#it reminds me of the Hays Code

[ennaih]

Every Film I Watch In 2023:

278. Edge Of Doom (1950)

[pocoyo-yo]

LEMON MERINGUE PIE

SUMMARY: being cowboy!reiner brauns spoiled little wife

WARNINGS: smut, unprotected sex, fembodied!reader, black!coded reader, squirting, creampie, dirty talk, manhandling, clit slapping, breeding kink, daddy kink, overstimulation, p in v, m/f, petnames (sweet thing, darlin', mama, poundcake,and obviously daddy)

°•°• ●○●•°•°

being reiner braun meant hucking hay bales over your shoulder, petting and caring for your cattle, and going into town to sell your goods.

being reiner brauns spoiled little wife meant you never had to lift a finger— only coming home to your tired man who wanted nothing more than to bask in your sweet scent of lemons.

".. reiner," you had your arm hooked around his large bicep with a grin. ".. lemme take a ride on my baby, I bet my meringue misses me."

but that didn't mean you didn't want to lift a finger.

"ya don't have'ta, sweet thing," he glanced down at you through the shade of his cowboy hat. ".. yur a city girl at heart, don't gotta change nothin' f'me." he told you.

you pouted, "I'm aware.. you remind me all the time, but meringue is my horse— don't you remember our first ride together? you, me, meringue, and knight?"

reiner clicked his tongue, "'course I do, darlin'.. ya caught on so quickly it was like ya were a natural— I think I fell for ya then."

you unhooked your arm from his as you approached the white picket fence that connected to the stables. you could spot her from a mile away, with her pretty blonde main and brown fur that faded to white at the hooves. when you first met reiner through a family friend while you visited she immeaditely caught your eye— her mane reminded you of your blond lace front while her fur was the same shade of vrown as your skin.

"..c'mere," reiner whistled at meringue and smacked the fence as he leaned slightly over. you glanced over at him— his sleeves were rolled up on his arms, sweat beads rolling down his slightly tanned skin. ".. c'mere, meringue, mama wants ya!" he called out.

you smiled bashfully as meringue let out a sneeze and began to trot towards the fence.

"city girl or not this is my baby," you grinned as meringue stood before you and you petted her face. ".. hi pretty girl, did you miss me?"

meringue let out a grunt and you looked over at reiner who was just admiring you with a soft smile.

"what are you looking at, sir?" you teased.

he stood up straight and walk towards you, he was so tall— tall and bulky.

"my pretty lil wife, ma'am." reiner replied.

you rolled your eyes and reiner gave your ass a nice smack which earned a surprised squeal from your lips.

he had been holding back from doing that ever since he saw you come outside in those tiny jean shorts, that plaid crop top that showed off your diamond belly-button piercing and allowed your tits to spill— teasing the lace of your bra, and those brand new one inch heel cowboy boots.

"c'mon, mama," reiner leaned into your ear as meringue walked away in the other direction. your breath hitched as he pressed his crotch right up against your ass. ".. don't ya wanna go for a ride?"

being reiner brauns spoiled little wife also meant that for treating you so kindly, like the princess you are, he expects a little something in return whenever he gets hot and heavy after a hard days work.

"r— reiner! rei.. oh my goood.."

fresh out of the shower, reiner almost immeadiately had you sat on his lap— large, calloused hands clung to the fat of your hips while he pounded his fat cock into your pussy.

"yur so pretty, sweet thing," he groaned at the sight of your ass clap everytime his wet pelvis made contact with your skin. you clung at his muscular thighs while your tongue dared to stick out of your glossy lips. ".. ya can take this dick, can't ya? 'gonna let me take care of this sweet pussy?"

you dug your nails into his skin and moaned as one of his hands hooked around your waist and found your swollen clit while other squeezed on your breasts.

"c'mon fuck me back— ride my cock, yeah?" reiner panted, his lips grazing over the skin of your neck. he thrusted up into you while you attempted to grind on his dick, trying to play with yourself at the same time.

"feels s'good," you whimpered as his hot breath teased the crown of your ear. "..makin' this pussy feel so so good, daddy.."

he chuckled, cock fucking deeper into your belly— a slight bulge poking at your skin. your inner thighs were sticky and wet as your slick and his pre-cum smeared messily everytime you both make contact.

"how long we been married, darlin'?" he asked and you whimpered, the shimmer of his golden wedding band filled your vision.

".. d— daddy slow down," you mumbled, thigh muscles clenching as you began to try and match his thrusts. ".. ooh fuck— daddy! d— daddy! ..daddy!"

reiner huffed, ".. holy— take a breath.. 'nd answer me, mama.."

you gasped as reiner hooked his heavy arm under your thighs and yanked them up— practically folding you in half. you watched as his fat cock slipped out of your hole and you let out a whine before he used his freehand to guide it back into your sloppy cunt.

"we uhm," you arched your back against his chest as the curve of his cock brushed right against your g-spot. ".. r— right there! again please daddy.."

reiner groaned and raised his free hand— landing a slap over your swollen clit. you let out a yelp and clawed at his arm while your cunt squeezed tightly around him in response.

"lemme ask ya one mo' time," reiner leaned into your ear and hissed. ".. how long ya been my wife, mama?"

you felt your eyes sting with tears as his heavy hand smacked your stinging clit again, the cool metal of his wedding band adding some type of relief.

".. two," you whimpered softly— hot tears falling down your cheeks. "two years, rei.."

"mhm," he kissed at your salty tears. ".. I think it's 'bout time I made ya a real mama, ain't it?"

you sniffled, ".. 'nd make you a daddy, rei?"

reiner nodded, "yeah.. and make me a real daddy, sweet thing," he grabbed your hand and placed it over the spot in your belly where the tip of his cock poked at your skin. ".. oh fuck we'd make the prettiest lil babies, poundcake— so how 'bout it? ya gonna let daddy breed up this messy pussy?"

"yes," your toes curled at the thought of reiner emptying himself into you. you two had been careful since you met him— condom, birthcontrol, him coming outside, plan b's after almost everytime because better safe than sorry. "yes I wan' it— please breed this pussy daddy.. make me a mama please please.." you begged him.

reiner groaned and slid his freehand in between your legs to rub circles over your clit while he fuck up into you. your jaw fell agape as the only thought that filled your mind became reiner reiner reiner. your stomach churned and an immense amount of pressure filled your belly— something new, something foreign.

"daddy wait," you moaned softly, eyes rounded out as your legs began to tremble in reiners hold. ".. d— daddy somethin's not— it feels w— weird.."

"yur gonna cum, poundcake." he cooed in your ear.

"s'not that— feels like m'gonna," you let out a cry as reiner sped up his movements— every part of you wanted to run away from this feeling, the pressure was so uncomfortable. ".. oh fuck! daddy— daddy you gotta—"

you let out a shakey whimper and your toes curled as the tip of his cock kissed your cervix. your eyes flickered in the back of head while you squirted all over reiners thighs and the bed sheets.

"and here I thought I married just a creamer," reiner scoffed and his tip teased at your cervix again— earning another stream of wetness which landed on your lower belly. ".. yur still not done, poundcake?"

your body slumped against reiner as he used both hands to spread your legs further apart— alowing him to sink deeper into your pussy. you were too focused on the feeling of yourself about to cum some more to be embarassed at how on display you were. pussy puffy and bruised— twitching everytime reiner sunk himself back in. the overstimulation had you unable to even form a coherent sentence.

".. fuck im 'bouta cum, mama," reiner moaned— his heavy balls slammed right against your ass. ".. ya still got more in there? go on 'nd finish up f'me then daddy will fill this tight pussy, alright?"

you slipped your hand in between your legs and flicked at your clit, shuddering, "o— oh my.."

the last of your release streamed from your pussy and onto the sheets— your chest was heaving as you tried to catch your breath.

reiner sloppily kissed your jaw and stammered, "fuck fuck.. ya done now, mama?"

you nodded shakily, "yes daddy.. please cum in me please.."

he groaned, "alright alright— daddy's got you, sweet thing."

you let out a low moan as reiner buried his face in your shoulder— whimpering into your sweaty skin. the veins in his fat cock pulsed while his balls tightened, and he pressed your body right up against his own— muscles tightening at the feeling of his cum shoot into your warm, tight pussy.

"take it all, mama," he moaned, stubble tickling your neck as he lifted his face from your shoulder. ".. take all of daddy's babies."

being reiner braun's spoiled little wife meant that finally, after getting manhandled and fucked dumb, he would treat you with most care and love he could— making sure you were doing just fine because you deserved it after making him feel so good.

you shivered as reiner let your weak legs go, and he left soft kisses on your upper back. you tried to recollect your thoughts with his softening cock inside of you.

".. I made such a mess." was the first thing you managed to mumble.

reiner sighed, "it's fine, poundcake.. I'll start a bath f'ya and clean up."

you glanced up at him and pouted, "stay with me, reiner."

he let out a small groan, "fine.. we'll bathe together— just let me get the bath started."

you reluctantly nodded and his cock slowly slid out of you. you gasped at the feeling of his cum begin to leak out of your fucked-out hole.

"that ain't good," he chuckled, thin eyebrows risen at the sight. "let's see.."

reiner scooped up what had leaked out of his cum and stuffed it back into you with his thick fingers. you let out a surprised squeak and playfully smacked his arm.

"keep them thighs closed, sweet thing," reiner layed you on the bed and pressed a gentle kiss to your lips once he got up. "and if any of it comes out you push it back in, understand?"

"yes daddy.." you teased.

"ya say that again, poundcake, and I'll right back inside that pussy before ya can blink." he warned you.

you giggled and rested your head on the pile of pillows. reiner stared at you for a moment with hooded eyes before he scratched the side of his head.

"I love you, darlin'.." reiner told you in a shy tone.

you smiled sweetly at your husband, "I love you too, reiner."

°•°• ●○●•°•°

!!!THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR 1,000 FOLLOWERS!!! I DISSAPEAR SO MUCH SO I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU GUYS DEAL WITH ME LMAO

[renthony]

hey!! i am genuinely curious about how the catholic church helped implement the hays code, would you be able to tell me more/do you have any good reading material about it? thanks so much!!

This has been sitting in my inbox for aaaaaages, because I want to do it justice! It's actually a big facet of my research project that I'm going to go into much, much, much more depth on, but here's the short(er) summary:

The foundational text of the Hays Code was written by two Catholics: a Jesuit priest named Father Daniel Lord, and a man named Martin Quigley, who was the editor of the Motion Picture Herald. They grounded their guidelines in Catholic morality and values, based on the idea that art could be a vehicle for evil by negatively influencing the actions of those who view it.

The original list of guidelines written by Lord and Quigley was adapted into the Production Code, popularly known as the "Hays Code" after William Hays, the president of the Production Code Administration that enforced it. As president of the PCA, William Hays appointed a staunch Catholic man called Joseph Breen to enforce the code. Breen enforced it aggressively, confiscating the original reels of films he deemed inappropriate and against the Code. Many lost films from this era are only "lost" because Joseph Breen personally had them destroyed. Some were rediscovered later, but many were completely purged from existence.

When Breen died in 1965, Variety magazine wrote, "More than any single individual, he shaped the moral stature of the American moral picture." He was a very, very big deal, and was directly responsible for censoring more films than I could even begin to list here.

In 1937, Olga J. Martin, Joseph Breen’s secretary, said, “To an impoverished country which had become religious and serious-minded, the sex attitudes of the post-war period became grotesquely unreal and antedated. The public at large wanted to forget its own derelictions of the ‘gay twenties.' The stage was set for the moral crusade.”

In 1936, once the Code was being fully enforced on filmmakers by Joseph Breen, a letter was issued by the office of Pope Pius XI that praised Breen's work, and encouraged all good Catholics to support film censorship.

The letter read in part, "From time to time, the Bishops will do well to recall to the motion picture industry that, amid the cares of their pastoral ministry, they are under obligation to interest themselves in every form of decent and healthy recreation because they are responsible before God for the moral welfare of their people even during their time of leisure. Their sacred calling constrains them to proclaim clearly and openly that unhealthy and impure entertainment destroys the moral fibre of a nation. They will likewise remind the motion picture industry that the demands which they make regard not only the Catholics but all who patronize the cinema."

Basically, this letter was a reminder from the Papal authority that bishops and priests are supposed to stop people from engaging with "lewd" or "obscene" art. That meant supporting things like the Hays Code.

So, to summarize: the original text of the Hays Code was written by two Catholics, including a priest. The biggest and most aggressive censor under the Code was a Catholic man, who had the full support and approval of the Pope at the time. Good Catholics were called en-masse to support the Hays Code, because it was intentionally written to line up with Catholic teachings.

There's a lot more to say on the subject, and if you're interested in reading more on your own, I recommend the book "Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930-1934," by Thomas Doherty. There are plenty other sources I can recommend on request, but that's a solid place to start.

(And if I can toot my own horn, I'm intending to do a video lecture series all about American film censorship and the Hays Code. Pledging to my Patreon helps keep me fed and housed while I do all this damn research.)

[beth-purcell]

The Ink Demonth: Hide

Hidden away, deep in the Cycle, is rumored that there's a spot where not even the Ink Demon can find. A place where misfits can stay and even have a reminder of the good times that the Cycle has tried to squash. Perhaps you could be lucky enough to even see their angel perform!

A Bendy AU, this one I'm tentatively calling the "Code AU" where back in Alice's early development, she had a design that got scrapped due to massively violating the Hays Code and despite Joey Drew getting rid of any evidence of her existence, the Ink Machine created her, and she's hanging out with the other aspects that the machine picked up on while Joey tried to pretend they didn't happen (even more so than the usual stuff he hid lol). Of course, things can't be hidden for long, and Boris and his Searcher Roommate end up stumbling upon the angel and learn more secrets about the Creators and the Cycle itself.

New Money reminded me of the au so now it's back to cause problems lol

[ingravinoveritas]

I recently had this link shared with me by one of my lovely friends here in the fandom, and found it so compelling that I wanted to share it with all of you.

This is a recent article from Vanity Fair about Cary Grant and Randolph Scott, both iconic actors from the era we now call "Old Hollywood," and it details their extremely interesting--both by the standards of the era and today--relationship. It's a long read, but more than worth it.

For those who may not know, Cary Grant was an English-born American actor and iconic leading man, and Randolph Scott was an American actor most known for appearing in Westerns. Both men were married to women/had children at varying points in their lives, but by some accounts (and especially what is chronicled in this article), they were the loves of each other's lives, even though being openly queer was next to impossible at the time, and would've been looked at as a career-ending (and maybe even life-ending) move.

There also seem to be quite a few parallels between Cary and Randolph 90 years ago and Michael and David today. The two men actually lived together for a number of years, during which the press of the day chose to portray them as "just two fun-loving bachelors waiting to find the right gal," all while Grant in particular starred in films with queer-flavored undertones that were both bold and downright dangerous in the era of the Hays Code. They continued living together when Grant was first married to his first wife, Virginia Cherrill (and after they divorced), and fun fact: While Grant was married, Scott moved right next door...so they were, in fact, neighbors.

Here are a few other excerpts that very much reminded me of Michael and David, for your consideration. (FYI that "Archie Leach" was Cary Grant's birth name before he changed it to his stage name.) This first one calls to mind the Radio Times calling Michael and David a "handsome couple" on the night of the NTAs in 2021:

This next one of course made me think of Michael and David talking on David's podcast (skip to the 1:25 mark) in 2019 about hating photo shoots and how Michael flat-out refused to answer questions at one point and only got through it because of David:

And this last one features a quote from a close friend about Grant and Scott that nearly made my heart skip an entire beat. For reasons that will soon be very, very obvious:

(I mean...)

What is also remarkable about this article (though not necessarily in a good way) is the mention of how little has changed since Grant and Scott's time. How even today, any actor who comes out as any flavor of queer is immediately looked at differently, and how the fear of both professional and personal repercussions keeps people in the closet for so many reasons.

These were the parts of the article that stood out to me the most, but as always I would love to hear from my followers with your thoughts and takes on the parallels above or anything else that you find interesting...

[heckling-hydrena]

oh my god I'm so sorry I keep posting about the permababy skin bullshit but some people in the tag are being fucking insufferable. "ummm reminder that there are permababy hatchlings on the site who have FUCKED (<- insane wording btw) and have offspring lists I bet the evil conservative puritan staff is gonna start banning people for that too!!!!!" - me when I don't fucking read staff posts and get really really mad over things that staff has explicitly said are not happening, because if I don't get disproportionately outraged over a pixel dragon game at least once a day I'll die.

hello. can you read. did you even read this. or did you just skim over it and then immediately log onto tumblr to write an angry post about how it's LITERALLY hays code 1984 jorjor wel puritan censorship. actual fucking tar pit mentality.

[woozisguitar]

SEVENTEEN members as songs from ttpd (from the first drop)

s.coups- i can do it with a broken heart

starting off slightly sad but he’s a real tough kid and he can definitely handle anything.

i think I saw an edit of him somewhere to this and cried

i’m seriously so proud of him always

taylor did write this for all the eldest daughters/ siblings

just super coups coded

jeonghan- fortnight ft. post malone

“your wife waters flowers i want to kill her” peak jeonghan vibes. he would commit a crime for funsies <3

also “i love you, it’s ruining my life” because man did he def ruin my life

tell me one jeonghan fan who’s mentally stable, we’re all a little crazy (myself included)

insanity and everything packed in one fr

joshua- fresh out the slammer

HE IS THE PRETTIEST BABY EVER OKAY

i too would go to jail for him

i’d also never lose my baby again

honestly him and jeonghan are both interchangeable, they’re both pretty and insane

OH! and i’d also disappear for a glimpse of his smile like fr fr my joshy :((((

jun- the tortured poets department

who’s gonna know him and love him if not me??

we’re also modern idiots and slightly crazy

OH! also the bridge is so junnie coded like honestly anything he does makes me feel like my heart will explode so

junnie is everything in this song minus the tats and drugs he's my precious boy <3

hoshi- but daddy i love him

the way i’d actually scream this song for him

also the vibes are so hoshi like im 90% sure he’d vibe with this song so hard

especially when she says "im having his baby no im not" he's ijboling right then and there

idk man it’s just so hoshi and i would definitely fight my dad for him

wonwoo- loml

he is actually so loml coded

like soft, played in a piano kind vibes

especially nana tour wonu

just very soft

he’s the love of my life and loss of my life as well because there’s actually no man that’s ever gonna be like him, ruined men for me

woozi- down bad

are we like actually surprised tho? that's my fav song and he is my fav boy

this man is literally so down bad coded

i’ve been singing and thinking of him like fuck it if I can’t have him, but i will definitely die not like tis gonna make a difference

IM LIKE SO IN LOVE WITH HIM OH MY GOD

also crying at the gym = lee jihoon (in reference to that one t-shirt he wore during caratland 2023)

minghao- so long, london

not the lyrical but mostly the vibes

this song is kinda calming to me in a way and it feels so hao like

also it reminds me hai cheng in a way maybe because of all the ship metaphors

i also feel like he’s appreciated the sadness in this song

he has that certain same whimsy as this song

mingyu- guilty as sin?

GUILTY AS SIN IS HIS SONG OKAY?!?!?

I WILL CHOOSE HIM AND ME RELIGIOUSLY ANYDAY

physically feeling sick how that bridge is literally so mingyu coded like holy fuck like gonna crucify me anyways? the way you hold me is actually what's holy??? its literally him

truly the best way to die is loving him

okay i’ll stop here before I die, he is just so <3

dokyeom- who’s afraid of little old me?

simply because he is such a nice person and such a lovely soul i worry people might take him for granted

the industry does not give him enough credit for him vocals like they should be scared of him he can eat up any vocalist in seconds

like they should be afraid of him that he's so goofy and silly

also the musical vibes here truly a kyeomie song

seungkwan- the alchemy

ALL THOSE SPORTS REFERENCE ARE FOR HIM!!!

my babiest boy ever

“where’s the trophy? he just comes running over to me” I CANNOT PUT ENOUGH EMPHASIS HOW SEUNGKWAN THIS IS

my heart will truly always be reserved for him

also he did make the strongest comeback fr

vernon- florida!!!

honestly, vernon’s favourite song here would be florida like fr

it’s just so vernon

he’d like eat up the featured and the beat right when she screams florida!!!!

13/10 would plan a trip to florida and brag how he's been to two places wtny and florida

the vibes are just so vernon fr idk what else to say

dino- clara bow

future of kpop, need I say more?

he’s like all the past legends but more better?

kinda like how she talks about it in the song, with the next being slightly better than the previous and yk what they've been through and stuff

and how dino is also called the future of kpop because he's so amazing

“the future’s bright, dazzling” so real like that’s literally about the future of kpop

anyways that's my take <33 I might do a part 2 with the second drop songs (no promises!!)

you can also find this thread on my twt here.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

If everyone called Adult Showrunners of Shows for Kids pedophiles just because their show for kids includes kids having crushes and getting together, there'd be no romance in kids' media at all. I think what bugs me the most about ZKs is the double standards and how much they'll be intellectually dishonest just to keep attempting to prove a point

"There'd be no romance in kids' media at all" that's actually something I've seen people push for. Like, they think that a fictional story acknowledging the fact that kids already know romance is a thing and that sometimes they have crushes on each other is the same as it sexualizing/grooming children, even if nothing even remotely sexual happens in said story.

It's basically the modern day version of the Hays Code imposing the stupid rule of "You can't show a married couple sharing a bed, even if they're literally just sleeping, fully clothed, not even touching each other, because acknowledging that married people share a bed is obscene because it subtly reminds people that sex is a thing."

And it is funny that zutarians often go "Aang being 12 makes the romance weird/inappropriate" or makes Bryke look "suspicious" for "forcing kids to kiss" multiple times when:

1 - The Kataang age-gap is the same as the Zutara age-gap.

2 - A 12-year-old having a crush on someone is the most normal thing ever.

3 - Plenty of them were Aang's exact age or even younger when they started crushing on Zuko/shipping Zutara.

4 - The overwhelming majority of them are now adults but they are still writting full on porn of Zutara, just like they were doing back in the day as pre-teens/teens.

It's pure "This harmless thing is now bad because I said so - but only when other people do it."

[toruro]

svt as bollywood songs pt2

a/n: lots of bollywood from like late 2000s and 2010s, find pt1 here!

seungcheol is party on my mind. do i rly need to explain myself??!

jeonghan is kinda giving ae dil hai mushkil ... lwk angsty as hell but i feel like the instrumental is so jeonghan and just the background music and build up in general is so jeonghan enemies to lovers coded sue me

joshua is so kesariya ... he is just arijit singh incarnate actually

jun is zaalima ... something so comforting but also bright

soonyoung is badtameez dill like the way he would EAT THIS SONG UP i can imagine him dancing to it already it's so FUN and so SOONYOUNG

i used this in my last one but it fits wonwoo too ... ishq wala love ... they haven't made a banger like this in a WHILE

jihoon reminds me of hamari adhuni kahani ... like there are slow and fast parts in the song and it makes my heart clench in the best ways possible and it's just so jihoon

seokmin is pehli nazar mein ... just imagine him singing this?!?! IMAGINE???

mingyu is JAB MILA TU. so fun. so bright. so feel good and mingyu coded

i feel like loving minghao sounds exactly like jeena jeena

seungkwan is tu jo mila it's so soft and loving and auughghh also i said this for seokmin too but JUST IMAGINE HIM SINGING IT

vernon is love you zindagi ..,,, it's got this fun different feel that i think suits him so well

chan is lat lag gayee ... idk i just imagine him dancing to and feeling himself up w this song ....

[swallowerofdharma]

Over Casca’s naked body

Part one: A long premise

We can’t escape from our geopolitical context even when we are reading manga. We have internalized a good amount of beliefs, values, practices, even regulations from our lived experiences and various simulacra we have been exposed to, especially those in an audiovisual form.

If you grew up in the US, you know that freedom of speech is a core value there. But, while you can say mostly whatever you want within your own country, the US constitution has given the government the right to regulate what comes in from abroad. [1]

And that power has been used. Idealistically, greater access to common technologies even before the internet should have seen a redistribution of the media-creating capacity to many foreign countries outside of the US, so that people could tell their stories. But that hasn’t always been the case, with some exceptions, especially if we consider the biggest narratives that reached global popularity.

During the Cold War, anything that might be considered “communist propaganda” could be seized by the Post Office and never delivered. Books or even souvenirs from communist countries, for instance. Pamphlets criticizing US foreign policy. (…) Obviously it wasn’t totally like North Korea, plenty of foreign movies and music were allowed into the US. But the media that caught on was either already Americanized, or so plastically exotic that it doesn’t really say anything about the culture where it is from. The Beatles were British, but they got their start covering American rock and roll musicians. When John Lennon stepped out of the line, the American government made sure that he knew it. Movies imported from Japan were mostly samurai flicks, with very few movies set in the modern day. The film Ikiru is widely considered the best Japanese film ever made (…) but this existential drama about a depressed lonely man was only given a limited release in California, and the poster was edited to feature a stripper who is only in the movie for one minute. The narrow stream of European movies that made into the USA came in the form of the French New Wave cinema, movies that were stylistically inspired by American films, but also so stuffy that few audiences would ever want to watch them anyway. This was further stifled by the Hays Code, a set of extremely strict regulations that were in place from 1934 to 1968. (…) Some things that were completely banned from ever being shown in any film included: bad guys winning. All movies must end with the police outwitting the evil criminals, or the criminals causing their own demise. Any nudity. (…) Blood or dead bodies. (…) Interracial couples. White people as slaves. Criticism of religion, or of any other country. Naturally this prevented the more artistically liberal European films from being shown in American cinemas and when they did get a release, they were usually edited (…). At least until the rules were abolished in 1968 and replaced by the age rating system we have today. [1]

Even after several decades of access to the internet and foreign cultures, some attitudes have been internalized and carried on. For example, I had direct experience of the ways my own culture has been perceived and stereotyped or interpreted in terms not dissimilar from the exotic. And the same happens to me probably if I don’t keep in check my own personal beliefs about cultures that have been presented to me in similar ways. And I was surprised to see by how deeply rooted and spread are certain attitudes towards punishment or violent retribution viewed as necessary, the policing and self policing, and the expression of judgments or condemnation, and all this can complicate the understanding of different forms of narratives and the acceptance of different cultural attitudes and norms, without the expression of any opinion about morality or legitimacy.

I am reminding you that this is a long premise because I evidently don’t have the gift of brevity but this article is about Berserk and Casca.

In 1956 Anna Magnani won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her first English-speaking role in the American movie The Rose Tattoo. In 1958 Miyoshi Umeki was the first Asian born actress to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in Sayonara, a movie that despite its title was an American drama starring Marlon Brando. It isn’t hard to see in these decisions from the Academy, or the ones that followed in other categories, the willingness to build relationships between the US and specific foreign countries where the American army had a massive presence and that after WWII were ideal places for American investors, considering significant rebuilding necessary after the loss in the war. The movie industry and everything around it had instrumental roles. When it comes to the Academy Award, it is very interesting to notice that the women were the first ones to be nominated, becoming ambassadors and facilitators of the reshaping of the images of Italy and Japan from enemies to new essential strategic allies in the Cold War. And here comes the problem of the exotic, because after several decades I still see similarities in the American perception of those foreign cultures, Italian and Japanese, to those easy and friendly and intentionally constructed imaginaries of that time. Take the press around Anna Magnani or Miyoshi Umeki for example. Terms are so widely used and repeated that they are still in their Wikipedia pages in English today. For what interests me here, I am going to quote or summarize parts of the video essay listed below as [2] but I really recommend watching it entirely. It really helped me understand some of the issues I am talking about here, but it is much more than just this. And there is footage worth the time. [I know that many people here on tumblr really dislike YouTube videos. I understand why, when it comes to manga and anime, written articles have still better quality and content, in my opinion, but there are also many video essayists doing their due diligence on several other topics. And when I am busy cooking I put them on].

In the 1950s one of the problem with the new alliance with Japan was the widespread hate and racism towards Japanese people.

The government stepped in, producing educational films meant to endear Japanese culture to Americans (…) They showed off Japanese industry, introduced Americans to sushi and sumo wrestling, explained the country’s new democratic system et cetera. (…) A lot of [musical] acts that were popular with American soldiers, specifically exoticized Asian girls bands, like the Kim sisters and the Tokyo Happycoats, come over to the US and appear on television as both entertainment and a sort of cultural ambassadors, not only demonstrating America’s cultural power and dominance by performing recognizable American tunes, but also signaling to white Americans that those cultures didn’t pose a threat. (…)

It’s worth looking at this film [Sayonara] as part of a larger theme in a very specific post war moment. Gina Marchetti points out in her book Romance and the yellow peril: «Between June 22, 1947, and December 31, 1952, 10517 American citizens, principally Armed Services Personnel, married Japanese women. Over 75% of the total Americans are Caucasian». Meaning, Japanese war brides and the concept of interracial marriages was very much a conversation. (…) Sayonara must be seen as one of many films which called for a new evaluation of Japan as an enemy nation. (…) Much of the way [Miyoshi Umeki] was discussed is probably exactly how you might expect. The language journalists used to describe her was unambiguously racialized and often condescending. In the aftermath of her Oscar win, for example, Louella Parsons called her «a lovely little bit of Japanese porcelain», adding: «What a cute little thing she was in her native costume». Still, her Japanese identity also seemed to serve as a symbol, an embodiment of the new friendly Japan. In Miyoshi, Americans would find an idealized portrait of reconciliation, a woman who bore no resentment over the war, a woman who brought homesick American troops to tears by singing White Christmas, who adored American pizza, who learned English by listening to American records. She was accepted because she actively appreciated and participated in American culture. [2]

The roles offered to Miyoshi Umeki are significant in many ways. After Sayonara, she was cast to play other Asian characters besides Japanese ones. One recurring theme in those movies in particular is the contrast between modernity and tradition.

William G. Hyland writes, Flower Drum Song is a «clash between the Americanized lifestyle of the young Chinese and the traditions of their parents». (…) Miyoshi Umeki plays Mei Lee, a Chinese stowaway who arrives in the US for an arranged marriage. The more Americanized she becomes the more independent, the more willing she is to strike out on her own. [Chang-Hee] Kim writes: «[Flower Drum Song] flamboyantly shows that Asians in America were ready and willing to cast off their heritage and become real Americans in repudiation of the pre-war racial consideration of Asians as permanent aliens». I mention this not only because it’s one of Miyoshi’s major roles, but also because this theme, a supposed enlightenment via westernization, occurs again and again in her filmography, particularly in her work on television. Han [?] writes «Umeki’s representation on television is in constant oscillation between her status as a subservient Asian woman and her transformation into an assertive, modern female professional who has achieved independence through American cultural influence». [2]

Bear with me for a little longer if you can, because we are at the point where, watching the video, I experienced that sensation better translated visually in a lightbulb being turned on. I am skipping here the presentation of the story and footage from Miyoshi’s first appearance on television in The Donna Reed Show, but I once again invite readers to watch the video, which features high quality original footage. I was really struck by the “sensitive way” the American woman - Donna Reed I presumed - approaches the character played by Miyoshi, as the writers back then were well aware of the sensitive racial implications, and nevertheless a certain mentality pushes thought. Watching still, it is easier to avoid the presumption that in the 1960s “they didn’t know better” or that contemporary attitudes have improved greatly, just because we are more careful about the language we use.

The thesis statement of this episode is not subtle. The rejection of traditional Japanese customs allows her to live more fully in a democracy. Of course it isn’t really much of a choice, is it. Maintaining the customs of your culture or risking alienating your entire community. She changes her clothes, puts on a hat and goes shopping because she is an American now. Obviously these stories are told from the white American perspective, where this rejection of tradition and culture is portrayed as unambiguously positive and relatively tension free. This was not the case in Japan where the relationship between modernity and tradition were richly explored in cinema, particularly in women’s films. [2]

I would like to add that the independence that Donna’s character shows is only possible because of a series of factors, including the fact that her husband secures her a higher level of comforts, in comparison with lower classes or non-white Americans, and that domestic work is presumably done by home electrical appliances or other women, especially when you add child care and looking after the elderly to the equation. The unwillingness to consider those types of labor, traditionally carried on by women, as of equal importance to any other jobs is rarely discussed when it comes to the issue of women’s emancipation. Not to mention how, alongside this idyllic world shown on television, in the same country large numbers of women have to deal with continuous push backs in the name of different traditional values that all the same prevent many of them from achieving true equality. Those types of conversation and conflicts between traditional and modern happens at the same time in many countries and in most cases translates to continuous negotiations and compromises carried by men and women in real contexts and real situations, without necessarily white American women being aware of it or of all the necessary nuances.

Let me add this last element of conclusion about Miyoshi Umeki’s story.

In 2018 her son told Entertainment Weekly that in the 1970s she etched out her name on her Oscar and then threw the trophy away. Although he isn’t sure exactly why she did it he said: «She told me, I know who I am and I know what I did. It was a point of hers to teach me a lesson that the material things are not who she was». What Miyoshi Umeki achieved is pretty remarkable but one can’t help but feel that she could probably have done a lot more if she’d been allowed to move beyond her identity. [2]

Part two: Are we reading the same manga?

After considering all this, and more that I can possibly include in here to avoid this being even lengthier, I can’t help but wonder about the generalizations I have seen repeated vastly about portrayals of women in Japanese media, as well as misunderstanding of cultural attitudes towards nudity or the treatment of sensitive topics like sexuality and rape. There is a diffuse certain sense of entitlement, sometimes you can hear a condescending tone even, and this isn’t limited to the US. But why approach a foreign culture with a patronizing attitude instead of trying to understand the context more deeply? So many manga readers are willing to ask for clarification on translations, but not many ask about the context or the visual aspects involved in manga writing. I like to read analysis about different topics, so I look for them in English too because they are very numerous and easily accessible, but when it comes to the critique about the portrayal of women in too many cases I have to click away because of too many bias or that subtle sense of superiority of judgment. Berserk has become easily accessible and more and more popular but it is so greatly misunderstood at various degrees by a lot of its western readers - me included - and I really wanted to understand what is preventing, in most cases, a textual and contextual analysis.

The Hays Code hasn’t been around since 1968 but the sentiment that the only proper conclusion for every story is the triumph of the good guys and the punishment for the wicked is very much alive and well. There is this conviction that the only clever readers are those able to separate the heroes from the villains, or the good deeds from evil, and root for the right side to achieve retribution and satisfaction. The Hays Code hasn’t been enforced officially but it’s there in essence and every counter narrative has been rendered almost ineffective or judged poorly. As for the treatment of women, I don’t feel like we can honestly and surely compare or scrutinize Japanese media under special lenses. Nudity in comic books seems to me to be very common outside of Japan too, depending on censorship rules. I certainly notice how frequently Casca is shown naked or has been threatened with sexual violence, but I also notice that she isn’t the only one. The exaggeration of Guts’ muscles and the mutilation of his body are largely put on display. Griffith is intentionally shown fully naked, or completely covered by an elaborate armor, and he is subjected to many threats of physical and sexual violence as well. Charlotte is shown naked, but always in her bedroom, in a private environment or with a transparent cloth or a sheet of some kind to make her nudity different from the occasions when Casca’s body is publicly displayed. I am careful with my own thoughts when I read Berserk, I take the time to analyze my reactions and what I am feeling in these situations. I think that this is the reason that certain books or media are intentionally aimed to adults. I don’t feel a necessity to call to censorship or to give guidance of a moral kind but rather to make the necessary reflections. And I can’t imagine how someone can understand the story without taking their time with it. Part three: Casca’s rape

In 1973 the animation studio Mushi Production released a film called Belladonna of Sadness. I haven’t seen it yet but I know a little about it and I am planning to watch it when I feel like I can do it without being affected in a bad way. It is well known that Miura remembered this film when he designed the Eclipse. In 1975 Pier Paolo Pasolini directed the film Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom, which I strongly don’t recommend to the casual viewer or anyone who felt even slightly offended by Berserk. Suffice to say that in a particular political climate and in the context of the sexual revolution of the late 1960s, in the 1970s nudity and sexuality were at the forefront of the debate and human bodies were exhibited in a symbolic way that can be misunderstood today without knowledge of the context. Gender expression was questioned and men grew their hair or refused to wear suits or to follow rigid dress codes regardless of their sexual orientation. Sexual acts were considered political acts in ways that aren’t comparable with today for many reasons. The languages, the words and the visuals we use are ever changing and actual for a moment and gone the next one or misunderstood. Many words used by queer people in the 1970s wouldn’t be received well today, because the context has been transformed. For what I understand, in films like Belladonna of Sadness and Salò rape and cruelty are preeminently used as symbols because rape and cruelty presented in a direct visual form effect greatly any type of audience and can’t go unnoticed. The sociopolitical climate in the 1970s, in the middle of the Cold War, was particularly violent, both in Italy and Japan, and the art of the time can be remarkably bleak. [Go Nagai’s Devilman was published between 1972 and 1973, Osamu Tezuka’s MW was published between 1976 and 1978, Takemiya Keiko’s Kaze to Ki no Uta was also published between 1976 and 1984].

Kentarō Miura was born in 1966, he breathed the air and grew up in that same climate and was influenced and informed by it, especially later, when he finds himself as a young man in the renewed bleakness of the 1990s. It is likely that he saw Belladonna of Sadness when he was old enough, when he started to develop the story of Berserk, and after being greatly influenced by Nagai’s Devilman. The number of sources of inspirations that Miura used for Berserk is vast, varied and multidimensional and includes books and novels and films of various genres (historical, fantasy, horror, sci-fi in particular) manga, foreign comics books, and traditional art. It is often pointed out among fans that he was also a big fan of Star Wars. Pop Culture Detective released a very interesting video essay called Predatory Romance in Harrison Ford Movies [3] that brought to my attention many things that I didn’t notice or thought about when I was seeing those films myself as a young girl [I am more or less a decade younger than Miura fyi]. Analyzing Star Wars, Indiana Jones or Blade Runner with particular attention to the relationship between the male lead, Ford, and women is an interesting exercise and helps to re-contextualize our judgment about the treatment of women across different media with arguably less reach than Star Wars. I am not inviting anyone to make comparisons and ranking which is better, or absolve Miura because he was influenced by the context around him as everyone else, but I am asking to let go of the presumption that Japanese media in particular presents problematic attitudes towards women by default. The problems are much more generalized than we’d probably like. Better analysis or methodologies are needed to make a proper assessment, and we really shouldn’t assume by default that manga (for boys and men) equals bad treatment of women.

I hope that someone is still reading after such a long time. I didn’t know how to make my point on Casca without at least presenting some of these considerations. I must say I have understood myself better, having questioned why I was feeling uncomfortable when reading Casca but not offended. I understood that Miura wanted me to feel that way, uncomfortable, horrified, and I can appreciate Berserk better [in particular as a person that wasn’t permitted to live in a female body without a certain type of violence].

As stated previously, I noticed that Casca is more exposed and shown in all her vulnerability in much extreme situations: to multiple men in very public displays, like on the battlefield or at the center of the circle of Apostles in the Eclipse. She is also shown naked and vulnerable in other moments, especially alone with Guts. Those intimate moments with Guts, during the Golden Age, are instrumental for the readers to see her in all her humanity, without the armor, or the female dress, in order to build an emotional connection with her. In the cave, Casca makes herself emotionally vulnerable in front of Guts for the first time and tells him her story, exposing her past, her goals and her true self. She tells him things about Grittith too, things that are meant to show Guts/the readers Griffith as much naked, vulnerable and human as she is. Let’s pay attention and try to recollect Guts’ reactions to her story: he is listening to her, but he is embarrassed, distracted and attracted by her nudity and he fails to see Griffith as a human being, potentially fallible and not much different from Casca or himself. Guts also fails to take away from the story the original message, something more than Casca’s infatuation with Griffith as part of her being a woman. Comparing Guts’ reactions to Casca’s nakedness, his recollections or focus on the conversation, what he takes from it and what he doesn’t: a big part of the male readership of Berserk is probably in his same situation. It isn’t till later by the waterfall, that we see Casca alone with Guts again in an intimate way. This time he is naked and vulnerable and completely exposed too. This time through the physical connection between the two, within the sexual act, Guts can’t hide himself anymore, can’t deflect from his past and his fears. I assume that that is an important moment for the male readership to start to feel emotionally invested in the connection between Guts and Casca. That emotional connection and the investment in the relationship helps them to see Casca as a human being through the Eclipse and if that didn’t work then they still can see and feel the horror of the rape of Casca through Guts. Because Miura didn’t want anyone to enjoy that scene or to be sexually aroused without at least the horror and the moral objection to it.

Casca is a woman of color, born in a disadvantaged family and community, that ended up in a mercenary group without achieving the things she wanted, never fully belonging and constantly threatened by groups of men on the enemy side with forms of violence specifically targeted and unnecessary cruel. And everything she goes through culminates or goes back to the Eclipse - before and after - and that should be taken as completely symbolic. Like the multiple instances of rape in Pasolini’s Salò, the innocent, poor and exploitable youth is violated by those in power or those who are in charge. Gambino decides that Guts is expendable or due a lesson in humility, he takes the money and coldly facilitates Guts’ rape. Gennon is rich and powerful and pretends to recreate his fantasy, a sick version of Greek ped*philia. And all he does is using money and power to horrifically exploit the youth and Griffith offers himself up and loses a fundamental part of himself in the process. But the most cruel thing in Berserk is Griffith surrendering to the call of power and doing the same thing to Casca, in the absence of lust or desire: the corruption that has been in him - and has reached Guts as well - has spread. Griffith’s surrender to the call of power, and his intolerance for more of his own pain, silences all empathy in him.

In conclusion, nudity has various narrative functions, beside the suggestion of the erotic: through each character’s naked body, male or female, we see their vulnerability and their fundamental humanity [and if I remember correctly in contrast the rapists are always dressed or covered]. And rape has a symbolic meaning, beside the literal one and the psychological exploration of trauma. Violence but in particular sexual violence is one of the most estreme and powerful tools that can be used in stories [especially in visual media], but unfortunately the overuse of it in an edulcorate format, or as a tease, or devoid of any meaning, has ceased to call for disgust and challenge us to think, has perhaps lessen the impact and the gravity around it. In the 1970s Pasolini saw the dark side of the sexual revolution and how the rich and powerful were willing to build economic empires just to have access to the youth and to the most beautiful women. But he wasn’t the only one. We should reconsider Belladonna of Sadness and the original meaning of those themes in films or later in manga like Berserk and think about it deeply and seriously and not approach every piece of art as entertainment.

Videography:

How America got so Stupid [1]

Miyoshi Umeki: The First East Asian Woman to Win an Acting Oscar [2]

Predatory Romance in Harrison Ford Movies [3]

[pluckyredhead]

"Barry is a character who was consciously designed to fit the zeitgeist of America and specifically the comics industry of the mid-1950s in the immediate aftermath of the Comics Code Authority (ask me about my theory on this!)" - here I am, asking (for real, I know next to nothing about Barry so I would be interested to hear more if you want to elaborate)

Yessss I would love to elaborate!

So apologies if this is stuff you already know, but the first Flash was Jay Garrick, who debuted in 1940, during what's called the Golden Age of Comics. There's no universal agreement on what the exact date range is for the Golden Age (or Silver, Bronze, etc.), but a range you'll often see is 1938 (the debut of Superman) to 1955.

However, with superhero comics, when we say Golden Age, we're really mostly talking about World War II, because after the war, superheroes became much less popular. At the time, monthly comics included lots of genres, like crime, horror, romance, humor, war, Westerns, sci-fi, etc., and crime and horror in particular became increasingly popular in the postwar years. Some of them also became increasingly violent, sexy, and edgy, in part to retain the audience of returning GIs from overseas, who had read comics to remind them of home during the war.

However, the primary audience for comics was children. Children who could easily buy a comic for a dime and read it without parental supervision. Children who could be turned into juvenile delinquents by reading comic books!

There was a massive backlash against comics in the late 40s and early 50s, led by parents and other "moral authorities" (teachers, librarians, churches) who thought comics were bad for kids. Most of you reading this will have seen similar parental backlash against whatever the target of the moment is: gangster movies, crooners, rock 'n' roll, rap, heavy metal, video games, Dungeons and Dragons, Harry Potter. (I'm not talking about JKR's wretched transphobia here but the fear in the late 90s that Harry Potter would turn kids into Satanists or whatever.)

There were boycotts. There were bonfires where all the kids in town would have to bring all their comics to be burned. There was Seduction of the Innocent, a book by psychologist Frederic Wertham where he claimed to have proven that comics turned kids into juvenile delinquents (he hadn't). Many people left the industry for good, and a lot of them later talked about those days with genuine trauma. I highly recommend the book The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America for more on this, but it's fascinating, and necessary reading for those of y'all on this webbed site who think we need to bring back the Hays Code and its ilk.

This all culminated in Senate hearings in 1954 to determine whether comics were harmful to children. (Fun fact: these hearings began on the same day as the McCarthy hearings. Political repression and artistic repression always go hand in hand.) In the aftermath of these hearings, the comic book industry created the Comics Code Authority, because that way they could self-regulate instead of being regulated by the government.

The Comics Code was a list of what could and could not be in comics. It was mostly what you'd expect - no sex or violence - but also a lot of conservative 1950s censorship. Like: "Policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority." That's...pretty totalitarian.

Comic book publishers would submit comics for approval to the CCA. If they passed, the comic would be published with a seal on the cover saying "Approved by the CCA." They didn't need the seal to publish, but if they didn't have the seal, most vendors wouldn't sell the comic. So most of them pretty much had to comply.

So what does this all have to do with Barry Allen?

As I said earlier, superheroes fell in popularity after WWII, and many books were canceled. Jay Garrick's last Golden Age appearance was in 1951, and he hung on longer than most. But after the CCA, the landscape of comics had changed, and DC decided to see if they couldn't make the superhero work in this brave new world.

So in 1956 they took the idea of the Flash - guy who runs fast - and changed everything else about him. The new Flash was named Barry Allen, and he was a police scientist with a snazzy new costume. He was an immediate hit, DC went on to revamp a number of other characters in similar fashion, and a new era was born. Literally: many scholars date the start of the Silver Age of Comics to Barry's debut.

It's worth noting, I think, that DC was staunchly behind the creation of the CCA. Their stock in trade was superheroes, who were mostly considered harmless. But the backlash against comics and the creation of the CCA seriously harmed a lot of their competitors, and eventually put the ultra-popular EC Comics, who specialized in horror and crime, out of business.

I'm not saying DC had Barry in mind already when they supported the formation of the CCA. But they saw that the field had been cleared and there was an opportunity to bring their main genre back to the forefront. And then they created a squeaky clean, incredibly white guy from the Midwest. Who is a scientist, because 1950s kids need to be inspired to go into science so that we can beat those Ruskies to the moon! But who is also a cop, because kids need to respect law and order, or else. (This was also an era in which former vigilantes Superman and Batman were officially deputized by their respective local police forces.)

None of this means that Barry is a bad character, or that his Silver Age comics aren't good, because they are actually extremely innovative and very fun. But it does mean that he was created as essentially copaganda for children during an era of intense political conservatism in the US and deep fear in the comic book industry. He worked well in the 50s and 60s (DC in the 60s was basically still living in the 50s, which is why everyone older than 10 switched to Marvel) but increasingly less well as the world around him changed, and DC's attempts to modernize him in the 70s and early 80s (killing off Iris so that he could be a swingin' bachelor living in...wait for it...an apartment building!!!) were just kind of embarrassing. Barry's death in Crisis on Infinite Earths is the most noble death I've ever read in comics, but it was also a mercy killing.

I think Barry could be updated for the 21st century in a way that is true to his roots but doesn't make him feel like a relic or a jerk. But so far, DC hasn't really bothered? Instead we get moments like Barry declaring that Hal is the only JLAer who really gets him because "we're both cops" or arresting a Black 12-year-old for graffiti-ing an already destroyed building. Oof, friends. Oof.

In conclusion, Barry was designed for major cultural and industry-wide changes of the mid-1950s but that was 70 years ago and the man desperately needs a makeover that is not putting on his nephew's personality like an ill-fitting suit and saying "How do you do, fellow kids?" The end.

[dani-the-mark]

I WATCH THE "hello." STREAM SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO! Part 1

So, as some of you may know, we got a new QR code tonight. This one led to a 55-minute stream. I know not everyone has time for that, but we all deserve to be a part of this family. So, I wrote a play-by-play to the best of my ability. Because it is so long, part one will be the first 30 minutes and part two will be the last 25. So, hopefully, my brain doesn't explode before this is over. Uncle Howdy, I miss you.

It opens with Vickie Guerrero Introducing Kane on Raw. It cuts to a room with a chair, bookshelf, and a mirror. There are background noises: mostly wind/AC, occasional shuffling and maybe footsteps. 

A few images flash on screen intermittently: a crescent moon, blurry silhouette (could've been Bray or Bo),  skull(?), Sister Abigail(?), and House of Horrors room(?). Then, in quick succession - same crescent moon again, lion, bones. Lastly, a close up on mirror before we hear the sound of knocking, and a woman enters the room. It seems like therapy. From this point on “she” will be referring specifically to the therapist character unless otherwise stated. She sounds very familiar, like maybe from one of Bray’s phone calls? 

She asks questions and flips through a notebook, but we don't hear any response. We do hear the turning of pages that are independent from hers. More flashing images: the same bird and aly chemical-type symbol we've been seeing. From this point, I will just call it a/the symbol. Then a figure in a sheet a la Sister Abigail. Close up of an eye, then a front porch that definitely reminds me of the House of Horrors.

Woman asks about feelings and if “anything has changed”. The last few words are repeated, but distorted. A flash of the figure again, and it's almost DEFINITELY Abigail. Then a hand reaching around a door and dripping thorns, both in black and white. She asks about sleep. Image turns yellow, then flashes of many pieces of paper with the symbol drawn on. They are identical to the one's in the first video we received tonight (WWE.com/22423). 

She asks about dreams. The word “dreams” is also repeated and distorted. WWE logo flashes with the words “LEFT IN CAVE TO ROT” overlaying it. Then the words “TO BE FORGOTTEN”. The same door from before flashes again. More flashing of the symbol, a rotting animal corpse (I think a rabbit), scarecrow-like figures, the road from inside a vehicle, the porch, and Abigail. Abigail is pointing at the viewer. The last image is very unclear. It looked like hay or fur. We also see some of the previous images included in the last few QR codes (the man looking at the bird). 

She asks about eating. A bird in flight and a fly in distress flash. Symbol and ANOTHER QR CODE. It's an old one that leads to wwe.com/qrisme. It stays on screen for an extended amount of time. 

She asks about getting out and socializing. The road flashes again, and we hear a quiet “he is waiting for you”. Then Sister Abigail again, from the same angle we saw in the “We Be(o)lieved” video. We see the porch again, and a paper that reads “remember who you are” is thrown in front of the door. 

She mentions social media. The words “I DIDN'T FIX THEM” appear, then “I ACCEPTED THEM”. Lines from the poem The New Colossus (from the plaque on The Statue of Liberty) appear: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”. Then we see an eye again and a face with a triangle of negative space in the center. “THEY WERE BROKEN” flashes after she asks how the things on social media “made you feel”. 

We are about 10 minutes in. 

“I ACCEPTED THEM” appears again. We hear shuffling, pages turning, and pages ripping. A new (?) QR code appears leading to https://www.wwe.com/ysnsy51s. It's a very unnerving. The file name is “imagehttps://www.wwe.com/f/all/2024/04/strabizo--47c610e3e7c872be6561bb243c69dd2f.jpg”. The bird and symbol flash again. 

She asks about distinguishing between reality and imagination. The “REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE NOT” reappears, as well as the blurry silhouette, the symbol, and Abigail. The silhouette is not any clearer. She asks about the effects of “episodes” on day-to-day life, and the porch and silhouette flash again. She gets up and begins to walk towards the camera, picking up a piece of paper or note card and slipping into her notebook before sitting back down. 

It's a picture of some sort, but it's not immediately visible. She turns it towards the camera, but it's drowned out by light. She asks “what this means to you”. The image then appears, and it's a crudely drawn bird similar to the one that has been appearing in various hints and throughout the stream. Then there's another quick suggestion of images: the symbol, the bird, and the words “BECAUSE WE BELIEVED”. 

She asks what emotions the bird represents/elicits. We hear more paper ripping. Once again we see the symbol and bird, followed by a single frame of white text over a red background that reads “ALL_WE_EVER_WANTED_WAS_A_CHANCE.”. Then the outline of the bird is cut into the wall of text. 

She says “you're quite the artist” before the drawing, symbol, and bird appear once more. She asks  “how long have you been drawing pictures like this?”, then the crescent moon reappears. Next is a new silhouette: black with its arm raised over a textured light gray background. Another QR code leads to https://www.wwe.com/kintsugi. This one was also new to me. It includes a video with many of the images from the stream, as well as the words “LAGRANGE POINT”. The code also stays on screen for a significant amount of time, before the bird covers it and it disappears. 

She asks about a deeper meaning to the drawing. The symbol, bird in flight, and black and white silhouette reappear. She retrieves another piece of paper, and reads out “can you keep a secret? I set them free”. The paper flashes. What is written is only “I SET THEM FREE”, and is once again followed by the bird.  Following this is the text “I ACCEPTED THEM” and “THEY WERE BROKEN”. She asks if the picture and note are connected, and we hear more paper ripping. She asks “who did you set free?” which is repeated and distorted. The symbols and the “REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE” note flash again. A clip from the video in the kintsugi link plays before the text “YOU WILL UNDERSTAND”. 

She attempts to encourage an answer to the question, then we see the symbol, poem, “I DIDN'T FIX THEM”, and “I ACCEPTED THEM”. Then the screen is filled with “THEY OPENED THE DOOR” repeatedly. At the bottom is “WE CAN BE A FAMILY”. This is also identical to a previous video. Admittedly at this point they have all run together so I can't remember which one. 

Another QR links to https://www.wwe.com/derisive, also new to me. Warning: there is a jump scare at the end of the video. This page also includs the words “years in metonic cycle” and some sort of letter/word puzzle at https://www.wwe.com/f/2024/05/evkairia.pdf. I am very openly bad at these, so I will leave that for one of you if you’d like. This code also says on screen before the bird appears to remove it. She attempts to encourage more openness, and there's the sound of paper shuffling. She gets up again and grabs another paper. She says “you want me to understand”, and the words “YOU WILL UNDERSTAND” flash. 

The paper appears to read “THEY WERE TRAPPED. I SHOWED THEM HOW TO OPEN THE DOOR”. She reads the note aloud, and the last sentence is once again repeated and distorted. She asks who the note is referring to, and the image of the note flashes again before the “WE CAN BE A FAMILY” screen reappears. 

There is the sound of shuffling. She asks more questions, trying to understand the note. After a moment of silence, she takes another paper. The note appears “DO YOU SEE? AM ALREADY FREE :)” after she reads this aloud as well. Flipping it over, the other side appears “I AM ALL OF US”, which she also reads. There's another paper rip. She asks for help understanding, and “YOU WILL UNDERSTAND” flashes again. 

Another QR code, this one is familiar and leads to https://www.wwe.com/404 (the Be(o)lieved video).This code disappears with the bird as well, but is on screen for less time than the others. She asks about childhood and early memories. Two images flash: a sonogram and baby sleeping. After another moment and more ripping paper, an artistic image (maybe a painting) of a man in a complicated cave system flashes. 

22 minutes.

A close up of an eye flashes, followed by the bird, “WHILE YOU DID NOTHING”, the symbol, and the baby picture. There's another long silence. Then, another QR code leads to https://www.wwe.com/RRMBHPAW. This is another new video to me, but it's quite simple. VERY interesting, however. This code disappears on its own. 

She gets another note, which flashes “I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN”. She also reads this aloud. She asks a few more questions about the note potentially being connected to childhood or triggered by something while the ripping noises start once more. There's an especially long silence before another code. This once takes us to https://www.wwe.com/121212 and it's…it's a lot. There are a series of photos, the first few being either notes we’ve seen during the stream or notes that appear to be related. There are also a few photographs and a newspaper clipping describing the woman in the video, who’s name is redacted, as missing. This code also disappears on its own. 

She retrieves another note, which is included in the last link. It appears on screen occasionally as she reads it. It says “I REMINDED HIM OF WHO HE WAS. I SHOWED HIM HIS LIES. NOW HE SHOWS ME HIS VISION. IT IS BEAUTIFUL”. The text “EVEN NOW” appears with a new clip of birds flying over a forest. 

She asks for elaboration on who the note is referring to, with the “HE” written in the note appearing. She asks if there is someone the patient is trying to protect, and the “THEY WERE TRAPPED” note flashes again, as well as more of the symbol. There is the sound of ripping again, and a repeat of the WE CAN BE A FAMILY screen. 

After another silence, which seems to be longer now each time, she picks up another note. The note flashes “THEY WERE LEFT ALL ALONE. I OPENED THE DOOR. NOW THEY ARE NOT ALONE ANYMORE. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”. As she is reading it, a video of a door opening plays and the last two sentences are repeated and distorted. 

30 minutes. End of part one.

[meri-ium]

Hai everyone!! I have more stuff that I want to talk about with my silly little horror game idea! It might be a little discombobulated cause I’m just writing everything down. I’ll color code stuff so you can jump to whatever part of the post :]  I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH COLORS IM SORRY

Names:

Inspiration:

Style:

Horror aspect:

Main Plot Summary: 

Rolling Mechanic:

Character Stats:

Concept Art!

First is names, I think they match the characters very well! Anyway, enough stalling. Sister’s name is Vixen and the brother’s name is Maverick.

Indigo Park did make the initial spark for all this, but the game also reminded me of an old memory. When I was little I went to a fair, I don’t remember too much but it looked like it was abandoned but still running. I think it was the last week or 2 of it being up because the next time I saw that place it was gone I can only assume though, anyway we're moving on. 

I was thinking about whether I would want it to be 3d or 2d, I’ve decided I wanted it to be 2d, more specifically an RPG. Like Mad Father, Ib, The witch's house, etc…                                                

I want the game to be scary without having gore/blood and I think I can manage that with more creepy factors like the sound track/effects, off putting faces, stuff like that! Now, the main plot of the whole game. Which I’ve written down and depending on which character you choose, the wording will change to make more sense. so go ahead and read :]                         

Main plot:

It’s the last week of the fair festival, you’ve so busy due to…now you finally have time to go. It’s the last day, make it count! [Exploring the house might be a good idea before leaving, you don't want to forget anything!] Finally, you’ve made it but It seems you got here earlier than...maybe you should get tickets so it won't be a hassle later.

You’d be able to make your first roll while waiting in the parking lot 1-4 is a fail, 5-7 is a mid-success, and 8-10 is a full success! I won’t spoil more than that but I will say I want the dice rolling to be important to the game play. 

Stats

Alissa’s stats:

Intelligence-12 +2

Creativity-10 no buff 

Speed-6 -2 

Strength-8 -1 

Vixen’s stats:

 Intelligence-10 +1 

Creativity-7+1 

Speed-12 +2 

Strength-10 +2 

Maverickr’s stats:

 Intelligence-5 no buff 

Creativity-5 +1 

Speed-8 +1

 Strength-6 -2

Little silly concept art

That’s the end of my post, hope you liked it and thank you for reading! :D

[nancywheeeler]

omg!! please share what other heist films you watched, that’s such a fun idea. and which was your fav!!!!

i would love to share my watchlist for heist week!! all are films before 1970, because i wanted to watch heists new to me, but i'll also include some modern heist movies i love at the bottom!

The Asphalt Jungle (1950) — the granddaddy of the heist genre. it's really good! and it has every aspect of the heist (the planning, the execution, and the fallout), which i love.

The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) — so goofy and fun. features fantastic Alec Guinness performance and some great screwball elements (one of the final sequences reminded me a lot of the climax of What's Up, Doc.)

Ocean's Eleven (1960) — eh. I felt the problems were threefold: 1) took forever just to get to the heist, 2) all the guys looked the same and most did not have a defining role in the heist, and 3) Hay's Code ending. It's not terrible, but not worth watching when there is a far superior remake.

The League of Gentlemen (1960) — i can often be found on letterboxd bemoaning the fact there is probably an alternate universe where monty python made a heist movie and we're not in that universe. but! this film is definitely the closest we're gonna get. similar to the lavender hill mob in that they're both very british and very, very funny. really loved the level of shenanigans going here.

Gambit (1966) — my favorite of the week! it's a smaller heist (three person crew), but the film really plays with the idea of expectation vs. actual execution, and the assumptions white british guys make about, among other things, everyone who is not also a white british guy. bonus: shirley maclaine and michael caine have incredible chemistry. a great watch! highly recommend!

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) — love when hot people commit crimes and other hot people try to stop them. the pacing here is a bit wonky, but it has a slick, sexy opening sequence and i'll never say no to a cat and mouse game. the heisting is definitely secondary though, just so you know that going in.

All the Heists I Loved Before: The Killing (1956), The Italian Job (1969), Sneakers (1992), Ocean's 11 (2001), Inception (2010), The Town (2010), Logan Lucky (2017), American Animals (2018), Ocean's 8 (2018)

[frommybookbook]

#1: Farewell, My Lovely (1975)

OK, here we go, the winner! Farewell, My Lovely is my favorite adaptation and Robert Mitchum is my favorite Marlowe, hands down.

They decided to keep the story a period piece and I think that’s always going to work best for adapting these novels. Chandler’s writing is good enough that it’s timeless and obviously can be modernized successfully, but there’s something about the way a period piece can tap into the melancholy of these stories through nostalgia and the malaise of the past that just works a little bit better. And because this was made post-Hays Code, they could keep some of the raw violence and sex that the early adaptations couldn’t. It's a win-win, in my opinion.

It’s said that Mitchum always wanted to play Marlowe and I can see why: the man was made for this role. I’m a Mitchum fan girl in general and he’s perfect in this movie. He’s got reluctant hope oozing out of his ears, he’s weary, he’s weathered, he’s a good investigator, and just the right amount of womanizing bastard. At 58, he’s a little old to be playing Marlowe but that just adds to the tiredness he carries (his speech where he tells Nulty how tired he is makes me weep). His age also helps in that he lived through the time period of the movie, he was a young man in the 1930s, he knew this version of LA and this world of corruption and vice and he brought that to the role.

And the supporting cast is great, too. Charlotte Rampling as Helen Grayle is incredible and Jack O’Halloran is the perfect Moose Malloy. I love John Ireland as Detective Nulty, too. Like Mitchum he really has the weariness and trampled nature down.

Overall movie score: 5/5, it's just perfect, it's a careful and intentional homage to both the source novel and film noir without being a pastiche of either

Marlowe score: 4.5/5, Mitchum is nearly perfect as Marlowe, in my opinion, he's charming and world-weary and a bit snarky; the only points I'm docking are for his age but still, a young Robert Mitchum is who I picture in my head when I read these books

Perry Mason score: 2/5, it has two actors (Jack O’Halloran and John Ireland) who were in two separate TV movies

And that's a wrap! I've now reviewed and ranked all the Philip Marlowe movies (until they try to make another one, which, just, don't). I've had so much fun doing this series and thank you so much if you've stuck it out for 9 of these!

For a reminder of why I started this series and how I’m rating these movies, you can check out my master Marlowe post and follow the tag #Marlowe movies.

[uncloseted]

Do you feel like there is a strange kind of moral kick in media lately? I feel like now more than ever, when it comes to female characters especially, that is there is a new need for morally perfect characters. I've noticed characters that were once given nuance by the writers has been lost on viewers who hone in on the flaws or mistakes of the character. Characters like Eva or Noora or Cassie (euphoria) are seen as "not girl's girls" and thus, evil rather than nuanced characters

I do, but I think it's more a symptom of where our culture is at large right now and less about female characters specifically. I think that because of the purity culture that's developed in the past 5-10 years, there's a desire for media to reflect the "right" thing to do instead of the nuances of what it's actually like to be a person. It reminds me a bit of the Hays Code era in cinema, where there were a lot of rules about what was and wasn't appropriate to show on film and studios were encouraged to make sure that characters who do bad things are punished by the end of the film. I think a lot of this just has to do with the fact that a lot of people don't have robust media literacy skills, and so they view the depiction of something as an endorsement of it.