Outer Space!

Commission for @weirdkev27​. Hallowen Havoc marches on! For my first commission ever, I take a look at the cult classic mission hill’s final produced episode and one of it’s most loved. Kevin’s visit to an x rated movie pays off less with boobs and more with a friendship with his elderly gay neighbor and film buff wally and a new appreciation for cinema, only for this new friendship to nearly end over Kevin’s good natured attempt to spotlight Wally’s only film, the man from pluto. Gay spaceman, a touching gay love story, and a surprisingly likeable guy with a neckbeard insue. Spoilers and full recap FROM PLUTO, under the cut. 

Well this was a nice suprise. After the utterly draining process of my review of “Let’s Get Dangerous”, it was a nice suprise to find out one of my handful of fans had tried to comission me a while back and I hadn’t realized it, and I was happy to oblige him. I was even happier when I found out what his commission was: Plan 9 From Mission HIll, an episode i’d planned to cover for pride but got squeezed out due to how little i’d planned the month out in advance, a lesson I still REALLY need to learn. Regardless not only was it a nice, funny, and heartwarming ep to cover after the sheer amount of analysis and recapping the last one took, I realized it ended up fitting the spooky season, as there’s just as much fun to be had in truly fantastic horror movies like “Nightmare on Elm Street”, “Get Out”, “Child’s Play”, “Tales from the Hood” and “The Thing” as there is from so bad it’s great horror films like “House (The Japanese one), C.H.U.D. II: Bud The Chud, Terror Toons and House Shark. Seriously watch House Shark i’ts hilarious. Hell I fully plan on watching the Gary Busey film Hider in the House tomorrow. I mean it’s a film about hollywood’s favorite nutball  living in the walls and attic of someone’s house. What’s not to love? Maybe it might be entirely boring but that’s the risk you sometimes take to find so bad it’s gold filmaking. Plus cheeestastic films like these are the reason we have the classsic and incomprable mystery science theater 3000 and it’s succesor rifftrax. So while I need to watch more of them, I have a spot in my likely overtaxed heart for this kind of film, and as a result this episode resonated with me on rewatch in a way it didn’t the first time around, even if it was still my faviorite. 

Backing up a bit as usual I like to give my history with a show first time covering it: Mission HIll was one of a handful of shows picked up by Adult Swim in it’s early days. Since most of Adult Swim’s early originals were 11 minutes at a time when this was still a new and radical thing they were doing having 11 minute shows that weren’t sold as half hour pairs of 11 minute episodes, they likely needed more shows to fill up the air and clevelry simply bought the rights to several shows that had only had one season, along with Family Guy and Futurama which as history would bear out both made the shows into huge names in the animation industry but brought both back.. though in Family Guy’s case sometimes dead is better. Point is, several shows got a second life thanks to Cartoon Network if sadly not more seasons, with the sole exception of the utter classic Home Movies which I really need to talk about at some point, and thus are really more associated with Adult Swim than their original networks. Hell before doing this review I genuinely didn’t know what Mission HIll’s original networks. But now you know the framework this show came out in what IS Mission Hill anyway? 

MIssion Hill was a cartoon from the wonderful brains of Bill Oakely and Josh Weinstein, no relation to the MST3K one who due to this confusion now goes by J. Elvis Weinstein instead, who showran the simpsons and did some great episodes, my faviorte of there’s being $pringfield, aka the casino one. 

The show was about Andy, a 24 year old slacker whose happily lazing about after college in his loft with his friends Jim, a stoic but friendly stoner played by Brian Posehn, and Posey, a sensitive hippie. However when he goes to pickup his childhood dog he ends up with an unexpected roomate: His nerdy, sheltered and neurotic brother Kevin, who has a love of sci fi, a type a personality and a habit of going bling blong to focus when studying or just whenever. He’s also voiced by future robin and future psychopath claming to be robin Scott Mellinville. Also in the building are Carlos and Natalie, an unemployed artist and college professor and their baby Nameless.  I forgot they existed.  And of course saving the best for last we have the brother’s neighbors, and a very early gay couple for animated television Wally and Gus, played by the legendary Tom Kenny and Nick Jameson who hasn’t done much of note but does a great job anyway. Wally is a fastudious, Gus is angry and very brooklyn, but the two genuinely love each other, makeout frequently, with their first showing off the two as a gay couple, and are an adorable but very beliviable couple. It’s part of WHY I wanted to spotlight them. The late 90′s/early 2000′s, the show originally aired in 99 and into 2000 and aired on adult swim in the early 2000 for the curious, were not a great time to be gay in animation with most gay characters used as punchlines and hardly any queer stories. Not only that but just a year earlier will and grace had to have one overly camp chracter and one “regular” gay character in order to get made. Granted that show has it’s issues but still, the point stands having a gay couple that plays fairly realistically, is shown to both be sexually active and love each other and who’ve been together for decades was a hell of a step for a medium where Family Guy around the same time had a joke with the punchline “Whoa transvestite back off!” Granted Family Guy would do far worse to both the gay and trans communities, but we’ll get to that someday. Or sooner if you commission me, but I swear if you do I will pull a gary busey on your house. Point is not only is it INCREIDBLY forward for it’s time but it holds up even now. There’s a reason the creators are working on a spinoff/revivial focused on the two and a reason these two tend to be one of the most talked about elements of the show. That and frankly their hilarious having realistic banter.. and also having one episode where Gus has a knife in his head for a whole episode. It helps that this episode, their spotlight one and the last one produced, is also one fo the series best. So with all that build up let’s take a look shall we? 

We open with Kevin passing a theater showing x rated movies and are shown, over a bunch of times of him passing it him condeming it publicly but his tone clearly telegraphing the classic battle between a teenage boy and his dick. Dick wins and Kevin heads inside and gives us... this. 

.... If you will excuse me, please enjoy the musical stylings of the late great Zorak while I go shower the “EeEEEEEEUUUUGGggggggHHHhhuuuuuuggghhhhhhhhewwwwuuuuugggghhhhggooooodddddddwwwyyyyyy” off me. 

God rest his soul. Okay i’m good now. Thankfully this isn’t an episode about Kevin getting addicted to x-rated theater, and they already did an episode about him masturbating. No really it actually had a good message as Kevin was so embarassed about the incident, he nearly let two other guys, granted not remotley good people who were stealing from there anyway, take the fall. Andy even ends up giving a great speech coming to his defense

“People, you mock this boy, but it's your fault he's here today. Your hypocrisy has made this boy a prisoner, terrified of his own sexuality. So much so that he'd rather send two relatively-innocent men to prison than admit he looks at pornography! He thinks his natural urges are filthy and perverted, and why? Because of your conspiracy of silence! Nobody dares admit the truth - that you're all just like him!”

IT’s a damn good moment and a good message. That sadly is still relevant as America still views sex as worse than violence for some weird reason. At least he has the internet now. Anywho when Kevin goes to see what’s up he runs into Wally who explains the confusion: He’s just showing old “X-Rated films”. Now some of you are probably wondering “Wait non-porn films used to use that?” Or “Wait what’s an x-rating?” Well while I knew some films did used to do that I was honestly curious myself as to why it was retired and why porn films got to use it and took a quick hop to google to find out reading both the wikipedia article for the rating and this vulture article on the subject to get a slightly deeper look at it. 

It’s actually quite intresting as I genuinelly also didn’t know when the MPAA ratings started for films: When the rating’s board started in 1968 there were four raitings: G, GP (Later flipped to PG), R and X. X was the modern equivlent of today’s R really, and films like Last Tango in Paris, Midnight Cowboy and a Clockwork Orange, with Orange even having a poster up at the cinema in this episode and Midnight Cowboy being part of the plot very soon. We’ll get to that in the moment. Point is it allowed filmakers to push the envelope break barriers all that good stuff and makes me curious about those very films, which is a good thing as i’ll admit to not being exactly a film buff.  But as Kevin’s confusion here shows, eventually the porn industry took a hold of it, using the X as a way to get sex movies into regular cinemas and have an air of legitimacy, hence why Debbie Does Dallas was a mainstream hit.. and yes that’s an actual film that I only know about thanks to I Love the 70′s. If your wondering why the MPAA just couldn’t you know, tell them to know or why they didn’t take over other ratings it turns out for some weird reason why the G and R ratings were owned by them, and later PG , they forgot to trademark X and by the time they even thought of it it was too late. Hence terms like XXX rated and what not or the ungodly stupid XXX porn parodies. Just.. just give them actual names and slap “A porn parody” ont he end if you want to avoid a lawsuit.  Naturally the film industry struck back and X soon went from a way to have daring, interesting films.. to basically a threat by the MPAA that your film wouldn’t be carried by any major distributors if it had one, with Dawn of the Dead having to just go unrated just to get distributed. The 80′s brought the killing stroke: With the rise of big theater chains, mall theaters with restrictions I wasn’t aware of, and big home video outlets like blockbuster that didn’t carry porn, the x rating was well and truly dead and the MPAA lukewarmly added NC-17 which serves the same bullshit purpose as theaters still refuse to carry them and the MPAA still uses it for essenitally the same reason. Nothing changed! If your wondering why people sometimes have problems with the MPAA, yeah there’s your answer, as they could’ve campaigned harder for NC-17 but clearly enjoyed having a raiting to hold over films heads. 

So yeah if you don’t know, know you know bud, let’s move on. So yeah Wally explains the confusion and decides to educate Kevin on film by showing him Midnight Cowboy, with John Voight “Before his head looked like a radish” and Dustin Hoffman. Also Andy brings up Sphere.. a film I also know nothing about. Hang on... checking Letterboxd and okay. It’s a Dustin Hoffman starring Sci-Fi film about a research team investigating a mysterious sphere at the bottom of the sea. Huh.. I prefer Cube myself but to each his own.  But once Kevin clams up he really enjoys it. Will grant the episode lays it on a tad thick, with Kevin comparing the film to , of all things, Armageddon. I mean I get MIcheal Bay is a good metric for crowd pleasing schlock but still, even nerds have standards. My standards aren’t very high at times mind as I still want to watch this sometime today. 

But I still think even awkward teens have better standards. Then again one of my faviorite films at the time was Saving Silverman which while I can’t hate it due to nostalgia , having watched it from 5th grade well into my teens, I can see was not very good. Though it did have R. Lee Ermy being both really funny and turning out to be gay so that was awesome. 

And he does make a good point that heroes like Ratzzo Rizzo don’t go well on Taco Bell cups.. though it also feels weird to me in 2020 where while not big sellers films with deep stories and unlikeable heroes are some of the biggest on tv and one of them was one of the greatest animated series of the last decade, so things must’ve been pretty damn bleak in 1999. The two also run into Gus who wants dinner and a fight ensues between the couple about the fact Gus owns a restraunt, could just bring his lunch etc. It’s hilarious and as I said I like how they feel like a couple you’d meet in real life. Sadly I don’t have an elderly gay couple in my neighborhood but here’s hoping. Or maybe i’ll be the neighborhoods wally when I grow up who knows. Also Tom Kenny’s delivery is great. 

Kevin later relays his fun day to his loftmates, with Andy expressing genuine suprise at Wally’s job and love of art house cinema, as none of them knew what he actually did. Andy’s genuinely shocked and mildly appalled they’ve lived near Wally for so long but having no idea what he does.. but really I had a sweet old lady, Delores who lived next to me for almost my entire life before she moved to be closer to her family, visited her house frequently pet her cats, went to her house after school at one point.. and I cannot tell you what he did, so it’s incredibly relatable. However in a scene that’s both hilarious but also really, really sweet, the three relate that they do know him well and due to being neighbors after all and know Gus and Wally’s morning routine: They wake up at 8, Wally brews the Coffee, Gus reads him the funnies, then they shower together while singing college fight songs, and then, with Jim saying this part so picture it in Brian Posehn’s voice please you won’t regret it, argue or have gay sex and then it’s off to work. It’s really sweet, both in showing off their well worn dynamic with each other, and the fact that the loftmates really DO know these two even if they dont’ know everything and they are close in their own way. Kevin can only give out a “Hm” in response... which is probably the closest he can get to saying touche without breaking into nerdy giggles. 

Cue the good times montage as Wally introduces Kevin to Ingmar Bergman, who I have heard of even if i’ve never seen any of them, and some director I never heard of who made old timey comedies apparently. IT’s a really nice sequence. Kevin also shows 2001: A Space Oddesy to his friends, who are bored to tears by it while Kevin’s enraptured. Which I would say was another heavy-handed swipe at late 90′s cinema but being a teen myself who had mostly watched things like Star Wars, I did not gel with 2001 and need to rematch it at some point, so I totally relate to his friends utter boredom and confusion with it given it’s rep. It’s a visually stunning film. I will however stand by not liking Star Trek: The Motion Picture, as that film TRIES to be 2001 but is instead just really, REALLY boring. 

But naturally things can be entirely good natured bonding between an elderly gay man and , as Wally puts it in the best line of the episode “The son god never wanted me to have”, as Kevin notices a film coming up that Wally apparently made, and looks to star gus. Wally panics and shoos his young protégé away... which yeah he could’ve just you know told him he doesn’t like the film or anything else and prevented this episode but then we wouldn’t of seen the gay equilvent of plan 9 from outer space so fair enough. 

At the Gus’ Diner, the loftmates and their neighbors I mentioned earlier look over the poster, and we find out from Gus that that is him, and he starred in a movie.. and naturally Wally explained never showing it to his husband in the simplest way possible: By claming a shark ate it. You know while I watched the show I didn’t quite get it when I was younger and it’s probably why it took me decades to revisit it.. but I wish I had sooner this show is REALLY damn funny and i’m really looking forward to that spinoff with Wally and Gus. 

Wally continues to dodge Kevin, so Kevin, trying to find info about the film and it being lost, goes to the video store.. back when those existed. Something I have to give the show is honestly the use of vhs, visits to video stores, and the movies Kevin mentions are the only things that really date this film. While swapping another Dustin Hoffman film in proved impossible, it is plausible Kevin would see it streaming somewhere. and it’s easy enough to swap Armageddon for Rise of Skywalker given that film’s just as good.. Last Jedi was excellent though. Point is this story REALLY holds up, which is the sign of a good story: where even if some elements are stamped to the time, the story itself could easily be told again with few changes. It’s also why i’m not AGAINST Reboots, as my coverage of ducktales makes obvious: As long as stories can still be told or you can retell a story in a unique and intresting way, it’s fine to reuse something. I do think hollywood overdoes it, but I’ve never thought there was genuine harm in it or reviving old franchises. It’s all in how you do it.  But yeah while the local video store dosen’t help at all, Andy happens to know just the man for the job, though Jim and Posey nope out of going with them. Also something to note is the series animation: It’s animated like an old 30′s cartoon or a comic strip, modernized a bit in color and realisim, but still having comic strip stuff like shaking head lines, heat lines coming off coffee that sort of thing.  I really love it. 

Anyways the brothers head off to a funky out of the way video store, I wish there were more hole in the wall used media stores where I lived. We mostly have chains like Vintage Stock and Half-Priced Books, though I genuinely love both of those stores and VIntage Stock is the modern equilvent of places like blockbuster honestly. Anyway after Beardo confuses Kevin for an Employee kevin asks him about the man from pluto which Beardo reveals he knows about but is very rare and has few prints. I like Beardo.. he’s a neckbeard who seems more liable to complain abotu some reboot on the fact their rebooting it again rather than “gasp” women are involved. I prefer my neckbeards just a tad pretentious rather than you know, sexist, homophobic, deranged assholes with nothing better to do. I mean i’m still living at home and didn’t get out much before the pandemic either but you dont’ see me bitching every time a franchise gets a female lead. 

Anyway, Kevin is inspired by that and with help from everyone gets the word out about the film. As you’d expect though this can’t end well, as Wally tries avoiding the premire entirely (And we get a great bit where Jim happens to see him trying to flee down the fire escape and Wally’s expression is priceless) 

Huh.. I bet that’s what Rob Reiner when North had it’s premire. As you can probably guess the showing dosen’t go well: The film itself is a hilarious combination of the day the earth stood still (the general plot as we’ll find out more in a second) and Plan 9 From Outer Space (A cheestatic no budget film with a hulking man brute who can’t act as the lead), and in catching the feel of a b-movie it’s utterly perfectly done. This film would go perfect on MST3K and the audience’s howls of laughter agrees with me. 

Wally however is utterly humiliated and doesn’t want to speak to Kevin which.. yeah is about the only issue I have with an otherwise marvelous episode. While I get Wally’s humiliation was Kevin’s fault.. Kevin GENUINELY meant well. While Kevin is book smart at his core he’s a dumb kid who didn’t know any better and didn’t realize Wally hated his film and it’s Wally’s own damn fault for not telling him.  Sure Kevin should’ve picked up the hint, but given the kid is oblivious and didn’t even know what an x raiting is it’s clear he’s not the sharpest crayon in the box when it comes to life experince. Wally had every opportunity to just explain his story but didn’t. And I put most of the blame on Wally when he’s you know, the adult. He’s a 60 or so year old man. He should know better. But it really doesn’t take away from the episode entirely.  But the loftmates clearly love the film and are quoting bits from it, with jim having a fishbowl on his head, when they run into Wally, though Wally is fine with them admitting it’s crap and he knows it is. We then get what REALLY makes the episode and really makes me primed for a spinoff: Wally and Gus’ backstory, which also makes it obvious the crew was probably going to use the two more had the series got another season. 

Anyways it was the 50′s, Archie Andrews was an average teen and not shredded both in muscle and by a bear that one time, Fonzie was out and about and eyying, and Wally was a first unit director given a shot as the studio asked him for a script having utter faith in him. HIs script was a day the earth stood still esque parable on the Cold War.. until he met Gus who, naturally for Gus, was outrunning a ton of police having stumbled on set and likely defeated them all bare handed because Gus is as incredible as the hulk and likely also comes back through a glowing green door when he dies.  So Wally made the tragic mistake of mixing his love life with his career, and lost both Kurt Douglas, who he bumped down from lead for Gus, and Charleton Hesston who just walked off and they got a dinkier stage and worse actors as a result. The resulting film ended Wally’s career but he was able to sell the rights to cinemas to make enough for them to start over in mission hill and buy the diner.. and at least they had each other. It’s a really great story that explains why it upsets Wally so much: This was his baby and while he dosen’t even for one second regret meeting gus or the life they’ve had, he regrets that his one film was a total trainwreck and goes off to the theater to mope as he plays his film for laughing crowds, as it was naturally held over. I mean when you get the next plan 9 from outer space, this was a bit before the room mind you, you hold onto that shit. 

Kevin, who heard the whole thing, goes to mope by watching what is likely a MIcheal Bay film, who was a target even then folks. Oh you poor poor fools you knew not how much worse it could get... i.e. robot testicles. Just.. robot testicles. And their MAKING A DELUXE MOVIE DEVISTATOR. Why. Just.. why who wanted this after that scene. He’s sworn off good movies as he feels he no longer deserves them. Andy however bluntly tells him to cut the pity party, while he’s moping his friend really needs him and when you love somebody, you put your pants on for them. When you love somebody you see it to the end, when you love somebody the conclusions forgone when you love somebody you put your big boy pants right onnnnn! ... I’ll put the song at the end. Point is Kevin goes to help his friend, and as Wally is moping in the projection booth and wonders what he was thinking Kevin tells him the obvious truth: He was thinking of how far he’d go.  “You taught me the best films are personal stories.. and this film is your valentine to Gus” While Wally starts to break a little, he does point out it doesn’t make it good.. but Kevin rightly counters that he’s not so sure of it. Wally sees the audience enjoying the film and goes down, with all of them carrying red light bulbs like the one gus has to show when he’s mad in the film. And Wally finally realizes waht I got to in the beginning: It doesn’t matter if a film’s good or bad, what matters is someone enjoys it. A film can be utterly terrible, and still be good. It can be a mess and still have merit. And Wally finally realizes it doesn’t matter if it’s the film he wanted, it’s the film he made for his future husband, it’s a film that brings laughter and sticks in people’s heads and really  brings them a godo time. It’s a film worth remembering and Wally finally accepts that and his film as his own.  Later that night Kevin and Wally exit the theater, with Wally no longer mad at him and the two still friends or as Wally puts it in the second best line of the episode “As close as an elderly gay man and a straight boy can be” Awwww. The two depart and we get a touching final scene as Wally comes home and finds a bottle of wine and a note from gus saying he has a suprise for him> Turns out Gus put on his old space helmet.. but fell asleep in it. So we get a really nice tender moment as Gus takes the  helmet off, smooches his husband on his bald head and smiles brightly as the episode ends.

Final Thoughts on The Man From Pluto or I Married a Gay Man From Outer Space: Before you ask each episode had two titles for funzies, the first one to get past the censors and the second for fun and likely what they would’ve gone with if they could. As for this episode.. it’s spectacular. It holds up well even 20 years later, it’s touching, sweet and really damn funny and makes me want to rewatch the show as a whole again. I highly recommend seeking it out and hope mission hill is eventually made officially available somewhere. Till then you can find the whole series including this episode on YouTube and despite being the last one you could easily watch this one first if you want and it’s a decent enough intro to the show as a whole. I highly recommend it, an utter pleasure to watch.  If you liked this review, you can comission your own by PMing me on this very blog, just mention you want to do a comission and we can talk it out. As this review proves, it dosen’t have to be a show i’ve done before or even one that’s remotely recent. Hell i’d gladly do Fonz and The Happy Days gang, the animated happy days spinoff that’s like dr. who but with the Fonz. Yes really. Whatever you want i’ll do it as long as it’s not porn for just 5 bucks an episode and 10 for a movie. YOu can also join my patreon, and for 2 dollars a month get acess to my discord (that i’ll start once I get patreons) and once I get enough patreons exclusive polls or 10 bucks for all of that and a review of your choice each month. You can find said patreon right here. And even 1 buck a month would be apricated if you can spare it and if not simply reblog this and share it around.  You can also follow this blog for weekly ducktales, loud house and amphibia coverage as they come out.  I’d also personally thank WeirdKev27 for both being a long time fan of this blog and for the comission. 

Until we meet again say safe, wear a mask, check your atttic for Gary Busey and happy Halloween! Play us out Mr Heere!

[buzzdixonwriter]

Federal Operator 99 review

“Sophistication” isn’t a word one hears applied to serials very often.  Federal Operator 99 aims for sophistication and surprisingly hits the mark more often than not. 

It’s not a uniformly smooth attempt and the rough spots are noticeable, but for the least expensive of Republic’s three serials in 1945 (and lordy, were Manhunt Of Mystery Island and The Purple Monster Strikes inexpensive!) Federal Operator 99 is solid entertainment. 

Let’s start with the script, often the least sophisticated element of a serial. This time instead of Wild West adventures or sci-fi thrills Republic writers Albert DeMond, Basil Dickey, Jesse Duffy, and Joseph Poland under the guidance of studio story editor Ronald Davidson focused instead on a very human scale criminal enterprise, led by a colorful / complex / conflicted crime lord, Jim Belmont (George J. Lewis) with a penchant for fine art and piano concertos. 

Belmont is no typical Republic supervillain but a very human — albeit murderously eccentric — criminal. All of his plots are plausible and doable. Conquer the world? Hell, no.  Steal jewels then double cross when paid a ransom?  Oh, yeah. 

That alone is a refreshing change of pace for a serial of this era. 

His opposite number is our eponymous Federal Operator 99, Jerry Blake (Marten Lamont).  Serial leads (other than costumed heroes) tend to be played as just regular folks; the audience appeal is that we like to think we would be just as heroic under similar circumstances.

99, in contrast, is presented as debonair and dashing, super competent and equally as cunning as his quarry, and speaking with a faint English accent.  It’s not much of an exaggeration to say he’s a prototype of another JB with a number:  007. 

And speaking of JBs, notice how both hero and villain share the same initials as well as equal expertise in their respective fields, and a taste for the finer things in life. “Avoid giving your characters similar names” is one of the fundamental rules of genre fiction, and for Davidson’s tribe of scribes to give both the same initials indicates they were quite consciously trying to link the two on some level. 

One of the best things about this serial is 99 is not a reactive hero, waiting for Belmont to strike so he can pursue him, but is actively trying to trick Belmont and lure him out into the open where Blake’s team can arrest him. 

Despite this, Lamont comes across as a rather lacklustre leading man, while Lewis’ screen charisma is so strong we’re disconcerted to find ourselves actually rooting for him at numerous points in the story! Republic missed a bet by not swapping their two leads; it would have made for a far more dynamic story line.  

The script doesn’t help much, either.  While it’s always hard to tell who wrote what parts of any serial, one of the writers here clearly had a much better grasp on what they were trying to achieve and it reflects in good dialog and strong scenes. 

Other writers give us the equivalent of juvenilia with their unimaginative flat declarative sentences, the single biggest drawback of this serial. 

While she ended up a Republic Western heroine under both this name and Adriana Booth, Lorna Gray as Rita Parker is two lethal steps up from the typical supporting villainess.  She’s not decorative arm candy but a willing and ready partner to Belmont’s crimes.  

Of her counterpart among the good guys, let’s be generous and say Helen Talbot as Joyce Kingston is fetchingly cute and enunciates all her lines quite clearly. It’s not uncommon for serial stars, especially the ladies, to be tied up at some point in the proceedings but Ms Talbot is restrained so often and in such a wide variety that it’s clear somebody in the production had an affinity for this sort of thing.  She also spends an inordinate amount of time being driven about in the trunk of various automobiles. 

You do the best with what you’ve got and I’ll leave it to the reader to decide if this applies to Ms Talbot or the production. 

The automobiles bring up an interesting point re Federal Operator 99’s meager budget. The serial uses a lot of stock footage and to disguise the fact some of it is well over a decade old, the script draws attention to certain cars being earlier models and not the more contemporary ones seen elsewhere. 

Likewise, nobody changes clothes unless it’s to match stock footage; this is especially noticeable for Gray and Talbot. 

Federal Operator 99 has a very lean look to it, past the opening chapters (typically used to sell the serial to theaters) there’s never more than four characters on camera at any time. Those familiar with Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley will spot many landmarks and familiar streets. The production does enjoy a bigger feel than other Republic serials of the era, and I think this is because they managed to use a number of sets left standing after feature films finished production.  

Where the serial really shines is in the direction. As typical of the era, more than one director handled that chore.  Usually studios had one director for dialog scenes and another for action, or one for interiors and another for exteriors, but Federal Operator 99 has three (!):  Wallace Grissell, a film editor who became a director presumably because he knew how to intercut stock footage well; the legendary Spencer Gordon Bennet, who directed more serials than anyone; and Yakima “Just stay in the chariot and we’ll see you win the race, Chuck” Canutt, who handled the action scenes and boy, howdy! did somebody make the right call there!  Federal Operator 99 is crammed with chair splintering / table flipping action from crotch to sternum, Canutt’s philosophy being no self respecting hero should ever walk through a door when he can dive headfirst through a window, gun blazing. 

If I didn’t know better, I’d think chapter four was originally shot in 3D based on the amazing number of objects and human bodies Canutt sends hurtling straight at the camera. 

The cliffhangers are good, better than most comparable serials, and there’s nary a cheater in the bunch. The Lydecker brothers round things off with a superlative display of exploding miniatures. 

Serials are noted for their casual use of violence, but Federal Operator 99 is significantly more gruesome than most. 99 meets Kingston — elaborately bound and gagged in a closet, no less — right after shooting and killing one of Belmont’s men; the two then have a cheery conversation about what to do next despite the fact there’s a corpse laying literally at their feet!  Various underlings and innocent bystanders get shot in the back or stomach, Belmont is freed in an expertly staged train rescue where a cohort as an afterthought casually shoots and kills the escorting agent, a woman screams off camera as Parker tortures her with a cigarette lighter, a criminal dies twitching under a hail of bullets, one bloodied mortally wounded minion takes a minute to heroically crawl to a detonator because how else are we going to get a satisfying Lydecker ka-boom?, and Belmont himself makes his on camera hard goodbye by plunging four stories to solid concrete.  

The gruesomeness brings up two plot points that raise questions for me:  First Belmont has a phone conversation with an unseen spy in Washington then discusses with his cohorts the spy by name and how vital he is to their organization…and we never reference said spy again; next Belmont mentions four members of his former partner‘s gang by their names, gives a brief run down on each, mentions how they might know where the hidden loot from a bullion robbery is…and in the next cut Blake is reading a newspaper story about how the four were brutally tortured and mutilated before being executed gangland style. 

Say wha — ?  I’m guessing Federal Operator 99 was originally conceived as a 15 chapter serial only to be truncated to 12 in preproduction (Manhunt Of Mystery Island and The Purple Monster Strikes were Republic’s last two 15 chapter serials, everything after that was either 12 or 13 chapters). Rather than waste more time and money rewriting the script, they just whacked out three chapters worth of material but didn’t change the dialog. 

The gruesomeness of Federal Operator 99, and its more realistic scale and script make me wonder if it didn’t start life as a development for a Dick Tracy or Rex Barton serial; the format certainly fits both. 

Not the best serial Republic ever made, but better than most. 

 © Buzz Dixon 

[thiswasinevitableid]

47 for OT4, SFW or NSFW I love your writing! :))

Thank you! I went SFW for this one.

47: you overhear me complaining to my coworker about your ridiculous daily coffee order, whoops

“Oh christ, here he comes.” Duck mutters to Indrid as he pumps hazelnut syrup into a cup, “the one I was tellin you about.”

Indrid, stationed at the counter, tilts his head as he watches the windows, “would he be the one that looks like a lumberjack or the one who looks like a secret agent?”

“The second one. I dunno what it is, but his order drives me fuckin nuts. It’s super specific; dark roast, single origin only, heavy cream until it turns about that color” he points to the wall, “with a half pump of caramel and a half pump of vanilla. You’re gonna be that specific, just make it at home.” He’s busy putting a lid on  the drink and therefore misses Indrid’s hand waving. 

“I do, and it’s not that hard.” A deep voice makes him turn; the lumberjack, looking more amused than annoyed.

“And since you know my order so well already” the other man, smile, tight lipped, at him before turning to Indrid, “one of those and one large, black coffee.”

Duck starts the drink, making it as fast as he can so he can slink off into the back room. Shit, if the guy rats on him he could get in trouble, he’s already on thin ice after throwing out some rich kid for harassing the staff. 

Indrid takes the drinks, mouths, “go” and heads around the counter while Duck makes a bee-line for the supply closet. 

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

Indrid sets the cups down in front of the two men, then slides a plate with a large, hot monster cookie on it between them. 

“On the house, as they say.”

“This an apology cookie or a ‘don’t give us a bad review’ cookie?” The lumberjack smirks.

“Both.” Indrid says mildly, smiling and returning to his post.

 As he walks away he hears the deep voice whisper, “wouldn’t kick that one outta bed for eating crackers.”

A soft laugh, “Agreed. Pity his friend is an ass.”

When Jake and Hollis arrive a few minutes later to take over for him and Duck, he finds his boyfriend clonking his head into the wall by the break room. 

“Don’t worry, love, I smoothed things over.”

“Thanks. Just feel like a dipshit. Both for gettin overheard and complainin in the first place.”

“I assumed it was stress from waiting on interview results.”

“Yeah.” Duck pulls on his jacket, “still feel shitty though.”

“Come, let’s go home. I have some ideas for relaxation.” He purrs, kissing Duck’s cheek. 

“How may of ‘em are fuckin’-based?”

“Half.”

“Good, gives us some variety just in case.”

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

“We’ve paired you with another duo, if that’s okay?”

“Sure” Duck smiles at the Escape Room employee, takes Indrid’s hand as they follow him down the hall, “Aubrey says these are more fun in a group.”

“I look forward to--oh dear.” 

Duck turns to see the pair from the coffee shop last week. The lumberjack looks about the same, but the secret agent is dressed more casually than usual. His black hair is loose rather than slicked back, and he’s in jeans and shirt that reads, “Champ” with a dark outline of sea monster on the front. He almost looks cute.

“You’ve been  trapped in the lair of hostile, highly intelligent space aliens. You have an hour to escape. Good luck” The employee shuts the door, leaving the pairs to stare at each other. 

“Uh, hi. Again.” Duck waves awkwardly

“Hey.” The lumberjack waves back, “so, uh, this is hella awkward, right?”

“Yes.” The other three respond.

“Cool. Look, I dunno about you but I don’t wanna get dissected by aliens. So, bygones?”

The others nods and he smiles, “I’m Barclay, this is Joseph. My, uh, my boyfriend.” It’s distinctly odd watching such a large man blush like a schoolgirl. Joseph smiles, kisses his cheek, then looks around the room.

“Alright, we need to find the four symbol code to enter onto that pad. Spread out and look for places symbols might be hidden.”

They find the first one easily. Indrid’s eye for color and patterns helps them locate the second, and when a clue points to the third being high up, instead of having to construct a makeshift ladder or step-stool, Barclay simply reaches up and grabs it. It does not escape Duck’s notice that both Indrid and Joseph get appreciative looks on their faces when Barclay then moves a “cloning pod” out of the way all by himself. 

“I suspect the last symbol is hidden one something that is in...that hole.” Joseph points to the newly revealed wall lined with several cubbies, one of which has danger signs written all around it.

“Not it. Too close to a garbage disposal, and I have nightmares about putting my hand down that at the wrong time.” Barclay shudders.

“I would also prefer not to be the one to reach in; such elements often have a loud noise gimmick and I do not enjoy that.”

Joseph glances at Duck, blue eyes glinting with a not-entirely-friendly challenge.

“Fuck it, I’ll do it.” Duck steps forward and cautiously slides his hand in. Indrid’s instinct was right, as the whole starts vibrating with a loud, grinding sound. Indrid yelps, grabbing the other two men, who in turn jump and scream  in surprise. Duck grits his teeth, fights the urge to pull back, and finds a smooth tile waiting for him. When he removes his hand the noise stops, and he grins, triumphant, as he shows off the last symbol. 

“WHOO!” Barclay cheers and high-fives Duck  as Joseph punches in the symbols, stopping the timer on the wall, “shit, that was wild man, scared the living hell outta me and I wasn’t even  the one doing it.”

“Mmmm, my brave hero.” Indrid drapes his arms over his shoulder, kissing him.

“Sap.” Duck teases, kissing him back.

“You know, we make a pretty good team.” Joseph brushes stray hair off his face.

“Yeah. Would, um, would you guys like to go grab coffee or something?” Barclay looks genuinely hopeful, which is why, ten minutes later, Duck is sitting across from Joseph in a dark-wood coffee shop. Indrid has excused himself to wash his hands and Barclay is outside taking a phone call from someone named Mama.

Duck sips his coffee (black) as he watches Joseph measure cream into his mug.

“That explains it; guys who drink black coffee are always weird about guys who don’t.”

“Don’t Barclay drink his black?”

“Only when we’re out, when we’re at home he’s always making fancy coffee. Trying out new recipes. It works well. Or, um, mostly well. There was a green tea cherry espresso that was not his finest.”

“Eech. Heh, that reminds me of the time ‘Drid was so groggy he poured strawberry syrup into his coffee instead of caramel. Didn’t phase him one bit, but I felt like I was kissin a berry patch the whole day. Swear the man’s half moth or some shit from how much sugar he drinks.”

Joseph snickers, “sorry, imagining Indrid as a mothman is a funny image.”

Duck pictures it and giggles, which makes Joseph laugh harder. When they recover, he scratches the back of his neck, “Look, I’m sorry I was a dick about your coffee order. Just havin one of those weeks where everythin got on my nerves.”

“It’s alright. I’m not all that bothered by it. Not intellectually, anyway. Being particular or precise is something people have been, um, less than kind to me about in the past.”

“Nothin wrong with knowin what you like.”

Joseph glances out the window at Barclay, “No, no there’s not.”

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

It becomes a weekly arrangement; the four of them meet for some kind of activity, then go to lunch or dinner. Duck learns many things over those weeks; that Barclay can figure out how to reverse engineer Indrid’s favorite cupcakes from a local bakery, that Joseph has a worryingly deep yet very endearing knowledge of bad horror movies. That while Joseph is terrifying during a trivia match, Duck can still wipe the floor with everyone when it comes to the science categories. He learns that Joseph is trans, like him, and that Barclay and Indrid actually went to the same high school but were two years apart and thus didn’t know each other. 

Right now, he’s learning that he’s not as good at laser tag as he thought he was. 

They went during the cheaper hours, mid-afternoon on a Sunday, and while all four of them are on the same team they’ve gotten separated in the neon-tinted darkness. 

He can tell the enemy team has spotted him, and is moving as fast as he can out of range, when a hand reaches out of a darkened turret and pulls him in.

“GAHoh, phew, scared the hell outta me Joe.”

“Sorry, it was safer than calling out.” The space is small, built for kids rather than two twenty-six year olds, and so Joe is pressed right up against him as he watches the door. He might be the only guy Duck knows who wears honest to god cologne, clean and minty smelling, and the scent wraps around him when Joe pulls him back against his chest to hide them from passing opponents. 

“Fuck, that was close.” He whispers.

“Don’t worry” Joe murmurs in his ear, voice huskier than normal, “you’ve got me to look out for you.” He breaks away as if nothing happened, pulls Duck’s body out into the glowing chaos, while his mind stays in the little room, wondering what the fuck that was.

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

 “Can’t believe we got our asses handed to us by a bunch of eleven year olds.” Duck groans as they sit, licking their wounds along with soft-serve from a tiny shack that Barclay swears by.

“That one blonde girl is gonna grow up to be a sniper.” Barclay offers his cone (chocolate and sour cherry) to Joseph, who takes a prim bite.

“It may run in the family; I think her dad was the one with the ‘Go Army’ shirt.” 

“Oh, were we not supposed to be going easy on them?” Indrid cocks his head. The others stare at him in mute shock. 

“I’m kidding; I was utterly outmatched in there.” He grins before dragging his tongue up his cone (pineapple and marshmallow). When he reaches the tip he opens his mouth wider, taking it all in with a satisfied moan. He pulls off, stray ice cream dribbling down his chin until Joe hands him a napkin. Indrid thanks him, then proceeds to do the exact same thing, over and over, and Duck realizes neither of the other men have looked away from his boyfriend. Barclay’s legs are now crossed, and Joe’s cheeks are pink. Duck can’t really blame them--he knows exactly what Indrid can do with that mouth--but what’s stranger is he doesn’t feel jealous or annoyed. He knows Indrid sometimes struggles with looking, in his own words, “offputting.” It’s nice to see two other people catch on to just how hot he is. 

Then again, he kind of wishes Joe would stop staring and eat his own cone; he wants to see what his tongue can do, too.

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

“Watcha drawin’?” Duck slides onto the couch next to Indrid.

“Just random images.”

“That us with Joe and Barclay?”

“I, ah, yes it is.”

“Like it a lot. Christ you’re talented, it’s like how much you like us is comin’ right off the page.”

“Is, ah, is that so? I hadn’t noticed, ah, oh dear, I just remembered I need to go call Jake about covering my shift.”

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

Duck: That new barcade is finally open, wanna come with us on Saturday?

Barclay: Wish we could, but we got a friends birthday that night.

Duck: No big, let us know if you want to catch a flick on Sunday

Barclay sets the phone down, not remembering it’s a group text until Joe pokes his head out of the bedroom.

“Shit, whose birthday is on Saturday? We need to get a gift.”

“Oh, uh, no, no one. Just, uh, didn’t feel like going out but didn’t want them to think I was, like, angry or something. Sorry, shoulda asked if you wanted to go without me, shit, that was rude.”

“It’s alright, I don’t mind time that’s just for us.” He crosses the living room, fiddles with Barclays hair, “but let me know if you want to see a movie Sunday, I’m happy either way.”

“Uhuh, will do.” Barclay nods, not really paying attention, as he imagines silvery hair in the dark theater and holding slender, cool fingers in his own.

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

“Why do I get the feeling you don’t actually have that DVD to loan me?”

“I do” Duck shuts the apartment door behind Joe, “but we got some things to discuss first.” He waits until Joe is sitting next to Barclay (lured here by the promise of cookies) and across from Indrid (lives here, not that hard to lure).

“Look, I don’t think I really gotta point out how weird it is that we went from hangin out every week to not seein’ each other for near a month. But what I do gotta point out is why it’s happenin’.”

“We’ve all been busy?” Joe hazards.

“Yeah, but we all were busy before and we made time for each other. Now we, myself included, are cancelin shit.” He takes a deep breath, “Barclay, Joe, you both got a thing for ‘Drid, don’t you?”

Joe nods while Barclay blushes and mutters, “yeah.”

“And ‘Drid, you got a thing for both of them?”

His boyfriend shifts nervously in his seat, but nods all the same. Barclay looks genuinely surprised. 

“Well, you three ain’t the only ones realizin’ you want more than you got. Joe, I, uh, I really like you. As in wanna date you. So, uh, that’s where we’re at.” He sits down next to Indrid, who instantly takes his hand. 

“That’s...wait, don’t we all want the same thing?” Joe looks between them, puzzled. 

“You’d really be okay with me dating Indrid?” Barclay asks softly. 

“We’d both be dating him. And I’d be dating Duck as well as you two. Assuming that was alright with Indrid?”

“....You know, I think it is.” Indrid squeezes Duck’s hand, “I was afraid to admit how I felt; I didn’t want to come between you and Barclay, because you clearly love each other, and I couldn’t bear the thought of losing Duck. But I’ve also seen how happy he is around you, Joseph; there is no reason we could not all work things out to be happy as a, ah, polycule? Is that the term?”

“Think so.” Barclay relaxes, “fuck, I felt so bad thinking that wanting Indrid would fuck everything up, don’t know what to do with my self now that I’m not stressing about it.”

“I propose we order dinner and just...talk.” Indrid rests his head on Duck’s shoulder, “I think that will help us sort out where to go from here.”

Duck orders takeout from the Chinese place down the block as Indrid and Joe arrange the living room into a place where they can all sit together comfortably and Barclay grab drinks. Soon they’re gathered on the floor, working out logistics and boundaries and hopes and fears between bites of fried rice and chow mein. Joe keeps notes, curling closer to Duck as the evening goes on. 

There’s a part of him that wants to jump straight to sex, to pin Joe to floor and fuck him while his other boyfriends do what they want to him, to Duck, to each other. But this thing between them is a new leaf in spring, vulnerable and just beginning to grow. 

So, after dinner, they cuddle up on the couch and floor to watch the midnight movie on local T.V, hands tentatively finding each other and bodies gradually resting closer together in new configurations. 

He falls asleep on the floor, Indrid spooning him and Joe resting his head on his belly. Wakes up with Joe curled around him and Barclay cuddled up to Indrid, snoring softly. 

Duck slips out of the configuration, pads into the kitchen to start coffee. When Joe sneaks up behind him he gasps, snickers as the taller man kisses him good morning. Then he grabs two mugs, smiling to himself at his luck as he opens the fridge. After all, he already knows just how his new boyfriend likes his coffee. 

[onetwosevensquad]

Yin & Yang Part Three: The Professor

Junmyeon x reader

Summary: Y/n, or Yin, tries to keep her identity hidden from mortals. But when Yang, or Daewon, threatens the balance, will Y/n and nine other elementals be able restore it before it’s too late.

Genre / Warnings: fantasy; kinda soulmate Au; violence; death

Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist

———

Before you got the chance to tell the person to come in, your door was opening.

You really hated it when students knocked on your door outside of office hours. Hell you weren’t even in your office yet. It just slowed you down.

“Look I really have to be going,” you said not facing the door. “I have work to do. You can schedule a time for later today or whenever is convenient.”

You finally turned around to see who it was. When you did, the breath was nearly taken from your lungs. There, standing in front of you, was a face that you were hoping you wouldn’t have to see again.

Because with that face, came bad memories.

“Hi, Y/n,” Jongdae said. He took a few more steps into the room. Behind him followed eight other men that you didn’t recognize but knew from stories.

You and Jongdae have been friends for two years. If you can call it that.

The last time you saw each other was when Yang tried to pull something two years ago. Luckily, you, Jongdae and a couple of other elementals were able to stop him before things got out of hand.

But it wasn’t without casualties. You lost a lot of elementals, friends. After, you swore to yourself that you would never get involved with something like this again.

“Gentlemen, may I introduce Professor Y/n Y/l/n,” Jongdae said with a smile. “Or, as she’s known, Yin.”

“Shhh! Could you not say that out loud!” You whisper shouted. “What do you want, Jongdae?” His bright smile faltered when you snapped at him.

“Um well,” he cleared his voice. “We think, uh, you know who is up to something. And we need your help.”

“No,” you laughed. You collected your papers and pushed past the nine men standing in the room. When you got out onto the hallway you noticed it was empty. On this particular day at this time, not many students were in this part of the building. You were thankful considering it would look a bit weird having nine men follow you around.

You could hear rushed steps behind and felt a hand on your shoulder. You whipped around and smacked the hand off you. You looked up at a very offended Jongdae.

“Look, I told you after last time that I was done,” you said. “I can’t risk loosing any more of you. And if I get involved, he’ll go after me. And I have a good life. It might sound selfish but it’s the best for everyone.”

“But it’s not, y/n!” Jongdae said. “He’s already hurt a bunch of elementals and civilians. We need your help to end this once a for all.”

“There is no end!” You shouted, voice echoing in the empty hall. “What don’t you get about that? I’ve known this dick head for centuries! Eight centuries to be exact. And I know that he won’t stop. Not until he’s dead.”

“Then we kill him,” Jongdae said. Never have you wanted to smack someone so hard before. Because it wasn’t that easy.

“That’s not how that works, Jongdae,” one of the med said from Behind Jongdae. He had high cheekbones and a kind face. He was handsome.

“If you kill Yang, you kill me,” you said. “Or so I’m told. I don’t know. There’s some legends that say there are loopholes so that one of us lives and one of us dies or whatever. It’s only legend. And I think it’s a fat load of horse shit.”

“What if it’s not,” the other man said. “Sometimes legends have some truth behind them. I mean aren’t we all legends in one way or another. Especially you.”

You stared blankly at the man for a moment. He did have a point. You were the literal embodiment of a legend. You sighed and ran a hand through your hair.

“I know that Yang is up to something,” you said looking away from the men. “I had a dream last night. That always happens before he does something. But it’s never the full story. Just pieces.”

“Well we can work it out,” the man said. “But we could really use your help.”

You looked back at them and took it in for a moment. You were about to break a promise to yourself for eight strangers and an old acquaintance. But if it meant stopping whatever destruction Yang would bring, so be it.

“Fine.”

———

Rose: part three baby. This really doesn’t hand an update schedule and I need to work that out. But I hope your enjoying reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. The next part is going to be a lot of exposition but it’s important. So strap in.

Tag List: @chanyeolol

[incarnateirony]

I get blends of innocent beans confused with what queer coding is or isn’t, and malignant beans misappropriating points, so we’re gonna do a quick run through.

Queer coding started as a malignant thing. The truest use of the phrase “queer coding” came from stereotypes and villainizations that straight people found sCaRy. This is like, why Scar seemed classically flamboiyant, or a variety of Disney villains were long, lanky, gestured exaggeratedly, wore eyeliner, etc. There’s a million examples but I’m not going to cover them all because I think you get what I mean. At the time, straight culture was painting gays as bad so painting villains as how straights perceived gays was like, super useful, cuz it creeped the straights out oOOoooOOo.

When people talk about queer coding enforcing stereotypes, if you’re talking about the original form of queer coding, this is inherently true. However, coding reached other levels, and has adaptive forms.

For example, watching (as I’ve been mocked for saying 10,000 times, but because it’s needed) The Celluloid Closet will clear up a lot for you. Subversive queer coding is when queer creators use a great deal of things to communicate with a queer audience past censorship. The film documentary (if you can’t read the book -- which I understand, it’s difficult to find) clears a whole fuckton of this up.

There’s some things that, quite frankly, we as gays know as part of our language. It is what it is. While it’s not a stereotype, it’s quite literally a language I highly warn straights against stepping into, because then they flounder around confused on what’s our actual language and what’s a stereotype

A truly innocent bean asked of me yesterday, well why then is menthols fair subversive queer coding? How is that not a stereotype?

Well like, because it’s facts. And that’s really, really hard to wrap ones’ head around from an outsider straighty perspective or even someone who’s queer but trapped heavily in a hetnorm world outside of where this is visible and/or in the wrong demographic otherwise. A black person who hangs out with black people of all orientations is not going to blink at a media dude getting menthols generally, because it’s one of the cultures that statistically engages in it to the point of memes about Kools or whatever. That’s not my culture, I can’t comment on much beyond that, but it’s just something to take note of.

But even if you don’t want to take someone’s word on “no, seriously, white dudes smoking menthols is queer culture and literally like a great sign for a hookup to another queer white dude”, google the various intersections of gender and menthol, race and menthol, and sexuality and menthol.

This isn’t pulled out of thin air. These were populations quite literally heavily targeted by Big Tobacco and, by nature, are the ones that smoke it, whereas Big Tobacco put(s) on airs of masculinity and chick-magnetness to smoke good ol non-menthol shit. It’s literally marketing. Yes, it does literally impact who buys product and yes, it does after generations have a noticeable affect. Track the numbers I told you to google down and you’ll realize less than 3% of menthol smokers identify as straight white men (depending on the way the numbers sort out and the year of polling, often 1.x%, 3% is the liberal number).. Lemme tell you, on the street, that’s an “okay, honey :)” when you do find it. Maybe a little pat on the head. An invisible brochure for Welcome To The Gays.  Like, White Men make up more than 31% of America and they still refuse to tally more than 25% of the US as queer [some censuses as low as 6% and LOL] so like-- that should be like minimum 25% of dudes available and nope, 1-3%)

(that’s not to say all gays or even all white gays smoke menthol, but this is that rule of “not all fingers are thumbs, but all thumbs are fingers” in loose application.)

But understanding these things, these signals, from the outside is utterly flabbergasting to people.

No, someone making an immasculating joke is not subversive queer coding. No, a dude wearing a certain kind of shirt or eating a certain kind of food generally isn’t queer coding (Unless it’s a rainbow flag BITCH IM GAY shirt, or uh, maybe for food quiche or hummus? I mostly joke for the latter two, but that’s the kind of self ball punching queer community sometimes does to itself in awareness that yes, there ARE elements. No, eating hot dogs and burritos isn’t gay. Yes, we make make penis jokes. No, that isn’t itself queer coding.)

When a queer author codes a piece, it’s designed to communicate to the resonant audience. It also may not communicate to /all/ gays. The language of a middle aged cis gay man that lived through the AIDS crisis is a whole other fuckin adventure from the language of 17 year old trans gays squatting behind their Xbox, it’s just fact, it’s just what is. Completely different cultures and lives being lived, completely different experiences resulting. A few things here or there may connect across generations but some shit that’s written by a gen Z gay is gonna whiff by a boomer gay, sorry. Also just facts.

Explaining exactly what is and isn’t queer coding is almost impossible beyond the fact that “if you don’t get it, it’s probably not for you.” -- At the same time, that leaves the problematic room of people taking that grey area and packing in a bunch of shit and we’re back to ground zero on the original problematic queer coding.

I once read a meta of uh-- I’ll just say, [Fantasy Character]. The fantasy character had an addiction problem that gave them villain-like attributes. Someone implied the “villain coding” made it queer coding. Okay like. Fucking absolutely not. Because if the show in question WAS doing that, first off, that’s literally the kind to make mockeries of gay people so you literally shouldn’t be reaching for that and second off they’d be doing that lanky sassy bitch with eyeliner bullshit like Disney villains with it, give or take. You don’t apply this shit in reverse, “he has villain attributes and so he’s gay” is literally the worst possible angle to take a discussion while trying to slap fight in a representation arena. Like I can’t say enough DO NOT DO THIS SHIT. 

If you wanna write fic or headcanon whoever as gay or whatever have fun but like once people keep trying to talk about “coding” you’re talking about conscious elements inset by the authors. Does a character have a bunch of on the record sexual encounters that just happen to include dudes persistently even if we don’t exactly get the exact angle or Proof Of Dicking? That’s gay (also depending on the phrasing, as settled in older stuff, that’s just deadass queer text and settled long before this fandom ever had pissing matches about this shit in older cinema.) Does the character happen to be respectful and use like gender neutral pronouns on people? Sorry folks that unto itself isn’t gay, that’s gays writing allies at best, unless you can give specific and directly applicable situations relevant to the character rather than eternally vague blogging through and swearing up and down it’s just about their partners or some shit. Yelling it in general though, sorry, no. 

Does the character engage in things or events with non-het gendered partners that in the very least are heavily coded into the areas of relationships even if they’re unclear (eg, do they routinely go out with non-family people and hold deep or meaningful conversations in things that LOOK like a date, even if nobody SAYS it’s a date) -- congrats, you have coded text. Alone it could even be queerplat stuff, depending on the suprastructure of the plot, text, subtext and everything else around it (same way, gasp, a man and a woman can sit at a table and not necessarily be in a relationship, but if they’re trading courting gifts and having unique and powerful exchanges or have big like, “the heart is the thing that binds us together uwu” shit, we all figure out what the fuck is going on like grown assed adults.)

It’s easier to list things that are NOT subversive queer coding:

Insults against gay people

Immasculating commentary

Random foods short of it deadass being a gay author making fun of some gay meme shit in some gay equivalent of ‘right in front of my salad’

Favorite colors or clothing

---

We got it? Good. Rule of thumb though. Deadass unless you are involved in some thick-ass queer culture don’t try to queer code shit. I don’t even care if you’re queer yourself because that doesn’t mean you’ve actually been subject to the culture in a meaningful way. There’s 30 year old bis that grew up in white picket fence suburbias on top of trust funds with hovercraft parents guiding them through 17 degrees and keeping them out of party culture that married a het-passing relationship and settled down and started having babies and their grasp of queer culture ends at what they perceive out of memes online, if they even hover in actual queer crowds online at all as much as general ones. That person literally is not going to speak much of the language. They aren’t. At best they’ll speak the language of 30 year old trust fund het-married bisexual mothers which, I mean yeah, technically some queer language but that’s a very, very fucking niche experience path right there compared to street-dwelling club-goers that attend pride, hold D&D parties with all their coworkers they figured out are gay on the weekend, occasionally brick a window in a riot. The latter is gonna have a far more diverse queer experience. And by such, a far more diverse queer language.

That’s not even to gatekeep. 30 year old trust fund het-passing-marriage bi-mom is in fact bi. So yeah, they’re queer. But we’re talking about language and culture, which is related to but not something you inherit. It comes by lives and experiences.

And I think this is where a LOT of the fucked up early Queer Coding fuckery comes from in discourse. Yes we have a language. Hell, to some extent a few things might even kinda BE stereotypes but there’s a certain amount of living and being where you know the difference between “this is a stereotype made by straight people villainizing us that has no idea what we’re fucking like” or “this is a stereotype born out of mass marketing that targeted and victimized then imprinted on an entire population that we’ve come to recognize among ourselves.” Or even “this is a stereotype but FUCK YES it’s one we embrace, go get fucked, straights.” And it’s not NEARLY as ambiguous as fandom circle jerks try to make these things out to be in the interest of wanting every interpretation to be valid or every character to be gay or not wanting to admit some person may know what the fuck they’re talking about more than they do. 

Huge point on that last one though, because like. I’ve seen some angry straights that are pissy about the show try to throw wrenches in the gears by concern trolling as if in defense of the gays about “offensive queer coding” and most of the time they’re basically that “how do you do fellow kids gays” meme. “How do you do gays I am very concerned about *checks notes* the twitters talking about gay men walking fast” and half the time turn around like two tweets later like “besides the character doesn’t even have a lisp anyway” or some bullshit that is outright offensive ass stereotyping while they’re out here trolling over the fact that a gay man admits to diva worship as a cultural trait.

General rule of thumb: ask a queer culture immersed gay about queer coding.

Shipping culture in the blue hellsite is not queer culture, for the record. Even if a bunch of queerfolk are in it.

Thanks.

Sincerely,

A very tired gay

[kaisooficrec]

Hi mods, thanks for opening up the Ask box! It's my first time doing this :/ hope I do it right… Can I ask for recs of long fics (say more than 50k? can be chaptered/one-shot) that the mods like but think are underrated? They can be any genre, and they can be from any writers (even some of the older ones who wrote more before 2017?) Thank you!!

Hi lovely anon! You rang the right bell because we have TONS of long fics to rec!! There are old fics but also a lot of recent ones, many different AUs and they’re all above 50k! ! we also made sure to rec fics that are underrated and need more recognition. It will probably take a long time to read all of those so TAKE YOUR TIME AND ENJOY

Amuse-Bouche - hehe this was recced not too long ago but its place on this list still stands! Chefs AU, very unique fic and extremely realistic! a true gem. (139k words)

Legends: The Chosen Twelve - this is an oldie! it was recced back in 2014 but still is pretty underrated and such an amazing fic! it’s ot12, MAMA AU. enjoy ^^ (151k words)

All is Said and Done - another oldie! BFFs!kaisoo that fall in love. it’s angsty c: (70k words)

Common Ground - also from 2014, this is a fantasy/ghost AU that doesn’t disappoint! (84k words)

Start Over - High School AU, lots of drama :’) originally posted in 2012, deserves so much more recognition! (65k words)

Lapis Lazuli - Fantasy + (School of) Magic AU, originally written for the exordium fest in 2015! ot12 although Kaisoo are one of the main pairings. There are adventures and action, it’s very entertaining, a good read c: (55k words)

If Only for Tonight - College AU, pretty angsty (warnings: violence, character death). Police officer Kyungsoo meets gangster jongin :-) (56k words)

French Lilac - Artist AU, jongin loves kyungsoo’s voice, but he’s already married. angst + smut. (50k words)

Trust You The Most - Cat Hybrids AU!! we need more of those . Soo ran a shelter for hybrids and he ends up (accidentally) keeping one for himself. (52k words)

Dear You - Kyungsoo really, really tries to get over Jongin. It’s not that easy. (sorry for all the angst o/) (59k words)

EXODUS - Supernatural AU, Kyungsoo meets a creature that makes him feel safe and cherished (55k words)

Beautiful Butterfly - CEO!Jongin and HS student!Soo, nini tries dealing with all the confessions thrown his way. Read on AFF. (63k words)

hearts and bones - High School AU, swimmer!jongin and photographer!soo meet, and the unexpected happens. (68k words)

Mixed Feelings - College AU, soo has a crush on his straight roommate jongin. pretty fluffy (50k words)

Fly With Me - Fantasy and Fae AU, jongin wanted an escape from reality but he didn’t intend to meet a bunch of men with wings on their backs. (warnings: slight gore, character death) (50k words)

Moon-Child - Fantasy AU, Kaisoo find themselves caught in a fairy tale. (warnings: character death). smutty too (51k words)

Save Yourself - Fantasy & Magic AU, Hybrids AU, War AU. Jongin is a cat hybrid and Kyungsoo’s just trying to make the spell that could save them all work. (68k)

The Stars, Our Saviour - Space AU (+ Royalty AU) + Bounty Hunter AU. Very impressive and unique fic! also smutty ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) (77k words)

Close To Home - a kai-centric fic, kaixeveryone but mainly/endgame kaisoo. Soulmates AU + Aliens AU. very smutty. (warnings: alien dicks?? alien sex, tentacles and knotting) (53k words)

Across - Assasins + Hitman AU, dark themes. (WARNINGS!: mental illness, mental instability, blood, violence, gore, murder, unhealthy relationship, mental and physical abuse.) Jongin has a crush on hitman!soo. Things don’t turn out as he planned. If you like freaky stuff, this is for you. (69k words)

Ghost of You - Future + Robots AU. Robots VS Humans. Kaisoo. A love story. (59k words)

Monster - VAMPIRE AU YES!!!! I can’t believe this isn’t as popular as it should be! one of my absolute favorites, it’s vampires VS vampire hunters, a fic where jongin realizes vampires aren’t all bad (especially kyungsoo). OT12 and definitely underrated. (115k words) (warnings: unhealthy to healthy relationships, blood (obviously), murder, psychopath killer, attempted rape)

Bugs and Space Elves - LOVE LOVE LOVE! !! this was originally posted for the happyendingexo fest, but the author decided to rewrite some old parts and continue with the story and i’ve never been more thankful. IT’S SO UNIQUE AND WELL WRITTEN AND MINDBLOWING! i really love this. Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Space AU, human kyungsoo helps elf jongin on his quest to save the universe! worth the read, i promise. (96k words)

The Gates of Horn and Ivory - married!kaisoo are taken into a world of darkness that they probably should’ve avoided. Dark fairy tale elements. (135k words)

The Boy Next Door - kyungsoo finds out his neighbour is a pornstar ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) very funny, fluffy and smutty. PERFECT TRIO! (53k words)

The War. (226k words) + The One After Ten Years. (149k words, on-going) (sequel) - WHERE DO I EVEN START? these are MONSTER fics! OT12, High School AU and Slice of Life AU in the sequel, but also includes their powers from MAMA era. Kaisoo is one of the two main pairings and honestly, these two fics gave me so much feels. It’s not underrated per se but has been only recced once on the blog and i wanted to fix this! 

Kim Jongin’s Must Kiss List - College AU, kyungsoo embarrassed himself in front of nini a few years back and he’s still bitter and hateful about it, but jongin won’t stop running after him. (66k words)

2088 - Sci-Fi + Dystopia AU, kyungsoo has a mission to find a mutant boy after the war, but he realizes too late that they’re all just pawns part of a bigger plan. THIS IS HIGHLY UNDERRATED! (122k words)

I Feel Awake (This Time) - Hotel manager jongin and detective kyungsoo : truly a concept! the story of how jongin did his best to win the love of do kyungsoo. THIS FIC DESERVES SO MUCH LOVE! (57k words)

Being Brave - Non AU + Slice of Life AU. cute and smutty stories of kaisoo :-) (95k words)

Perfection - College AU, ballet dancer!jongin is going through a rough time. will singer!kyungsoo be able to save him and give him hope? (53k words)

Through Fire and Ashes - this was originally posted for the exoggedon fest but deserves so much more recognition!! Post-apocalyptic AU + Zombies AU. Basically humans VS zombies, established!kaisoo are ready to help defend their town. (warnings: blood, gore, side character death, PTSD) - ALSO MY FAVE - J

BITE - Vampire + Werewolf AU, both species are rivals (kind of like a twilight parody). Kaisoo and Chanbaek are both the main pairings, Baeksoo are vampires who find their soulmates in werewolves Chankai. Very interesting story! ! worth a shot :D (50k words, on-going)

Admin Macaroon at your service 💜

Mirrors - Youtuber AU, College AU, 132k and ongoing!!! kyungsoo makes covers a popular songs on yt and his fans get into a fight with fans of an idol named kai. it’s minty-pixie whew!

Horizon - 63k. one of the less known works of jongnugget imo! they have soo many fics over 50k wow :’) jongin is a new student at his hs and meets boy that changes his life

Kiss and Cry - 93k, figure skating au. jongnugget did it again

Enamoured - 96k. age gap with teacher soo and bad boy jongin, who is a lot younger than soo. soo always helps him and jongin likes him but they can’t be together for many reasons obvi. happy ending!

Bus Rides & Sleepy Misses - 133k, ot12 with main kaisoo ;) both meet on a bus ride and immediately catch each other’s attention! soft and fluffy :) 

Two Sugars / AO3 - 57k, ongoing jfjsjf this is so good ;) a lot of smut, fluff, comfort a bit drama whew! fashion editor soo falls in love with a cute barista by day, sexy dancer by night jongin and when they are together it’s very…cute and sexy :p

Lackadaisical Blue + White Night of Silence- 53k and 61k, kingsman au, with spy exo, also ofc there’s kaisoo too, and this is absolutely well-written!!! if you know And the Rose Said to Me, you’ll understand the quality of these stories!!

Growing Seasons: A Universe of Us - Farmer AU, farmer jongin finds an unknown bloodied man passed out in his cabbage field and decides to take care of him, not knowing this man will change his life forever. (warnings: blood, PTSD, mentions of murder) (77k words) - Adm. Ginger

- Admin J

[mobydickmusical]

Dave Malloy’s descriptions of the Moby Dick musical

- All of the following are interview quotes and similar, relating to what the show will be like 

- Clearly, not every detail of this may necessarily follow through or be 100% up to date, but I haven’t included anything when I’ve been given an impression it’s no longer relevant

- To make it a bit more readable, I’ve sorted the quotes into:

What does he want from this adaption? What does he think is important in adapting Moby Dick?

The structure of the show

Themes and focus

Other (song and character specific details)

- In summary, though:

Dave’s main goal in writing his musical is to create an adaption that he feels honours and appreciates the novel in its entirety - formal quirks, whale minutia and all - not one that just tries to extract a plot. 

Currently the show has a four-part, two act structure. The first part is the most Broadway-style, and sets the narrative in place. The second part is more cabaret-style, and focuses on the whaling-related scenes. In the second act, part three is a jazz-based song cycle dedicated to Pip. Part four is a “dream ballet” section that wraps up the ending of the novel. The book of the show is still strongly based in Melville’s text, but less text-heavy than Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. Like Comet, it’s mostly sung-through. 

Dave is very focused on using Moby Dick to reflect on modern life, especially to discuss issues of race in modern America, and how this context compares to Melville’s own (he also expresses interest in metatheatre regarding the role of Ishmael/Melville as the writer). Whiteness is highlighted as an important motif. He also states that Pip’s story of being stranded at sea has become “the heart” of his musical. 

What does he want from this adaption? What does he think is important in adapting Moby Dick?

“My challenge is to adapt the novel on its own terms rather than extracting story. The novel is a very bizarre beast of a thing; it has all of these tangents and digressions, a bunch of different forms, and I wanted to embrace all of that.” 

Baryshnikhov Arts Center article by Lydia Mokdessi, April 8 2016

 “I’m really drawn to that, people playing with the form, and so I try translate that into musical theatre. How can I play with that form of musical theatre? That’s so much more compelling to me than just telling a story. I like telling a story and there’s an extra meta-layer of how are we telling the story.”

“There’s been so many adaptations of Moby Dick and I think they all kind of fail, because they all just tell the story. The story, there’s not much too it.  This guy is crazy about a whale and he goes and hunts it down and everybody dies. What makes Moby Dick an amazing novel is actually not just the story, it’s all the playing with form, and the idea that this writer, this Ishmael (slash Herman Melville) is basically trying to encompass what all of humanity and life is, within the story of a whale.”

Interview at The Dutch Treat, June 6 2018

“Especially giant epic novels I have a real affinity for. I love that amazing sense of reading something that was written two or three hundred years ago and thinking, ‘that’s a thought I had yesterday!’ Seeing how humanity doesn’t change that much. I am looking at these classics through a very contemporary lens with the hope of rescuing them from their bad reputations.”

Baryshnikov Arts Center article by Lydia Mokdessi, April 8 2016

The Structure Of The Show

NOTE: The most recent tracklist (from The Public Theater workshop) can be found under the “extra content” link on this blog 

“Originally we had imagined that Moby Dick would be […] seven hour-long theatrical pieces that could be seen in any order [...] now it is just a single evening’s entertainment that’s basically broken into four parts. The first part is kind of the traditional musical theatre narrative, getting the story underway. The second part focuses on all the whaling chapters and just on the minutia of whales. Part three is about Pip, and part four is the culmination of the narrative, and is almost like a dream ballet, in a weird way. It’s a very weird section”

“Pip’s story feels like the core of the piece”

Interview at The Dutch Treat, June 6 2018

“The first act is like a Broadway-style musical, the second act is more of a vaudevillian cabaret, and the third act is a jazz song cycle, and […] the fourth act is a movement-heavy ballet-type section. […] The idea is definitely to use the form of Moby Dick, and to tell the entire story, not just the plot, but also include those chapters on whaling, and tell those parts through different styles of music.”

American Theatre Wing’s “Working In The Theatre: Adaptation”, 2017

“I am such a huge fan of using things in the public domain [...] so there’s a fair amount of Melville’s original words in it. I think it’s definitely less than Comet. Great Comet was probably like seventy to eighty percent Tolstoy, and Moby Dick is probably more like forty to fifty percent Melville. So a lot of it is his text”

[...] “Melville is such a poetic writer. He is thinking about every single word he’s using, and so many of his sentences are so, so beautiful, not because of rhyme, but certainly he is dealing with alliteration and assonance and some of these other poetic devices. So for me, revelling in that is enough. The musical forms take their cues from the writing, from Melville.” 

Interview at The Dutch Treat, June 6 2018

“My intention is to have the majority happen as song. I’m really drawn to the sung-through form; the few things that are spoken can resonate all the more. Spoken text is good for language that we want to really pop and for cumbersome exposition. Sometimes we just need people to say the lines so we can get to the song.” 

Baryshnikov Arts Center article by Lydia Mokdessi, April 8 2016 

Themes And Focus

“Originally we had imagined that Moby Dick would be […] seven hour-long theatrical pieces that could be seen in any order. Then what happened was one of those seven pieces became so much the heart of the show that I didn’t want anyone to see anything without it. And that was specifically a section about the very small character, Pip. He’s literally the smallest character, he’s nine years old. He’s this boy on the Pequod, and he has this experience where he gets stranded in the middle of the ocean. He gets thrown off of a whale boat during a chase, and gets stranded in the middle of the ocean for an hour or so. In that hour of just seeing nothing but the water and the sky, he goes insane. That character, reading the novel, was the most compelling character to me. So one of these seven acts was just “The Ballad Of Pip”, and it was the first piece I wrote. Then in trying to go and visualise what this thing would be with these other six pieces, I was like, well I don’t want to tell any story that doesn’t include Pip’s.”

Interview at The Dutch Treat, June 6 2018

“But then the larger thing we’re trying to do in this telling of Moby Dick is actually just talk about race in America. In this particular casting of Moby Dick, we’re casting everyone as people of color, and women of color, except for Herman Melville and Captain Ahab, who will played by white men. I think Melville was grappling with the same sort of things: what is America, and how does America deal with race? So in Moby Dick, it addresses the same thing. I think in context it’ll be clearer with [Cetology], but a lot of that song really is about race, and about how it feels to be a white person writing words for people of color to say, and what that means. And for Herman Melville to be writing the “The Whiteness Of The Whale” which is one of the huge chapters in Moby Dick that people love analysing to death, cause it’s such an amazing and beautiful chapter. Like, what was Melville thinking? What was Melville’s awareness of the racial problems of America, of this very young country that he was living in? We’re interested in dissecting all of that”

Interview at The Dutch Treat, June 6 2018

Other

“Ishmael is not really a critical part of the story of Moby Dick. He’s just the guy who was around and happened to see all this stuff. And then, weirdly, he becomes this omniscient voice who sees scenes that he’s not there for. It’s a very bizarre thing! Also, that’s one of the things that I love about theatre: the meta-theatrical element that comes with me not just as an actor playing those roles but as a writer playing those roles. I feel very much drawn to those roles that are contingent upon being the writer of the piece”

“As Melville, I’m telling this tale that I feel attached to but also feel reservations for how I’m attached to it”

Interview at The Dutch Treat, June 6 2018

“[Cetology] will be the song that opens part 2 of Moby Dick, which is the whaling section. So this song is an adaption of chapter 32 of Moby Dick which is called Cetology, which is famously the most hated chapter of Moby Dick, for people who don’t like Moby Dick, cause it’s the chapter that’s basically an encyclopedia entry about whales. Or rather, it’s Ishmael’s attempt to write an encyclopedia entry about whales, and he fails, ultimately. Thinking about this meta-theatrical element of play-writing, this song has become a piece about the task of writing a play based on Moby Dick and knowing that I will inevitably fail. So it is a song about failure.” 

[...] “I think in context it’ll be clearer with [Cetology], but a lot of that song really is about race, and about how it feels to be a white person writing words for people of color to say, and what that means.”

On Ishmael’s solo, Cetology. Interview at The Dutch Treat, June 6 2018

“[…] There is a lot about whiteness woven throughout the show that will (hopefully!) make more sense in the larger context”  

In response to me asking about lyrics from Cetology, on Twitter, December 24 2018

“...Cutting In, that’s like the big cutting apart the whale section, that’s gonna be like 15 minutes song-and-dance, that’ll be big. And then I’ve gotta do Sextet, which is kinda a trick cause it looks like it’s one song but really it’s six simultaneous songs that happens towards the end...” 

Great Comet Instagram takeover, August 31 2017 (I take this with a grain of salt because in the same takeover he described The Sermon as 10 minutes long, which it obviously isn’t anymore). 

NOTE: a diagram Dave posted on Twitter, presumably pertaining to the song Sextet, can be found on this blog. It is, however, quite old and not especially easy to make sense of. 

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Double Decker 12 - 13 (FINAL) | Golden Kamuy 23 - 24 (FINAL) | Merc Storia 11 - 12 (FINAL) | Zombieland Saga 12 (FINAL) | Gridman 12 (FINAL) | Cells at Work! 14 (OVA) | Shield Hero 1 | Boogiepop 1 - 2 | Egao no Daika 1

Trigger warnings for rape and slavery in the Shield Hero commentary.

Double Decker 12

Deana’s actually kinda tsundere…that’s kinda amazing to see, really.

I noticed Doug’s phone says “Dr. Apple”. Haha.

Kirill’s special. But why? You never answered that, people! Update: It’s because his antibodies are an antidote for Anthem.

There appears to be a Shell logo on one wall of Derick’s bar…LOL. Shell exists in real life. Why do we want it in an anime, now…?

I laughed so hard when I saw the landlady with what remained of Seven-O, hahaha.

Travis and Sophie, huh? Is it a ship or a working relationship? Who knows?

Oh! This didn’t make sense until Derick declared the bus was a bar. Rigggggggggght.

Kirill, believe in the Doug that believes in you…or something like that…

Kirill’s holding two guns, so when Cooper says, “Put down the gun,” which one does he mean???

“And Then There Weren’t None!” – Parodying (Agatha) Christie again, I see? (Referring to Hyouka’s Why Didn’t They Ask Evans parody, Why Didn’t She Ask Eba?.)

Golden Kamuy 23

How did “pig food” in a sentence become so terrifying???

Why is Tsurumi’s head leaking???

*Sugimoto bashes the earless twin with his prosthetic foot* - Well, that’s one way to get a leg up on someone…okay, I’ll see myself out.

Merc Storia 11

If Orthos is complaining about rain, why is he a water-element unit in the game???

This show is gorgeous. Not to mention the backgrounds look like they’ve been ripped out of the game…

Aw, Orthos is kinda cute. Kinda tsundere. I wonder if he wanted to hear “happy birthday” from Raviol…?

Every time I watch through the ED, I think Raviol’s going “Geddof me!” to Yuu.

Zombieland Saga 12 (FINAL)

The Yuugiri slap returns!

The 21st of December seems to have been the original airdate of this episode…

Karatsu-jou is Karatsu Castle, quite obviously.

Wait…does this mean Kotaro Tatsumi’s real (last) name is Inui? Or was this a “I changed my name bcause my mother/I (re)married” thing?

There’s an end of episode segment…keep watching.

That was…such a non-ending! This definitely needs a season 2 if it wants to finish its storyline! Plus, Yuugiri, Tatsumi and Tae never got their focus episodes!

Gridman 12 (FINAL)

What the heck was up with that smoke cloud? It looked so real, and yet so out of place!

Ooh, I see Anti now has the ability to transform by himself…although I should’ve figured that out last episode, since I think that happened then as well.

*Anti gets stabbed with Alexis’s sword* - What the hck just happened to my garbage son??? (refer to This Week in Anime for how that nickname came about for Anti)

Eyy. So you’re saying Gridman was a magical girl robot all along? Haha…hahahaha.

So basically, it’s Boueibu LOVE! but with less meta. With lessons of mortality instead of the Kabuki Rule. Akane’s basically female!Kinshiro, right down to the hairdo…

Wow…someone really ran out of budget. It’s literally just a slideshow, but with black and white over it.

Oh, there’s actually a nice piano song in the background. So maybe I was wrong about the budget…? I don’t really want to go and watch the slideshow again, y’know.

There’s a random live-action segment at the end of this show??? Wuh??? What do I need to expect next, a talking meteorite??? (referring to Dimension High School)

Okay, seriously??? What was up with live-action Rikka???? I don’t get it… Update: Okay, so the live-action girl was Akane, not Rikka. That’s why it was so confusing…

Double Decker 13 (FINAL)

I laughed really hard at the explosions. Probably because I Photoshopped someone into a picture of an explosion and the scene with Kirill being shoved forward by an explosion reminded me of it…

I wanted Max to slap Travis, as weird as that might be for a show like this (but not for a show like Zombieland Saga). A punch in the gut’s good too, though.

“To be continued?” – Oh. Ohh. Ooh…Heh. I already knew there were some extra episodes, but at this point, there’s no ruling out a season 2, either…hmmm. I really wouldn’t mind a season 2, y’know.

Golden Kamuy 24 (FINAL)

For some reason, I’ve ben referring to Hijikata as “old fart” for the length of this episode (meaning “not long”). He’s an impressive old fart, to be sure, and he was hella nice-looking in his heyday, but in the age of Golden Kamuy, he’s still an old fart.

I thought “Say hello to my little friend” was from Scarface, not…whatever Tsurumi’s pulling here. (commnt made in jest with straight face)

Seriously, what happened to ruin Nopperabo/Wilk’s face, anyway?

Someone make me a Civil War poster with Golden Kamuy characters, stat!

Wait, so Kiroranke, Asirpa and co. are headed north to meet up with Kiroranke’s allies, which could cause a civil/national war. Hijikata and Blockhead Dick-sensei (forgot his name) are headed south due to the info they got from Inudou’s hut (the chapel). I’m pretty sure that’s what just happened, but…I could have missed a bit and then I’d be wrong.

“Send the beloved child on a journey” is a Japanese saying, by the way. That’s (probably?) what Sugimoto’s referring to when he talks with the boat captain (the elder Koito). Oddly, the elder Koito seems to drop the last O from “-dono”, which seems to be a Satsuma thing…?

Cells at Work Special Ep (Ep 14)

Oh, you can see the effector cell amongst the other T Cells! Hello there!

I remember studying stuff about how a cell divides…man, that was at least 2 years ago! You’re making me feel old…

*Helper T Cell appears* - Gaddangit, Kazuma! (from Noragami)

Merc Storia 12 (FINAL)

There’s just something too awfully cute about a brother leaving the “nest”.

Even birds need to learn to fly. I wonder why Orthos didn’t…?

Ah! It’s one of those low-level hooting monsters! I’ve seen them in the game but I don’t know what they’re called…Update: They’re called Goldories. Spoke too soon…

Well…that’s a bit frustrating. That’s the second non-ending this season…hey! I’ve seen that elephant in the game! Plus that slime! (LOL, I’m so easily distracted…)

Ooh, that non-ending. I’ll give it a piece of its mind by giving it an average rating on my AniList!!! Rah!!! Anyways, see ya later…for 2019 anime.

Shield Hero 1

First anime of 2019 and it’s this one. Hoo boy – I’ve read one chapter of the manga, courtesy of CR. It’s gonna get nasty down in here, judging by the buzz that seems set to replicate Goblin Slayer’s…

Oh…that’s not a very favourable opening, the “It was all a dream” opening. Sure, it was gripping and showd Raphtalia (saw her name in promo material from ANN), but f*** if it weren’t overused at this point in time…

I always thought Shield Hero started out like Fushigi Yuugi…speaking of which, is that no longer on Crunchyroll?

Motoyasu’s got his own spinoff, so I’m hoping I’ll get to know him well over the next 12 weeks or so.

I find it interesting that they put the heroes together to reveal they’re from different versions of Japan so quickly. I’m pretty sure that didn’t happen in the manga.

Honestly, that “NOOOOOOOOOOOo!” could be an awesome reaction GIF. Just sayin’.

Sigh…Myne, Myne, Myne…you and your ways with Naofumi…

(Trigger warning: rape discussion) See? As I said, I knew this was going to happen. The thing is that it played out a lot more clearly in the anime than it did in the manga. As much as I don’t like the trope of “rape as accusation” enough (enough to have never encountered it before), it would be hypocritical of me to say I haven’t used it before – it appears in Half-Paid Heroes. However, one year out from having written it (due to the #MeToo movement), I can only say “rape is so not on”. I do not condone rape, but from a storytelling perspective it’s the perfect trope to make a character look like a monster and it makes a clearly false accusation have more oomph behind it, so…let’s just say Shield Hero’s doing its job here, making me despise Myne and the system in this world. Besides, I only stand on the side that does the better story.

For some reason, Naofumi’s “You can shove it all up your a***!” demand reminds me of when I’m angry and doing unreasonable demands…which means it’s won me over now.

I just realised…there hasn’t been much music until now…

(Trigger warning: slavery discussion) Oof. Now they’ve gotten to a new low of depravity in this show. Naofumi’s probably gonna buy a slave…again, I don’t condone this, but I assume Raphtalia is here.

Yep, even without knowing past ch 1, I was right on the money. That’s Raphtalia!

Poppies, huh? The symbol of bloodshed. What a perfect flower for this show, which demonstrates Naofumi’s blood, sweat and tears…

As much as I don’t condone some of the acts done in this show, I see some huge potential. Even if it’s got controversy flying around it like flies, I’ll stand with it. Are you with me?

Boogiepop 1 – 2

Double length premiere…oof, this’ll be tough on my spare time. Lately, I’ve been told to clean up the house a bunch and doing all manner of other things, so it’s just eating up time on all sides.

OP start is…for some reason, never a good start. For some reason, I just don’t like it. Maybe that might be the fact I was taught to start with a compelling opening scene when I was a fiction writer, though.

The subber got so bored they even subbed the Dengeki Bunko logo in the corner…wow. (sarcastic)

For some reason, the art style reminds me of Banana Fish (or Parasyte). Must be the chara designs.

This seems to be coated in a fine film of 90s edge. Or maybe the early 2000s, because that’s when this really comes from. C’mon, Takeda doesn’t even seem surprised when his mouth hangs open!

Notably, Boogiepop uses boku.

Wait, I don’t get why Boogiepop is called that. They pop the boogie(men)? That right?

I started zoning out and fiddling with my wrist in the middle of this episode. That’s another bad sign…

Wow, that ending’s really minimalist.

Currently, this episode raises more questions than it answers. Its overall impression level is trending slightly towards the negative. There must be a double premiere for a reason, though…let’s move on.

Wait - Kirima Seiichi? Is he Nagi’s father??? How did I not notice that earlier?

That manticore business seems to be correct…according to Wikipedia.

This doesn’t add up. Taniguchi. Kirima. Maybe Taniguchi is the name of the mother/father and Kirima is the name of the other parent? Update: Spoke too soon on this point and a previous one.

Kirima’s OS appears to be Windows 10 with a few adjustments.

Wait, but isn’t Suema meant to be the girl’s surname? Or is it Kinoshita? Update: It’s Suema. Kinoshita is another girl.

This white-haired man is the one from last episode, right? I didn’t really recognise him since there’s always terrible lighting plus he was wearing orange then, but yeah. Can’t believe I didn’t connect the dots there either.

White-haired man seems to be like Anti from Gridman. I presume he’s Echoes…? Update: Yup, Echoes it is.

Egao no Daika 1

This sounds like it’s outside my field of expertise, but I’ve been proven wrong before with Planet With, not to mention Toshiki Masuda is a character called Huey Malthis. It seems to be pretty standard Princess and the Pauper fare though…

There’s just a bunch of tablets with fancy-looking English on them…the heck?

Is it just me, or did the mecha game have the solitaire success sound effect…?

Ooh, I sense animosity regarding Japan’s emperor abdicating within this show (in a metaphorical sense)! I could analyse this show to bits, maybe…

The CGI in this actually ain’t that bad. Then again, we are talking about mechs here…

Oh, end of episode segment. Keep watching…

Well, I noticed the characters go off model if you’re paying attention to something you shouldn’t be, but otherwise, it’s a respectable first episode…respectable, but fairly average.

[tomatosaucek]

The Archive

My friends and I have kept a record of our favorite quotes we've texted to our group chat since high school and I feel they must be shared so enjoy.

everything is wrong in the world but adam sandler makes it right when he dies there will be no god for he was the closest thing we had to one

we have full control over our youth

why the fuck r u on my wet wipes

in the end he has a lot of good qualities he just doesn't show them off/wear them well its like a guy with a bunch of fancy watches and stuff yeah those r nice things but why the fuck r u wearing 20 watches

except his shit hol is one shitty vacant manone beautiful shitty vacant man

how long was your child hair

I hope d.o is gay and his massive cock goes to waste cause all he does is take it up the ass

AND YOKO IS BY HIS SIDE WHILE HE SHIFTS REALITY

my theory that you dont really love someone until you catch a glimpse and see that they look exactly like a fucking foot

maybe it's just u small titted freaks that need to be trapped in a polyester prison

no I want to be spun the fuck around like a rotisserie chicken

now my throat is even tighter thanks putin

whisper me to sleep rap monster fuck you

you'd be shocked by the capabilities of a Farm Fresh Boy

THERE ARE RULES TO THIS DADDY SHIT AND THAT BITCH IS WALKING A FINE LINE

the thin layer of my sanity peeling away like cheap wallpaper

DO U WANNA SEE AN ONLINE TEMPER TANTRUM

sm is the constrictive cotton around their cocks not letting them erect their own dreams

my pussy did a backflip and participated in olympic swimming

who needs snail secretion cleansers when you can use the birth juices

I like how naruto wears bright fucking orange so everyone can know to get the fuck outta the way

gucci is a fucking mad man

on a lighter note i think asahi is addicted to crack

that is not a leg that is a 90 degree angle

OH YOU'RE SO GOD DAMN EDGY DOUBLE FUCKING DENIM

we've created the best things -

sliced bread

the wheel

the car

skeleton porn

negative asses have turned into bouncy houses

the stars were not ready nor could never foretell the likely-hood of this manslaughter this pure unadulterated mass suicide in the form of a venomous snake bite that latches to the soul of anyone unfortunate and pitiful enough to consume it and like the apple to eve it is that which corrupts the mind and snatches the body a dark empty thing that leaves nothing but putrid filth in its wake promising the sweetest of fruits only to deliver more and more misfortune

your dad is on the brink of destruction

socrates is a bitch, descartes is a bitch, plato is a bitch, aristotle..... a bitch. let me read facts, these men are an embarrassment. a scientist was like "atoms and stuff" and socrates was like "no. there are only 4 elements ;)" and people were like "source?" and he was like "i know everything" YOURE WRONG YOU ASS! socrates was useless. he shouldnt be studied.

ELMO ADVANCED

FUCK THE KETCHUP KIDS

KISS KISS FALL IN CUNT

S͊̍ͧ̕҉̧̟̰̲̰̥ͅU̞̥͈ͨ̎ͣ͋̚C͓̞̿ͩͬ̇ͪͫͨͫ͊Ķ̛̜͍̹̣̯̘̖͖͗̍ͥ̾̾͗͋̓̚L̞̥͖̹̙̲͓̯ͧ̆̾͆̈̏ͯ̔̀E̤̞͂ͣ̀̇̎ͮ̂͂̀̚͞ ̥͇̙͖͉̞͎ͥ͗ͣT̨͊͂ͦ͏̪͇Iͦ̿͋ͭ̽ͥͭ̊͏͏̤̻̮̬ͅM̲̭̲͇̟ͯͪ̽̄̽ͬ̍E̾̆͑͒̈ͫ́ͭ͜͏̲͎

why cant people milk their own babies

my god is so cute and he makes it look so good 😊

I need to find some teeth

Pre rubber boy stabbing himself under the eye ball hole

flavor boy at ur service

I finally used my natural essence on a whole pizza

I see chemistry between kookies jungle balls and my nile river delta

Twin dads

Gastric exorcism at 30,000 feet

Bungle up, squire

HOW CAN U WASH UR HAIR WITH INGREDIENTS MEANT FOR ASS

what if little baby naruto turns into a terrorist

THEYRE GROUPING GOOD LITERATURE AND SCAT IN THE SAME CATEGORY

FUCK ME UP MANTIE MAN

[joon voice] big tit exclusive

combined sweat sympathy

we made it. we're a feminist

ROAD RASSSSHHHHH

Scramble club: the moment everyone arrives everyone scrams away at full speed

not safe, freddie’s watching (freddie from icarly)

I HATE THIS SCAT MONSTER . THIS CASTRATION CATASTROPHE

is this what you want Patrick Star?

DONT FUCK OKAMI

my dad shits in the crystal clear florida ocean

imagine taeil growing a full bear

IM LOOKIN FOR YOU, HITLER.

B L E N D T H E

L U M B R I C O I D E S

MY LOAD IS GONNA TRIGGER THE NEXT BIG BANG

lobotio: lobotomy personified

YEETUS THAT FETUS

erectile poopage

wheel!!

of!!

foreskin!!

kanye columbus handing out yeezys with meezys to the ugandans

he took the last scoop of grammy’s mash potaties . kill him...

STICK SHIFT ON MY DICK TIP UH

Stroller was only 27 when he got suckled on by icejjfish. Feel Old Yet?

because there are always pregnant people, the average number of skeletons in the human body is higher than one

Allow Me Access To Your Groin,Gunt.

Itachi mariachi

THE MIX OF ANIME AND MOUSE IS FORBIDDEN IN THIS HOUSE

Little mik NEEDS sasuke's rod

the whistling quintuplets

garden trotting conundrum

Jazzercize at 1 am

hangin in the splash zone

festering jersey

hanging eric nam from the rafters

boney eats a whole tree

pein in the pet shop

the thrusting sailors

screamin' sicilian

deep whoy

completely vincent

drake josh cock pop

jay parp fucks a bistro

constant zenith

harlequin jazz

Jealous of my Father's Leg Hair

biological hazard

bobby marayo (baby mario)

PYLON PETE IN TERMINAL 5

rick suffers

Incomprehensible adhesive

mega wasp in the common room

Sculptures, but Worse.

Jay park fucks a moth

it ain’t about christ anymore it’s about SYNTHESIZERS

jesus vs. the synthesizer

[scarletwitching]

I know you would probably hate this, but, what do you think makes House of M popular? How this comic cloud people's judgement? How it affect new readers/casual fans's views? What are the factors that draw people in and fixed their impression? Just some observation, some people seem to enjoy the touchy family "feels", some may just like heroes snapping(like it's so cool), and sometimes it's Power Parade(it's deemed disrepctful to say she is less powerful than someone else).

It’s popular(ish) in mainstream fandom because its effects lasted a very long time, which makes it seem important, and because it’s a mash-up of a couple of enormously popular and beloved storylines, Dark Phoenix Saga and Infinity Gauntlet, set in a then-new alternate universe. It’s two old things smashed together and combined with a new thing.

That’s the short answer. The long answer is… long, and it’s actually about the underlying reasons people are okay with some offensive stuff (because that’s what I wanted to talk about). I’m putting this under a cut so that, when people who don’t agree with me inevitably read it, I can link them to this.

There really is a country song for everything.

It maybe goes without saying, but this is a House of M post so it mentions, however briefly, the usual HOM-related subject matter: ableism, infertility, people on the internet glorifying genocide.

Everyone likes things that have somewhat unsavory elements or unfortunate implications. With superheroes, the whole thing is – forgive me – problematic. You can find meaning and value in parts of it, but something is rotten at the core. One of the uncomfortable aspects of speculative fiction fandoms is how terrible things become normalized. Because we’re only talking about fiction. That makes it okay, right? It’s tempting to parrot these notions of “good” queens and “rightful” kings or to go along with the canon logic that justifies violence and ignores the sovereignty of nations that aren’t the US.

I bring up that last one because, in modern superhero fandom, buying into the canon logic often means defending US imperialism under the guise of defending a specific character or story. There’s always a justification for it in-universe, so the way it relates to the real world becomes some extraneous detail that only a jerk would mention.

It’s the Thermian Argument. It doesn’t matter what the underlying message or consequences, however (un)intentional, are. It matters that I like Thing and any problems you find with Thing are the result of you not focusing on very specific details that make it “make sense” in the story. Remember the old Tumblr adage that you can like problematic things so long as you acknowledge the problems? I would just say you can like whatever so long as you don’t bury your head in the sand and scream, “It’s fine! You just didn’t pay attention to the story!!”

What I’m saying is that there’s a lot of justifying how bad literally every part of the story is by saying it all “makes sense” and so all criticisms are invalid. If a person is traumatized, it just makes sense that they would [waves at the entire story] do that. It’s very sad when your imaginary kids die, y’know?

The people who like House of M tend to cite its fetishizing gaze on women’s mental illness as a feature and not a bug. The fault in that argument is that, as far as I’ve seen, none of the people making this argument have Schizophrenia. Or Schizoaffective Disorder. Or any personal experience with psychosis whatsoever. At the very least, the vast majority of them don’t, so they’re not part of the group being misrepresented.  

The issue of what is “good” mental illness representation is complex. Sometimes, people who are struggling or have struggled relate to characters who lash out or do destructive things. People can find solace in imperfect places. Everyone’s just trying to get by in this hellscape, and if a comic made you feel understood or just plain better in some way, that’s a good thing. But It’s a very “I got mine” argument to focus on that and ignore how those stories might affect others. You can’t reclaim something that wasn’t insulting you in the first place. I find the claim that there’s something universal about Sad Wanda Crying unconvincing given how emblematic HOM is of media representations of psychosis. If you’re not always being portrayed as a serial killer, the weight of this story will easily fly over your head.  

Then there’s the not-small matter that the people being insulted – really, specifically insulted – by HOM are groups that aren’t a big part of public discourse. The severely mentally ill and people with fertility issues. Not that those are on equal footing, but they both have a certain invisibility and the idea that something might be hurtful to them is treated as a joke. Reproductive issues are intensely personal, and most people want to keep them private. There is a lot wrong with media representations of infertility, but if talking about it means opening up about your experiences, it’s no wonder people don’t want to or are only willing to in a receptive space.

Also, I suspect a lot of people didn’t read the X-Men stories that came after and are viewing this entirely from Wanda’s perspective. There’s something narcissistic about sad, sad, sad characters being sad about their sad, sad, sad life. It invites the audience to focus on that one person’s struggles – often as a stand-in for their own problems – and ignore everything else going on. This is one of the critiques of “manpain” storylines. There’s a layer of self-involvement built in. Killed a bunch of people? But they were sad! Sad, sad, sad! We’ve all got problems, man. The world breaks everyone. Not everyone kills Hawkeye two different times.

This is particularly true in spec fic where every backstory is a trauma conga line. Your fave may have suffered, but realistically, so did everyone else.

Redemption arcs can have that air of narcissism too. Woe is me, I have done bad. If they get really self-obsessed, you get The Very Worst Kind of Story, the one where the villain is someone who has been wronged by the “redeemed” character and they want revenge. It’s a way of appearing to confront the damage done while actually minimizing it and discrediting the victims. Protagonist-centered morality to the extreme. Only Good Victims™ matter, and therefore, the redemption seeker is exonerated. All charges dropped on account of the victim turned out to be a jerk!

(That’s not what this post is about. I watched a movie the other day that had this problem, and it gave me a lot of feelings. It was Power Rangers. Leave me alone.)

Getting back to what I said at the beginning, the thing that bothers me isn’t so much that people like something I don’t like. I agree with Grant Morrison’s assessment that HOM is lukewarm at best, but I can still see why someone might like it. The bigger problem is how people like quote-unquote problematic things.

Which is to say oh my god, you guys have to stop acting like genocide is cool and badass. Finding a story valuable is one thing. Claiming that Wanda is so awesome because she can warp reality and wipe out all the mutants and “when will your fave” is another thing entirely. It is not okay to brag about genocide. Ever.

EVER.

Not even when you’re talking about fiction.

I know that saying a character is more powerful is the unquestioned trump card of comics fandom, but 1) that’s iffy in the first place and 2) it’s especially bad in this case. I used to think of the “my fave is more powerful than yours” dick-measuring contest solely as an expression of Boys Club thinking, something juvenile that celebrates physical strength above all else. But there is something more insidious to this logic. Saying that having more power – by which you mean a greater ability to commit acts of violence and hurt others – is the same thing as having more value is disturbing logic. The way that superhero comics equate power with goodness is part of why they’re considered fascist. Every time you indulge this fantasy that having more power makes something better, that power is virtue, the spectral form of Alan Moore appears and hurls copies of Watchmen at your head.

Buying into this furthers one of the worst messages in the genre. I’m not saying anyone who argues over which character is more powerful is a fascist, but this logic should not go unexamined. Why does it matter so much which character is the better at inflicting harm than all the other harm inflicters? You can use the cheap argument that they’re heroes and they’re doing good, but superheroes are, to a worrying degree, used as avatars of the US military. They’re only unblemished, pure-hearted Social Justice Warriors™ if you don’t pay attention to any stories featuring them.

And when you’re not just arguing that being powerful is better, but that the act of committing genocide is a key part of that superiority?? That’s beyond disturbing. How can people not notice how terrible that sounds? Outside of the narrative and the twisted reasoning of superhero comics, what are you really saying when you say that? Might makes right is questionable enough, but when the expression of “might” is ethnic cleansing?

Someone, please explain the thinking that leads to these posts. I’m lost in a flurry of question marks. What compels a person to declare, openly, that what’s cool about Wanda is that she got rid of all the mutants? How does someone conclude that glorifying genocide is okay because it’s a fantasy genocide? Why do thousands of people reblog these horrifying posts?

Why?

Why?

WHYWHYWHY?

On second thought, don’t explain it to me. I don’t want to know.

[rugeon]

Learning to butterfly the videogame chicken breast

New year new potential projects. For final year project 2018-2019. Might as well start with the new ‘ideation document.

Ideation Document

Contexts:

Systemic gameplay - systemic narrative, and otherwise

Gamefeel/ Player Satisfaction/ Juicing

Strong unusual sense of place and people

Unique methods of interactive media storytelling (NITW Text boxes)

Coziness in games

Non traditional methods of mechanical interaction ie. traditional control methods, with more unique player expression

Having an Interesting failure spectrum (Tom Francis thoughts on why MGSV is a fun stealth game, due to its wide array of failure states)

Analogue/varied means of  expression within one mechanic or activity (jumping in mario, building a snowman in NITW prologue game, Lost Constellation)

Ethos of messy fast prototyping iterartion and production (inspired by Jenny Jiao Hsia talk about prototyping)

Affecting audio  

Techniques 

Interaction Design

Branching Narratives + Dialogue

Games AI

Procedural Generation

Advanced Audio and Visual Processing

Inspiring Works 

Heat Signature - Suspicious Developments, Tom Francis

Roguelike, top down action/ stealth/ heist game where you play as different intergalactic heist/bounty hunter people that breaks into spaceships. Extremely systemic game that encourages players to find interesting solutions to problems by providing a wide variety of interesting sci-fi tools to the player. Systemic gameplay+ systemic player narratives as told through gameplay plans  being made and then changing/going awry as well as conditions constraining players to be creative.

Hotline Miami - Dennaton Games, Jonatan Söderström. Dennis Wedin

Surreal, hyperviolent top down action game about the trancelike sprees that a masked killer enacts, that strongly highlights the violent obsession of videogames and culture. Has several factors that contribute to a sense of good gamefeel, and making what should be a frustrating experience instead induce a flow state.

Sid Meier's Covert Action - MPS Labs, MicroProse

Interesting systemic narrative that the player experiencing by foiling and interacting with various agents and stages of a spy plot. Systemic narrative that is expressed by the gameplay systems. Feeling of the ai acting irrespective to the player. Narrative experience of player feels quite systemic.

Night in the Woods (NITW) - Infinite Fall, Scott Benson, Alec Holowka, Bethany Hockenberry + Finji Adam Saltsman, Rebekah Saltsman, Em Halberstadt

Anthropomorphic animal narrative, platforming, adventrue game that tells the story of a 20 year old that comes back to her home town and and friends after leaving college. Tells an emotive story unconventional by games standards in a very playful way that has some traditional gameplay elements (platforming) but also makes interactive more unusual verbs (a pizza eating section, and pretzel stealing microgame). Creates an extremely strong, cozy sense of place. Expressive within the limits of its digital medium+storytelling (wide variety of personality conveyed through text box animation).

Minit - Vlambeer, Jan Willem Nijman, Kitty Calis, Jukio Kallio, Dominik Johann

Small, short adventure game where you die and every minute and respawn at the same space, learning about the world, optimising your route and changing the world slightly with each successive run. Very polished game with superb gamefeel (all vlambeer games have great gamefeel+juice)

Kentucky Route Zero - Cardboard Computer- Jake Elliott, Tamas Kemenczy, Ben Babbitt

The great american novel in game form. A magical realist story about debt to the past. Extremely important and affective narrative game. ‘The Entertainment’ - Interlude, elucidates relationship and interplay between player and developers that creates the game experience. Creates a powerful atmosphere + utilises branching narrative

I also wrote down a bunch of other stuff I’ve been thinking about in a big jumbled list for help during ideation process. This is just junk floating around, mood board of my head.

Yakuza, Moby Dick, Dark Souls/Absolver, Atom Zombie Smasher+Brendon Chung, Papers Please+Return of Obra Dinn, FTL+Into The Breach, Hylics, High Hell, devolver, Hyper Light Drifter, Flinthook, Jalopy, Jet-Set Radio, Mark of the Ninja, MGS V, Luftrausers, Shadow of Mordor, The Norwood Suite, Small radios, big televisions, The Endless Express, Alan Wake+remedy games, Assassins Creed 1, Banner Saga, F.E.A.R. ,  Helldivers, invisible inc. , Monaco, Westerado,  spectacle fighters dmc, thomas was alone, reigns, evil dead, sorcerer, valhalla rising, a field in england, hard to be a god, stalker, man with a movie camera, bomb city, taking of pelham 123, assault on precinct 13,  escape from new york, fruitvale station, playtime, drive, thief, collateral, taxi driver, lost in translation, tekkonkinkreet, ki-ki delivery service+ghibli, REDLINE, cagliostro, 2049, che, motorcycle diaries, man with movie camera, koyaanisqatsi,VVitch,Sacco e Vanzeti, nocturnal animal, die hard, ghost in the shell, atlanta, twin peaks, fear and loathing,only god forgives,donnie darko, mad max, satoshi kon films, eyes wide shut, dog day afternoon, seventh seal, whiplash, brazil, t2 trainspotting, hellboy comic, fargo, rocky horror, gozu, juno, clerks, slacker, daria, almost famous, lady bird, frances ha, fury, wes anderson colour+ framing, NOIR + lighting, there will be blood, no country for old men, unforgiven, dollars trilogy, run lola run, phone booth, die hard, dr strangelove, apocalypse now/heart of darkness, the wire, adult swim+space ghost stuff, home movies+squigglevision, hannibal, bojack, flcl, true detective, desert punk, QOTSA, them crooked vultures, grunge, idles, talking heads, wu, green kingdom, lizard gizzard, acoustic wizard, tobacco, diiv, mbv, spooky+ over the garden wall, bowie, clash

Initial Ideas

A game where you play as a witch exploring a modern magical realist city at night. Should have an interesting traversal mechanic. All about traversal, dancing and screaming in a city at night, strong sense of place + atmosphere: inspired by films such as playtime, thief, drive, collateral, fruitvale station, lost in translation as well as games like NITW. Thought about more in this doc: one pager section on 2nd page: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1O3NC8HqwmERq57Dcqqc2d2Ih34ZVO4-vEQPnVTKRyOk/edit?usp=sharing

Some kind of game themed around the desert/stoner rock music genre which includes acts like Red Fang, Kyuss and Sleep. Make use of AAVP to have a dynamic soundtrack responding to gameplay that impacts the visuals. The game’s mechanics should be directly inspired by the theming, and common features of the genre, could be action oriented, with rhythm game influences. One game that would probably be worth looking at in relation to this is the recently released Tetris Effect, while I would not be as interested in a game as abstracted as tetris, how they achieve a flow state, and have music and visuals informed by gameplay would be worth looking in to. I feel this game is more likely to involve rapid prototyping.

Create a languid game about chilling out on a ship with crew and passengers. Setting could be sci-fi or more historic - chatting on computer to far flung galactic friends and doing menial space jobs/ tasks aboard ship. The setting and experience of the place can draw from ideas about coziness in games + make use of Branching Narrative/Dialogue. Potentially also think about how procedural narrative could be a factor. Inspired by Moby Dick, NITW and Purgatory

Hotline Miami/Goap/Diehard - ‘Create a systemic top-down stealth action game where the player is asked to foil a developing plot/heist by a group of AI agents whose plan and activities respond to the players attempts to derail it. The focus should be on the player feeling like they are responding to the AI’s adaptations to the player interrupting their plot. Each level would be one plot/ situation the player is thrust into. The project is inspired by the evolving plots of covert action, the setting/circumstances of Die-Hard and the gameplay/perspective of hotline miami. This project will involve development of a complex AI system that could be implemented via a GOAP method.

Walkie talky/radio gameplay mechanic to solicit/disseminate information

Research into the effectiveness of procedural vs authored content in games, as large games increasingly find themselves trying to use procedural generation to meet the demands of growing content demand they are finding it difficult to reconcile this with a desire to create quality, curated content, narrative or otherwise. I propose research into the various ways procedural vs authored content has been divvied up in games, the amount of people working in each area, how much curated work is required for procedural work to be effective and the reception/perception of these two methods to create content for games. The means by which this could be investigated is perhaps by creating some data sets of very simple different possible mechanical games in Unity or more narrative ones in twine, that are sorted into different groups of procedural / authored games. We would then measure the level of player engagement over the course of their time with the games and within the context of how long it took to make the given games. Context + techniques: procedural generation + branching narratives

[the-firebird69]

The bja the retad down the hallway should know that the women are after to kill him. What a bunch if f***** by the way Gena says. What can you just leave us alone all you want to be us and have her torso so it's kind of like I understand it now it's the most insulting thing you can say or do.

Now the trumps hate you and I see why you're trying to kill you and remind you there's too many of you he hates you and I see why similar thing but he hasn't killed a lot he won't leave him alone and you have no idea what it is killing you you're a huge putrid moron it's not when you mess so you can fall out the window aside when you started falling out everywhere kept happening happening the whole time he was there. After a while some people slow down they played us and started harm against says you have to go out the window again and tons of tossed you out I have something to say about this guy he's the most evil bastard I've ever met there's nothing wrong with him mentally we do a lot of work and and things together and all sudden he just snaps and he can't handle anything it is this little a****** baby things happen to him he's like a soldiers and things happen to you you're like a complete wussy now you want to be a girl you're such a f** I'm going to put you down and putting orders out to my ladies of girls really who says ca says draw girls my favorite orders and glasses retarded man survival purposes only and I got data in pictures and put it out there now. We're having a meeting I'm calling Lori in New York City that's the max to help security I'm going to meet up there at the freedom center that's what we're calling it

Jenna

Damn it I knew there was an element maybe it's the name that's holding it up. So it's the institute of suffrage and University of universal freedom

Zues

University of universal suffrage and institute of freedom

Hera

The institute of freedom

Jenna

Jenna it can't be institute alone and kind of lends to something

Zues

Okay so we'll call the University of universal suffrage and institute of freedom or better yet University of freedom and institute of universal suffrage he says that's not bad maybe you're fixing this probably people are hiding

Jenna

Send a reason concerned that bja is in and out of it and Jenny is a little but he's a complete jerk all the time for the most part he's incredibly hard to manage and manipulate and if you do he stays that way for 10 minutes and he's back to me in a complete dick you can't use them for anything and that's why so that was a very hard to sell and the name of the place is probably going to be the institute of universal suffrage and University of freedom and Jenna had called it and we agree that she's being oppressed and she's a woman and it just comes out of them when they're in trouble we're going to name it today and we're going to put a sign up there's going to be permanent out of brass and we're making it now and we're sending it for approval for everyone especially Jenna and she's smiling she wants her kids back and she wants a life back but this will have to do because her women are all dying and that means her too and now she should know what it feels like to be him this is what this monster it's like when it comes after you it's unpleasant is an extremist too our son is thinks of ways to hurt people that I've never heard of and I'm so old and I'm so experienced, it's gross I've never heard of it stick a while in a white collar all the sudden I started to hear something we don't have time for this he's complete his man is a madman now because this idiot they're going after them because this woman thing it's making them sick it's an animal behavior and it's it's worse it's bizarre edible behavior some putting a hit on him this guy Sean I want him out of the house I wanted Dead and by the way this letter is going to straighten this stupid s*** out cuz Jen is attacking you just paying people too she's paying women tons of women to attack you and mac Men. And yeah they're trying to kill you and you blame thrym. You're like this huge idiot too that ruined the whole program for the United States and for Max you made it into a big huge joke because you're an a****** there's no plan to do that and people can't figure it out cuz you're running around harassing everyone but you should all be arrested rounded up and killed send you this piece of s*** bothering people you're getting evicted and can't figure it out the Macs doing it on purpose to take over hardware to take over the earth now you're going after your b****** you're a f****** useless person just like CAA said

Thor Freya