#media review

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

how well do the Tim Haines documentaries (walking with dinosaurs, prehistoric beasts, etc) hold up today?

"additionally, is there anything that the Time Haines documentaries get wrong that we knew was wrong then but they just put in anyway for some reason?"

There is *so much* in the walking with series that is wrong, both at the time of making and today. In fact, this is practically a dissertation level analysis required.

The biggest things:

they did not feather their dinosaurs. they should have. yes, even in 1999.

their tyrannosaurus model is a joke

Utahraptor SHOULD NOT BE IN EUROPE tf

torosaurus? a rare ceratopsian? instead of triceratops? you're just being needlessly edgy

Unholy Mammal Bias Batman

Humans did not become bipedal because of grass. We spread across Africa because of grass, but we were bipedal before then

oh yeah, Grass evolved in the Cretaceous after all

The Maastrichtian wasn't a "dying world". there was a slight decrease in megafaunal diversity. This happens all the time, and dinosaurs had bounced back from such a dip before. This is also very North America centric - other continents had no such dips. Nonavian dinosaurs would not have gone extinct without the asteroid.

they skip the paleocene and are extremely lopsided in how they present the Cenozoic

Walking with monsters is somehow the best paleozoic documentary that currently exists and also represents the paleozoic TERRIBLY

[speak-on-it]

Finally got around to Season 2 of Invincible-

Here are some of my favorite aspects so far;

-Exploring Nolan's experience with propaganda and learning empathy with the Thraxans

-The multiverse/multi-dimension plotline

-Rex's character development. I fucking hated him, but now we're getting some (much appreciated) development. I'm so glad that the side characters get so much attention and care

-Mark's relationship with his parents; the conflict of wanting his dad, but knowing he's killed thousands. Then you have him and Debbie, who have massive roadblocks with communication despite their best efforts

-The color of the backgrounds, specifically the Grayson home. Seeing the blues and greens being used for Mark and Debbie with the hints of red and pink to encapsulate how Nolan still haunts them is done beautifully

-The metaphor of the house being rebuilt hastily/poorly. Debbie is a strong woman who tries to keep herself together but we see how that is taking a toll on her. The little things around the house- the cabinet doors not closing properly- are symbolic of the disrepair her and Mark's life have fallen into since Nolan's attack and subsequent depart

-Seeing other Viltrumites and getting unique combat and fighting styles. I noticed Nolan's slicing techniques aren't utilized by other Viltrumites, so it's cool to see each one with their own unique style (especially the woman who used a blade tied to her hair?? Fucking so cool)

I haven't read the comics, but adore the foreshadowing and I'm so excited to see what the rest of the season has to offer!

[osddid-i-do-that]

Just finished reading Elle(s), a comic series by Aveline Stokart & Kid Toussant

I’m struggling to find other people with OSDDID reviewing this, so I guess I’ll drop my 2¢ in.

There was a lot that felt really relatable in here — especially having an alter who goes completely quiet and shuts people out when conflict happens, and people you’re close to feeling confused and concerned by your completely different reactions to things. The art is gorgeous, and the visual indicator of the hair color changing was a neat way to show which alter is fronting.

There’s some inner world stuff that’s central to the story and while there are a lot of fantasy elements, I actually didn’t mind it as a storyline and a way to explain some of the amnesia Elle experiences and her general experience in brain space.

Where I start having issues is the explanation for Elle’s alters. I guess I have to admit, Elle isn’t diagnosed with DID or OSDD in-story. She’s technically (mis?)diagnosed with bipolar disorder (which, I think a lot of people with OSDDID will also relate to. That was a diagnosis I got and then had removed later when it was clear something else was going on). So while the narrative doesn’t explicitly tell you “this is someone with a complex dissociative disorder!!!” it’s very much in the subtext.

Which is why the turn in the second volume is … kind of a slap in the face? (Spoilers ahead.)

I kept waiting to find out what had caused each alter to split. I was especially interested in the personality who doesn’t speak — I figured there was an interesting origin story there.

Instead … the story veers off in the direction of, “Elle is the is way because she was actually several embryos who fused into one.”

Oof.

It doesn’t explore trauma beyond mentioning a kidnapping attempt when Elle was young (and not even delving into it as the cause of a split. It’s just a thing that happened).

It feels like the creators of this work may have wanted to do something else with it? Elle was supposedly adopted as an infant, but there are no baby pictures of her and no photos at all until around age 6. This is never explained. The kidnapping attempt is mentioned but downplayed. The ending feels exceptionally rushed.

It’s frustrating because MUCH of this story is very relatable, and the inner-world fantasy aspects might not be super grounded but they don’t completely come off as misinformation. But that chimera plot point (and look — chimerism in people is real and SUPER cool. It just doesn’t cause complex dissociative disorders) and the pacing issues near the end make it kinda come to a crashing stop.

I guess this means my search for good OSDDID rep in media continues …

[hershellaytonlovespuzzles]

The Amazing Digital Circus certainly is amazing. I absolutely love it, though I'm still memorizing the characters names.

I want to talk about Jax. He is my favorite and he seems to be a popular favorite and least favorite. It's clear that he's an asshole character-unapologetically so. It makes sense that his popularity is divided.

What I think specifically makes me like him is not just because of his blunt and comedic act, but also because it seems to me that his act is not because he doesn't care. To an extent, he doesn't. The games and world they are stuck in means nothing to him. I do think he does care about the others though, he's just not nice about it.

When Kinger was standing next to the hole, Jax threw the bowling ball at him to knock him down. On the surface level, this just seemed like a meanspirited thing to do. But with context of the abstracted, he seems to have been trying to get the others away from danger without informing them about it. Yes he could have done it so many better ways, but that seems to be his character. Personally this is why I find him so fun.

[deramin2]

I just watched the sapphic movie City of Trees and it's really incredible and very real and comforting.

A 28-year-old photo editor Ainsley Sadler who's been living in New York comes back to her small town for the first time in 7 years to spend Christmas with her kind parents and sister. She wasn't invited to her high school reunion, and she feels pretty dejected about the town and all she left behind.

There she remeets Sophie Michaels, former cheerleader, and they spend time together getting to know each other better. Sophie works to conserve old-growth trees.

It has the realism of Clerks where it's not a mocumentary, but it feels like someone is standing in the corner filming a home movie while incredibly ordinary events unfold. It takes a romcom theme done to death and asks when you strip all the overly-romanticized tropes away what does that look like when two people just reconnect.

It doesn't really try to solve anything, and it's very open ended what happens next. It's just a portrait of a moment in time that means something to the people in the film, and no one outside it would ever notice it's passing.

Full movie from the production company:

[talefoundryshow]

NOW ON NEBULA!

Talebot is traveling to another dimension, embarking on a journey to that wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination… the Twilight Zone.

[theozilla]

I stayed up late last night finishing the Pluto anime (I watched the English dub; I am planning on rewatching it in Japanese and the German dub eventually) and now I am putting down my thoughts after having slept on them. 

Urasawa’s Pluto is one of my favorite manga (and comics) of all time, so I was very invested at the prospect of it getting an anime adaption (regardless of the fact that I expected I would end up, and still do, preferring the manga as the best way to experience the story). Anyways, overall, the Pluto anime is a great anime and a good adaption. The animation was very good, though I agree with the common criticisms that parts of it could have had better compositing. I do have a few criticisms of it as an adaptation though, critiques that go beyond the standard practice of shortening, slightly modifying, and cutting of (less plot-essential) dialogue and scenes that come when an anime adapts a manga (especially text and plot dense ones). I essentially have three major/not-insignificant criticisms of how the story got adapted (though I am quite aware that the cause of these shortcomings may be more due to the anime production just not having the time and/or resources to do so, than being deliberate creative choices). 

         My first criticism is the fact that in the manga Gesicht and Brau-1589 did end up exchanging memory chips (this happens at the end of volume 2 in the manga, which is roughly analogous to what episodes 2 and/or 3 of the anime adapted). Cutting that plot point from the anime is a significant story loss IMO as it was an essential step in Gesicht’s character arc, specifically him slowly realizing that parts of his memory were erased. It also diminishes the effectiveness of Brau-1589’s character as not only does it further explain and justify why Brau considered himself and Gesicht to be two of a kind (i.e., Brau was able to notice and discern Gesicht’s erased memories) it also removes narrative parallel/“rhyming” of how Atom had previously read Gesicht’s memory chip and is implied to have picked-up on the same erased memories as well. Also not getting to hear Brau-1589 do the haunting line of "500 Zeus a body" voiced-acted is a crying shame. 

         Secondly, the choice to cut out the various scenes Dr. Roosevelt, the immobile super-computer A.I., and the President of the not!USA, from the first half of the story was a mistake. In the manga, by volume 2, the audience is supposed to be explicitly clued-in to the fact that Dr. Roosevelt and the President are directly involved the serial murder conspiracy (with the how and why still being unknown). Not having this context established before the second half of the story in the anime I would imagine makes the later scenes of Dr. Roosevelt and the President that do get adapted much more confusing and random for an anime-only watcher. It also diminishes the greater connective and overarching themes of the narrative, particularly the ones critical of the USA and Neo-imperialism (which I cynically wonder if that was one of the reasons said scenes were cut). Excising the earlier Dr. Roosevelt scenes and references to it, as well as the parallels with Brau-1589 (and the theme of robots feeling hatred and other extreme emotions), brings down the quality of the character and thematic writing in general as well. 

         And finally, a few adaptation choices done in the final eighth episode, I feel brought down the quality of the climax. Beginning with the least significant one, but still important IMO, was the cutting of Doctor Tenma and Professor Hoffman’s scene at Gesicht’s grave. Besides it further elucidating the themes of the narrative, it’s also just a loss in terms of giving a bookend to Hoffman’s role in the narrative and his relationship with Gesicht. Next, is the anime’s decision to make Bora completely non-verbal when Atom and Pluto confront him during the climax. In the manga, the intelligence of Goji/“Abullah” was still present, which not only made the climax more emotionally engaging, but it also specifically made Pluto/Sahad coming to terms with the ghost of his father much more effective as well. Lastly, and my biggest issue with how episode 8 adapted volume 8, was the choice to have Atom remembering Gesicht’s final words and the flashback that reveals how Gesicht found the robot child he and his wife adopted, occur in the middle of the scene where Professor Ochanomizu witnesses Atom picking up a snail and showing how he still has his humanity intact after being revived in the way that he was. In the manga said scenes occurred right before Atom is about to deliver a killing blow to Pluto (and are subsequently intercut with the remainder of the climax). The way the anime rearranges the contents of volume 8 in episode 8 really messes up the flow, particularly the emotional flow, of the story’s climax and makes it less engaging and effective as a concluding experience. 

Anyways, despite those three major areas I took issue with, I still really enjoyed the Pluto anime and consider it to be a great work overall. Though I still recommend the manga as the best and proper way to experience the story. 

[connyscomics]

Welcome To St. Hell by Lewis Hancox 🐱

Trans rep: 10/10

General enjoyment: 8/10

Age rating: 16+

Welcome to st. hell was seriously one hell of a comic (I'm so funny). The story is an autobiographical tale of growing up transmasc in the UK in the early 2000s. It's told from the perspective of Hancox as an older man looking back on his teenage pre-transition years and walking the reader through his personal struggles and gradual development into the person he is today. Possibly one of the best parts about this story is that way that Hancox, as the narrator interjects humor and hindsight wisdom into the narrative.

I don't have any major criticisms of the comic, other than that I think its a tad visually misleading. The playful art style and the use of words like "misadventure" naturally made me think that I was sitting down to read a book written for younger audiences (like elementary school). This is definitely more for a high-school or older audience. The story touches on early-experiences with sex (including a page showing a nude drawing of teenage Lewis with a diagram explaining which parts of his body were okay to touch during sex), body image issues and anorexic behaviors, transphobic bullying (including use of slurs), and excessive drinking, all under the backdrop of a cultural context mostly unknown to anyone born after 2010. Despite the slightly misleading nature of the art, the visual style and general mood contrasted by the grittier details and rougher themes helped to create a perfect balance between not being so depressing that its hard to enjoy or so lighthearted that it feels unrealistic.

[alpaca-clouds]

Solarpunk Review: When Kingdoms Collide by Telmo Marçal

Preface: I am continuing with my reviews for the short stories in the book "Solarpunk: Ecological and Fantastical Stories from a Sustainable World". Once again: This book was published in 2012, so it is expected that in many regards it does not mirror modern Solarpunk sentiments.

Summary

The once more unnamed protagonist is working for Brazil's Secret Service. As the "Greenie movement" (a movement in which people let themselves be genetically modified to become capable of photosynthesis) grows stronger within the country and gets the right to live in their own colonies, the protagonist gets sent into one of those colonies, to find out whether something fishy might be going on.

General Review

Honestly: I did not like this story at all. It is paced really weirdly and in general has a structure that does not sit quite right with me. Now, it should be said that I do not know whether the structure employed here is something related to some storytelling devices prevalent in Brazil, but at least to me it just seemed very chaotic.

Like the first story, this one is mostly a mystery story, only that the central mystery is not really clear from the beginning. It is just "something weird is happening there", and that's pretty much it. There is also not much work being put into the main character actually investigating everything. As soon as he comes to the colony he finds out basically within one and a half pages of the story.

It also should be said, that the story really heavily relies on the shock factor of the big reveal - and... I don't know. I might be a bit jaded, given I am reading this in 2024. But... I mostly rolled my eyes at the big reveal. Because to me it felt cheap as hell.

The Solarpunk Factor

Once again, this story does not really feel like Solarpunk to me, but more like Biopunk. This time not even with much of a Solarpunk paintjob. I mean, I guess the folks gene manipulating themselves to live just of water and sunlight are living a bit more sustainable than everyone else, but in general it did not really feel as if this story put much emphasis on any form of sustainability. And of course there is the big reveal in the end, which... also does not really work to read this story as anyway Solarpunk.

The entire "gene manipulation" thing does instead do feel like Biopunk through and through. And the darker twist at the very end also does fit much more into the Biopunk mindset, than it does with Solarpunk.

So, yeah. Not much Solarpunk here.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

this has NOTHING to do with the recent influx of bird questions, i just stumbled across walking with monsters again (and for the first time realised maybe it should have been called swimming with monsters) and wanted to ask your opinion on it - no matter if personal or professional!

personal: I enjoy it nostalgically

Professional: it has aged like milk

horrifically mammal biased

of course "mammal like reptile" is a ridiculously outdated term

doesn't spend enough time on like anything

how dare it act like nothing existed before the cambrian

megarachne is complete bullshit

ignores so many cool critters

we need another paleozoic documentary. hell, we need a bunch. it's longer than the mesozoic and cenozoic put together (just about), and yet it got half the time as either of them in the WW series...

[speak-on-it]

So far, Fionna and Cake is a strong fucking series. The way the writers had the characters grow up with the audience is indicative of how in touch they are with the viewer base.

The jokes land every time, the animation is simple, but beautiful and detailed, the writing is strong, and the characters are relatable, flawed, and entertaining.

The addition of blood and swearing is really exciting and I love seeing how the concepts from Adventure Time have been modified for an older audience. Adventure Time could handle mature concepts and themes, but Fionna and Cake really drive it home.

Can't forget the fucking amazing score and soundtrack.

Idk what else you could want out of a show.

[jellieclogs]

october media recap ✩°｡ ⋆⸜ 🎧✮

i love music, movies, tv, podcasts, games, books, and more. here's a recap of things i watched in october 2023!!

music ♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚

i've been really into more indie blues type music as autumn comes to a head, my playlist autumn girls this is for you has a bit more songs that i really associate with this season. anyway heres the list!

mitski - my love mine all mine

mitski - i'm your man

these two songs are phenomenal, as is mitski's album "the land is inhospitable and so are we" i actually wrote a brief analysis on my love mine all mine as a love song and breakup song. the feeling it invokes in me is second to none, what a beautiful song.

olivia rodrigo - lacy

sixpence none the richer - kiss me

jane remover - search party

searows - used to be friends

phoebe briders - moon song

iron & wine - flightless bird, american mouth

mazzy star - fade into you

sting - shape of my heart

yeule - software update

yeule - sulky baby

taylor swift - "slut!"

rachel chinouriri - maybe i'm lonely

emile mosseri - jacob and the stone

i actually listen to this song to fall asleep, but i can assure you that i also cry every time i watch those videos on the internet with this song playing in the background. it perfectly encapsulates a feeling of hope and loss. beautifully done. minari was a phenomenal as a (real) movie lover, i love when movies have tracks like this that so clearly stand out from the soundtrack and score.

movies 🎞️✮⋆˙

i haven't watched as many movies as i'd have liked in october, it has been an emotional month to say the least. but, now im on anti-depressants so our regularly scheduled slaying is back. movies will be rated a 1-5 star based on how much i enjoyed it! and NO NOT EVERY MOVIE IS FROM THIS YEAR OR EVEN THIS DECADE <3

talk to me (2022) ★★★★

pearl (2022) ★★★★

the invisible man (2020) ★★★★

child's play (1988) ★★★★

doctor sleep (2019) (fucking insanely good) ★★★★★

bodies bodies bodies (2022) (so camp??) ★★★

call me by your name (2017) ★★★★

silence of the lambs (1991) (this is a perfectly made film. argue with the wall!) ★★★★★

and thats about it, i genuinely have been too busy with school to watch as many films, still have not seen barbie or the fnaf movie because im so busy and too broke to go to the movies constantly LOL. however, i will say what my favorite youtube video topics are currently in my honorable mentions section!!

honorable mentions ˙˖°📷 ༘ ⋆｡˚

my current fave youtubers or streamers :3

dead meat (james and chelsea constantly demonstrate a genuine love for horror and have recently been branching out to video games amidst the SAG strike! love them and their work so much, they have definitely made me into more of a horror movie buff)

wendigoon (i will listen to this man talk about anything, but he constantly raises the bar with how informed he is on topics. he just likes to talk abt weird shit and thats really neat idk)

supertf (ive been watching this guy for over 5 years he is still the funniest ow streamer out there sorry)

kyedae (she is rlly funny and even though valorant is boring to watch i watch her play mostly, however i LOVE when she does variety or horror its so funny how scared she gets)

jacksepticeye (watching him play spiderman 2 bc i don't own a ps5, BUT ALSO sean just has the best playthroughs of games like this. love his takes on the game!!)

mike's mic (olivia wilde nodding gif like if you get it you get it!)

games im playing right now :3

the sims 4 (do i need to explain this rlly... i have 2000 hours on sims... currently building a tiny town for the new expansion pack :3 pics here)

sun haven (started playing with my bf, feels like stardew valley with a bigger world and more things to do! i HATE the fishing mechanic. it is not for me babes)

valorant (playing occasionally as i am not very good, but i have alot of skins so yipee)

overwatch (i have 1600 hours in the game unfortunately. addiction is real guys)

fall guys (just recently started playing with my friends again, idk why anyone wouldnt want to play this its free and fun. theres a hatsune miku skin in the game like CMON)

genshin impact (im actually really invested in fontaine's story, if i had multiple hours a day to game i would do all the story quests and things but again, im so b u s y. still farming for arataki itto, pls come home)

bloons td6 (i've somehow racked up 60 hours on this game...its so fun...i love it...)

lastly, my october hyperfixation was...

horror movies and true crime!! i watched over 100 hours of movies, video essays, podcasts, and documentaries relating to horror and true crime. i'm officially burnt out of it though, so i will be back next month to once again happily share my interests!! byeee

- jane ⋆｡° ✮

[bloodorange--moon]

I've never played a more beautiful game.

Gris; an indie game which came out in 2018 and was developed by Nomada Studio and Blitworks.

After playing through the first time, I wanted to find out if Nomada Studio has anything else under its name, but Gris is their debut release. 

This was such a joy to play! The watercolor effects on the backgrounds and character models are so beautiful. The music is incredible! The soundtrack was created by the artist Berlinist, which I can’t help but listen to while writing this.

The story is conveyed to the player using immaculate color theory, carefully designed visuals and sound design. Even the puzzles were crafted to bring the player along on this raw emotional journey. 

The only thing I knew beforehand is that the gameplay is similar to Limbo - only Gris is very much a 2D game, with flat geometric platforms (the genre is described on google as a platform-adventure.)

Puzzles are simple at times, but are challenging enough to have kept me interested. The run time is also very short, comparatively. It only has 4 levels and can be played in under 5 hours, start to finish.

I really hope that anyone who appreciates this art style and genre dives into the game without knowing much more than that! I didn’t know what the plot of the game was until I finished it, and figuring it out and getting to create my own interpretation was an amazing experience.

[deramin2]

Review: Bottoms (2023)

Bottoms is a sapphic teen sex comedy about two unpopular lesbians that start a women's fight club at their high school to try and hook up with cheerleaders after a series of miscommunication and escalating lies to looks cool. Hands down one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. And one of the smartest.

It's plot is absolutely wild, but it captures normal teen emotions so honestly. It both embraces the tropes of classic teen comedies (especially of the 1980s) while subverting them entirely. Everything is a little too big and off the rails in a way things feels when you're a teenager going through all this for the first time in your life. Magnified by the systemic injustice of being a young woman in 2023. It really captures that feeling of surviving high school feeling like a life or death struggle.

All the adults are failing these kids in unique ways. So literally and metaphorically the kids are teaching themselves and they don't know what they're doing or how to stay safe or how to keep things from getting out of hand. Even when an adult is explicitly supposed to be watching over them or is gone to for advice, the kids come away only knowing not to be like them. I love how Mr. G embodies misogyny and fake allies in it for themselves. His apathy and desire to cover his ass allows this to get started. The coming of age lesson is that the girls are going to have to figure out how to save the world because the adults aren't coming to save them. There's a comradery in that.

The characters feel so complicated and alive. You could make a whole film about any one of them. All with their own hangups and ambitions. The film pokes fun at them but also sympathetically understands them. Except the football team and their supporters who very much represent toxic masculinity in a cishet patriarchal society that glamorizes violence. But with a cartoon violence energy.

They threaded some incredibly tight lines here. It faced some tough subjects head on but with so much humor. The jokes you've been waiting for someone to pull off for years.

Great film. You should watch it. Queer people continue to be the funniest filmmakers on the planet.

[angelmeateater]

OMG OMg OM-

As you've probably noticed on this blog, I have a tendency to read things I really like really fast so-

I just finished reading all of Loki: Agent of Asgard, and oh boy!

!SPOILERS OF COURSE!

I didn't really know what to expect story-wise going into it, I've never read any of the other Loki comics so I wasn't really sure what to expect, of course I've watched all the movies and sadly the show. My main reason for reading it was the art style, I really liked his character design (loads of gender envy there, and he's cute) I also remembered that this was one of the genderfluid Loki comic points of reference that people talked about when the whole show stuff happened, so I really liked that.

I've been on a bit of a Loki angst streak lately fanfic wise and I really didn't expect the comics to deliver me with those same feelings, but oh god they did. The story itself I found a little confusing at points, I think it's one of those stories I'd benefit from reading again, they also referenced things that happened in the wider canon, which I don't know or follow, they'd make helpful points of reference to other comics which I think is really useful if I did want to understand it more, I wouldn't say it needed a wider understanding of canon, but I'm obviously not sure how much of a bearing which events had on canon etc but I don't think effected the story at all.

I really liked the moral story of it, I thought the message of not fitting into a box was very appropriate for Loki and will also be a very important one to tell, I definitely found it quite insightful for myself, I really liked the ending and oh boy the very height of the story is definitely worth every moment.

I would definitely recommend, especially if you've been disheartened by the Loki series

Anyway here as always are some of my favourite panels and moments with comments ;) (minor blood/gore warning for one of the cover's) (and gun/violence)

I liked how they let him have a phone, and I also really appreciated his black nail polish, which it seems all the Loki's wear

I'm not sure who they got to do volume 6's artwork but damn do I like their style, I think it works great to contrast and compliment the main art style.

Hello?? Loki being sad about not being able to lift Mjollnir, god don't do this to me

Oh OH OW- poor Loki, please- my heart can't take this, stop making me cry please

Yes let's go genderfluid Loki rep!!!!

OH GOD can we just appreciate this masterpiece of cover art, this is everything I always want from my own works and this piece just aarrrghhg

We get to see Odin and Freyja use guns, that's a bonus

you can tell this was written in 2014 lol and I love it for that

WOMEN- LOKI OMG I THINK I'M BISEXUAL

MORE GENDERFLUID LOKI YESSS

this cover art is just stunning

And finally this iconic cover art ~chef's kiss~ he's so gender and scrunkly

[thequeeranachronism]

I like horror even if I don’t watch it much and my friend was raving about Midnight Mass so I decided to give it a try. It was very triggering to say the least. I’m sure it was also triggering for a lot of ex Christians but it was maybe uniquely triggering to me as not just a Jew but a queer Jew.

I will say the writers did a good job showing it go down from two different outside perspectives. One from Riley who is an ex catholic and one from sherif Hassan a Muslim who’s treated as a complete outsider on the island.

While it seems there were no Muslim writers (unless I missed them) it still did a good job showing the horror of your kid being swayed to join the very force that has oppressed you for millennia. You don’t even need the monsters for that to be a horror.

And while it’s poetic and ironic that the monsters come out to terrorize the town on Easter it’s just too mired in history of pogroms for it to be anything other than horrifically triggering as a Jew.

Jews in particular were targets of murder and harassment around Easter as we’ve been blamed for killing Jesus (It was the fucking Romans). I wasn’t able to watch the last episode and I probably shouldn’t have even watched that far. It’s got amazing writing and acting but it still I couldn’t finish it. There was something missing to me and I couldn’t put my finger on it.

Maybe it was that I couldn’t find it in myself to feel sympathy for any of the church goers even those that saw how the priest was misleading them. Not with the history of Catholicism. The murders and pogroms and the fact that Catholicism were the ones to spread some of the more insidious antisemitic lies such as blood libel.

I felt for Hassan and I felt for Riley but there just was too much of a disconnect to truly enjoy the show. Rahul deserves the accolades as do the others but it wasn’t for me.