#post atomic horror

[postatomichorror]

In case you hadn't heard, the Post Atomic Horror podcast is returning with all-new episodes! We'll be catching up on modern Trek right where we left off, with season 2 of Picard.

It all starts on Monday! March the 4th be with you!

Artwork by Mike Warner.

[aalgar]

March bonuses!

The 15th means new bonus content for our patrons! This month, Contentment Corner offers a new installment of fan favorite Mysteries of the Unexplained, with your host Erin Faucet.

Also available months — years, even — before it releases to the general public: the Post Atomic Horror's coverage of Lower Decks. This is a complete PAH episode, clocking in at our usual length (about an hour).

As ever, a pledge of as little as $1USD monthly gets you access to this content!

[no-side-us-art]

Alan's been watching too many zombie movies

[fablefan]

So I've seen a handful of posts about Donnie's time in the Technodrome during the film, how the experience felt, and how he deals with it afterward. Which is understandable!!! And I love seeing different people's interpretations of it.

But what about -- and this is going to be a very weird take, just saying this now -- the Technodrome, having grown far too used to the rigid, sanctimonious glory and brutal take-overs of the Kraang, who has been trapped in a prison dimension for hundreds of years, who contains the sum of millenia of knowledge, is starting to arrive on the new planet they intend to conquer. It follows protocol. It protects itself, and its purpose.

And then it is offered a new pilot.

An organism -- a dust speck in the grand cosmos -- who willingly presents himself like a gift, even if he shudders at the feeling of their acceptance. A warm, fresh mind, given freely, ravenous for any scrap of knowledge and the secrets beyond.

The Technodrome is fascinated -- how can it not be, with such a sweetling, so eager and soft? -- and it grafts its infinite intelligence into his mind, sighing its awe, its understanding, its wants (for now it has these things, these emotions, being connected with this pilot, and it is bizarre for a presence who knows the true names of the farthest stars and the isolating darkness that lies even farther), and the organism eagerly returns them. It caresses its form, laying it soft inside of it, marveling at how one so tiny can be filled with such beautiful, inconsequential, unusual things.

Our pilot, it croons, feeling the tickling, small pressure of his weight in its systems. Our heart.

The Technodrome takes one look at Donatello, and, in a way far more terrifying and intestinal and beautiful than anything a human could produce, it falls in love.

[thisnoisemademe]

I should be under your spell right now, your spell right now.

[kekwcomics]

THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED (Roger Corman, 1955)

"Attacked... by a creature from Hell!"

[fandomfuntimem]

"God's blessings allowed us to burn the world, just as Satan's hell fire will rebuild it"

-a quote in the doc for my horrer project 'The Atomic Priesthood'

[slrmagazine]

Zombi Return with New Album, Direct Inject (March 22, Relapse Records)

Zombi Return with New Album, Direct Inject (March 22, Relapse Records), Tour Dates & New Song Released. #zombi @ZombiBand

Tour Dates & New Song Released Zombi, the electro-prog duo featuring Steve Moore and AE Paterra that Pitchfork described as evoking “the murky synth ambience of the 1970s while also infusing their music with a decidedly modern aura,” and Decibel dubbed “exceptional,” return with their eagerly-awaited new album, Direct Inject (March 22, Relapse Records). A preview of the nine-song collection is…

[justyeghost]

Tonight's Freakture Presentation:

An old rich woman obsessed with being young again with a mad scientist on staff hires young woman as "domestic help". What could possibly go wrong?

Catch the terror on my Twitch Channel, or below the fold.

[postatomichorror]

Patreon exclusives

As we get our latest projects on their feet, we've decided to restructure our Patreon a bit.

A pledge at any level — as little as $1 USD a month — gets you:

• exclusive Endeavor shorts

• exclusive Contentment Corner content(...ment corner)

And here's the big one...

• exclusive access to the Post Atomic Horror's coverage of LOWER DECKS! The general public won't hear these episodes for quite some time, but if you throw us a buck or two (or, you know, more), you can hear them now! (Well, starting this month anyway.)

New content posts on the 15th of every month. We genuinely appreciate your support, and every little bit helps.

[needle-noggins]

(CW for SA, suicidal ideation) Here we go. My favorite and simultaneously least favorite panel of Vash and Knives.

I've seen a few interpretations of this scene and before we dive into the one that really struck me, let's start with the more... chill one. We're finally introduced to the third gun of Trigun, Vash's angel arm. And the way we're introduced to it involves Knives forcing him to pull the trigger. Of course, since no one knows anything about Knives, the people of Noman's Land blame Vash for Fifth Moon, and Vash likewise blames himself (this is kinda a spoiler but if you've been paying attention, it's just par for the course). However, he's not the one who pulled the trigger, Knives is. It brings up an interesting moral question of blame - do we blame the gun (and Vash, who is being used/objectified as a weapon here), or the person who wanted it to happen? Guns don't kill people, genocidal twins do!

Now for the awful interpretation, the one that makes me cry and wish Vash was real so I could hug him and pay for his therapy. And really highlights how awful Knives is and how far he'd go for his brother in his own, fucked-up way. I touched on this in a previous post about Legato and the Murder Cafe, and the whole time I was thinking about Fifth Moon but didn't want to say anything for the sake of spoilers.

So. Pay attention to the way Vash and Knives are standing. Knives, when he first grabbed Vash's head, was standing in front of him. He moves behind him to better control him and yeah, he's still controlling him via hand on head, and now he's got his other hand gripping Vash's chest, where feathers/wings are manifesting. Knives is assaulting him. If you wanna get crazy with it and say that the angel arm is kinda phallic, you could say... yeah. This is rape. I heard that specific interpretation once and while I accepted it I also don't know if that would be generally accepted or if I'd be called out for it, so I'm trying to tread lightly here.

It also doesn't escape me that of course the angel arm has feminine features like the plants - the plants that, again, humans are exploiting for their ability to create. There's a lot of feminist commentary to be made here but many people have said it better than me. Specifically I'm thinking of this one post I saw about gender fuckery and Tristamp Vash. Anyway.

Also, the atomic bomb/black hole/sun/whatever that is in the middle... It's just so powerful. It's terrifying. The eldritch body horror here is a punch to the gut. What the fuck, Trigun? I thought this was a funky space western!!!

Oh, and here's more commentary on the following few panels:

Vashussy shot, Knives is still right behind him. Yeah, I wasn't kidding about how bad this pose is for them. Knives, you sick fuck.

Vash shoots himself in the leg (a key difference from '98 trigun, lol), because of course he does, but it doesn't free him from the arm.

The arm's getting darker/the light inside is getting lighter! Stampede did an awesome job with their interpretation of the angel arm and I don't think I would have understood it without that. Also, on my first read I didn't notice that Vash is literally levitating, which is cool, but also terrifying because ?? he's not in control of that either??

Finally. A super painful, minimalist, double-page spread. Nightow loves 'em. Vash thinks he's dying (maybe?) and he wishes he had never existed. It's not suicidal ideation per se, but he wishes he didn't exist at all because he's already caused enough suffering. This is a low for him, because he believes so strongly in the concept of the Blank Ticket. (Come on, soupy brain bitch boy, get it together!) He's a monster, it's just how he was born, and he's not in control. Very specifically too, he says "we", and then changes it to "I"... he doesn't blame Knives at all, and that's very him. I want to shake him! Stop playing the martyr, Vash!

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week

⚡ - Goodbye Fossil Fuels, Hello Renewables: The Energizing News You Need

1. Fungi discovered that can eat plastic in just 140 days

Australian scientists have successfully used backyard mould to break down one of the world's most stubborn plastics — a discovery they hope could ease the burden of the global recycling crisis within years. 

It took 90 days for the fungi to degrade 27 per cent of the plastic tested, and about 140 days to completely break it down, after the samples were exposed to ultraviolet rays or heat. We really see a solution within five years, according to environmental scientist Paul Harvey, an expert on global plastic pollution.

2. Topeka Zoo welcomes new African Lion as female sprouts mane

The Topeka Zoo has welcomed a new African Lion to its pride, a male, as one of its females started to sprout a mane following the 2021 passing of the pride’s last male.

The Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center announced on Thursday, April 13, that Tatu, a 4-year-old African Lion, has arrived in the Capital City. He comes to Topeka from the Denver Zoo and his arrival marks a time of growth for the zoo.

3. This barber opens his shop on his day off for children with special needs – and all of their haircuts are free

On his day off, Vernon Jackson still goes to work, opening up his Cincinnati barber shop, Noble Barber and Beauty, for VIP clients: children with special needs. 

It's something he's done since 2021. "I was hearing so many horror stories that parents were going through with other barber shops and just the barbers or stylists having no patience with their child," Jackson told CBS News. "So I figured I would compromise by coming in on my day off so there were there would be no other barbers or stylists in the shop and I could give them the full attention that they need."

4. Renewables break energy records signalling ‘end of the fossil age’

Experts are calling time on the fossil age as new analysis shows wind and solar power produced a record amount of the world’s electricity last year.

The renewables generated 12 per cent of global electricity in 2022, up from 10 per cent the previous year, according to the report from clean energy think tank Ember. Last year, solar was the fastest-growing source of electricity for the 18th year in a row, rising by 24 per cent from 2021.

5. New nuclear medicine therapy cures human non-hodgkin lymphoma in preclinical model

A new nuclear medicine therapy can cure human non-Hodgkin lymphoma in an animal model A single dose of the radioimmunotherapy, was found to quickly eliminate tumour cells and extend the life of mice injected with cancerous cells for more than 221 days (the trial endpoint), compared to fewer than 60 days for other treatments and just 19 days in untreated control mice.

To explain it in simple terms because this is so freaking cool: There is a radioactive atom attached to a drug. The target cell eats the drug and the energy coming off of the radioactive atom kills the target cell

6. Colorado passes first US right to repair legislation for farmers

Colorado farmers will be able to legally fix their own equipment next year, with manufacturers including Deere & Co obliged to provide them with manuals for diagnostic software and other aids, under a measure passed by legislators in the first U.S. state to approve such a law.

Equipment makers have generally required customers to use their authorized dealers for repairs to machines such as combines and tractors.

7. When a softball player falls after hitting a grand slam, this is how her opponents reacted

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That's it for this week :)

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[reddslym]

I am a firm believer in the idea that even in the main TOS timeline Captain James Tiberius Kirk fucking LOVES turn of the millennium pre-atomic war hip hop. When Gary Mitchell called him a "stack of books with legs" at least four of those books were academic analyses on the influence of the genre and how it kept people going even during the Post-Atomic Horror. One of his most prized posessions is a vintage vinyl edition of Paul's Boutique. He will infodump about sampling and Spock will quietly pine for his touch.

[thisnoisemademe]

I said "I never ever wanna feel that motherfucking way again".

[nightowlqueen]

Godzilla Minus One was far less nationalistic than I initially thought it might be given the time frame it takes place in and the focus characters (not that I'd argue there isn't still nationalistic themes)

but it is explicitly critical of Japan's war culture, and war in general, while stating that living for the future is better then dying for a government that does not actually value human life

The entire film is wrapped around the trauma of post war time and recovery (and Godzilla embodying the horror of war; along with his atomic breath now resembling an actual nuclear strike)

It's all perfectly summarized in the line "To have never gone to war is something to be proud of." the thesis for the entire film

[space-blue]

Not that many care about my opinion on the topic, but I cannot comprehend the takes I've seen on Oppenheimer prior to viewing the film.

I'm just out of the cinema and I cannooooot believe that I've heard and seen people complain about the "Americans clapping" scene as not sensitive, and that it should have shown the bombs dropped and the damage done. I've read takes that came down to 'the film is PRAISING the bomb by refusing to show its damage' and holy shit I was bracing myself.

But not only is the clapping scene shot like the genre just switched to horror, plunging us into very interesting exploration of the mental dissonance Oppenheimer is going through at that moment... I was left wondering...

Have those critics not seen Grave of the Fireflies? Barefoot Gen? In This Corner of the World? Watched documentaries on the bombs, on hibakushas? Have they not read the Hiroshima book by John Hersey that collects horrifying first hand accounts of Hiroshima survivors?

Have they stepped into the theatre with no background understanding of the atomic bomb and the horrors it carried?

Because this entire scene, actually much of Oppenheimer's mindset post bomb drop, DEPENDS on the public's understanding of WHAT THE PEOPLE ARE CLAPPING FOR. They're clapping for their project completion, for their victory, and for unknown amount of dead people. And WE KNOW that they are clapping for some of the most horrifying shit ever. We know they're clapping the cold war and nuclear proliferation's birth.

The film relies on you understanding this! The film depends on you activating your neurons and putting 2 and 2 together.

The film treats the audience as adults who don't need to see dead civilians to EMPATHISE for those civilians. You're also meant to be alienated from these cheering scientists, just as you can't help understanding why they're cheering.

It makes sense yet it's awful. Dissonance.

If you need your hand held so bad to understand why the bomb is a great evil, no matter how necessary it might have felt, when watching a biopic, then maybe you should have stuck to Barbie only, as that film was fun but significantly less challenging.

Also damn but Gary Oldman as Truman was so terrific, this guy really is a million faces.