#cowboys have a lot of rich history behind them!

[neechees]

This is from a pie chart about pirates/werewolves/cowboys & while it's not 100% necessarily wrong, and the history behind piracy can be interesting, I feel like a lot of ppl forget pirates were also like. Partaking in oppressive systems. Especially ones from the golden age of piracy. Pirates very often engaged in the slave trade & would regularly kidnap enslaved Africans from slave ships so THEY could sell them, or even were rich & owmed plantations with slaves themselves. and while yes there's also cases of previously enslaved Black people fleeing slavery in favor of piracy, pirates engaging in the slave trade was so prevalent to the point that they would sell their OWN BLACK CREWMATES into slavery when they felt like it. Most pirates were also dudes & would also pretty regularly rape & abuse women, pretty horrifically. There's a reason Ann Bonnie & Mary Reed disguised themselves as men. You could argue that maybe they meant "pirates" as in like modern digital piracy like for tormenting movies, or the general much wider definition of "pirate", but i feel like that's not what the post meant since the one I'm talking about (who sail the seas on a ship w a captain, so forth) very often also gets mentioned alongside werewolves & cowboys.

Cowboys share a similar history that while yes, very many cowboys actually weren't White (or rather there was a lot more nonwhite cowboys than Western movies would like to have you believe), a lot of (White) cowboys were very racist & often displaced Indigenous peoples, & the job (of ranching & working as a cowboy) was also used in the assimilation of Native people.

#let's not romantisize these two bits of history shall we #this isn't pirates of the Caribbean like most pirates were genuinely bad people #antiblackness tw #slavery mention #rape tw

[newwavedetectives]

When I first booted up Starfield, I marvelled at how boring it is at first. The beginning of the game is. Audacious. Most games want to wow you right off the bat. Starfield just eeeases you into a sea of bland, grey landscapes and austere sci fi vistas and, at first, you think, wow, this game is gonna be bad. And then the game opens up. Boy howdy, is there a lot hidden in this game.

Still, a lot of us seem to be going in arms folded, wanting to hate it. Many folks seem to play it for an hour, say, "Jesus this is boring!" and uninstall. And it is bracingly boring at the start, isn't it? There's the Youtube industrial complex piling onto it. Microsoft and Bethesda certainly don't need defenders, and hating on big, bloated AAA games is fun, and Starfield is a hugely hyped release with a lot of janky, unexplained systems, a weird, idiosyncratic start and a gameplay loop that probably doesn't stream well.

The dopamine rush of taking your space cowboy to the shop to sell all your ill-gotten guns and stolen spacesuits, at what appears to be a boutique perfume counter, then buying up ship repair parts and meticulously transferring them to your cargo hold and going out to wreak havoc all over again probably doesn't come across when watching someone else do it.

There's also the decision, the fascinating decision, to hide all the interesting content behind the most prosaic-seeming sidequests.

Join the UC Vanguard? So I can be, what, some reserve army unit for a militaristic outwardly-utopian-but-with-a-hidden-dark-underbelly society? Not for this space scoundrel.

Yet so much of what the game wants to show you, its characters, its set pieces, its antagonists, the darkness of its past, its factions' histories, all open up from that single unattractive prospect.

It's much the same with the Freestar Collective questline: howdy pardner, care to sign up to be a deputy in your favourite space western milieu?

Um, no thanks. I don't know if you know about this, Starfield, but the main quest has you exploring mystical temples and metaphysics and discussing the fleeting, precious nature of the small amount of time we have and what we choose to do with it and who we choose to do it with. I don't think I got time to do your deputy nonsense.

And yet. Being recruited as a deputy opens up a galaxy-spanning mystery of murder and greed and weird locales like a casino on an ice planet where rich weirdos and armed scumbags bet on a bizarre bloodsport (think the Golden Saucer if the Golden Saucer was built inside a series of industrial bungalows and you had to run in the chocobo races yourself and all the chocobo were trying to kill you).

This, I think, is a big aspect of the Starfield experience. Encountering the most staid, inert little quest hook but then falling through into hours of meticulously created storytelling because of the choice to hold your nose and see what this dumb game wants to show you.

Some of the game's most expensive and detailed storylines, with dozens of locations and characters, come from quests you'd only find if you're in the right place at the right time. You can completely miss the pirate quest entirely and it's like one of the best ones in the game.

When the game's moment as a punching bag passes, people are going to find that there's a lot here to like.

#starfield #i'd like to do another post delving into the criticism of the game #some of the criticism is so valid #this game is sometimes so bizarrely written and designed #neon is such a perfect example of the game's odd #prudish attitude toward sexuality and drugs #pretending sex just isn't a thing in their loving pastiche of 20th century sci-fi but they still want all the tropes #and how the romance system feels tacked on #companions are so well written except when they're terribly written #still I'm a little obsessed

[plegdoctor]

Hi Pleg, what inspired your choices for each song for each hgau chapter? 💫

Juno I do love you ever so much

To start with, Safe and Sound, is the song Taylor wrote for the first Hunger Games film and is the inspiration for the title of the fic. I love this song with my whole entire heart.

Innocent - Chapter One

One of the most underrated songs from one of my favourite albums. Innocent talks about making a mistake ("I guess you really did it this time//Left yourself in your warpath) and wanting to go back to childhood when it was simpler ("Wasn't it easier in your lunchbox days?") I thought this is the perfect song for the reaping, the moment where everything in their lives change. For some, it rings true because of volunteering. For others, it just highlights the hopelessness of the situation as the song's melody is quite thoughtful and haunting, meanwhile the lyrics encourage hope which mirrors the fight that begins to emerge in the chapter (such as Cherry's mum's last words to her).

gold rush - Chapter Two

Gold rush is about the speaking longing for beauty that seems untouchable. For me, I felt like this perfectly shows the tribute parade. For starters, gold links to Bimini's costume which is highlighted in their first meeting with Asttina. I feel like a lot of lyrics link with Tayce in this chapter as she is the one to be emphasised as desirable and beautiful: "I don't like that anyone would die to feel your touch//Everybody wants you//Everybody wonders what it would be like to touch you" "What must it be like//To grow up that beautiful?// With your hair falling into place like dominoes"

Sparks Fly - Chapter Three

This is quite simple in that Sparks Fly is about falling in love and forming connections however risky they may seem, which is just perfect for the chapter where everyone is properly meeting and getting to know each other. This chapter is the first formation of some of the ships. Also, "Gimme something that'll haunt me when you're not around"

mirrorball - Chapter Four

For me mirrorball is about the desire to be liked and changing yourself to do so. That's exactly what's happening in this chapter with the interviews, all of them trying to sell themselves to the Capitol in order to stay alive, to be viewed as desirable enough to keep alive. "Spinning on my tallest tiptoes" reminds me of Bim in their ridiculously large heels. Also "Hush//I know they said the end is near" is so gorgeous a lyric but also so perfect for the emotions of the tributes. Obviously the "Masquerade revelers//Drunk as they watch my shattered edges glisten" are the Capitol. I toyed with this song also being for Bim's winner interview.

...Ready For It? - Chapter Five

The VIBE of this song. The TENSION. The motif of hidden love. The soft chorus in the middle of a very intense song just like the soft ships in the middle of death and destruction. And this is not even mentioning the repetition of "Baby let the games begin". Just a perfect song in every way.

cowboy like me - Chapter Six

One of my absolute favourite songs from Evermore. The bittersweet vibes of love. The forming deep connections. I love that this song starts in media res because it makes me think about how this is media res of their lives - when Sister is revealing her secret, it reminds me of how all these characters have history behind them that gets unfolded. Also the realisations of finding someone just like you is so so perfect for the ships. They're all finding their soulmates. I also secretly think this is a very Ginster song for some reason, yet it also works really well for Blackcherry and also Greentia (but i think all TS songs work for greentia) Also "Perched in the dark//Telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear" and "Hustling for the good life//Never thought I'd meet you hear" AND "And the skeletons in both our closests//Plotted hard to fuck this up". And my favourite lyrics of all time: "Now you hang from my lips//Like the gardens of Babylon// With your boots beneath my bed// Forever is the sweetest con"

death by a thousand cuts - Chapter Seven

I think I crammed about a thousand references to this song in this chapter because I was fully obsessed with it while writing the chapter. But it's so perfect for Asttimini, as Bim feels like the speaker in the song now that Asttina is gone, and it's perfect for Blackcherry because it encapsulates a love that seems great but also appears to never be possible. It's such a beautiful song and I love it too much to not include it, especially since Bim says "I'll be alright, it's just a thousand cuts." (Also the bridge is SO blackcherry, if you take one rec from this list please have it be this bridge)

Seven - Chapter Eight

After I published chapter eight i went for a mental health walk while listening to Folklore. "Please picture me in the trees//I hit my peak at seven//feet" IS SO JCYE GREENTIA that i actually had to sit down on a bench to recover for a moment. Also I just think it's a beautiful song about soft loving friendship. "Sweet tea in the summer//Cross your heart won't tell no other" and "Your braids like a pattern//Love you to the moon and to Saturn"... when I say this song makes me weep I am not joking. It just had to be this song for this chapter.

Haunted - Chapter Nine

Bim can't look back now, they're haunted x. Also, the loss?? The regret?? The angst?? "You and I walk a fragile line//I have known it all this time" HELLO??? That's them!! "Come on, come on, don't leave me like this" "Something's made your eyes go cold" "you're not gone, you can't be gone, no" "Oh holding my breath//Won't see you again" This song positively drips jcye diamondchaney and I will be taking 0 criticism.

The Archer - Chapter Ten

With Bim being the only one left, it seems suitable to have a song that reflects loneliness. It also coincidentally has Bim's weapon of choice - they have been The Archer from the beginning. The lyrics "Combat, I'm ready for combat//I say I don't want that, but what if I do?" showing Bimini's struggle to adjust to being out of the arena. "I've been the archer//I've been the prey//Who could ever leave me darling//But who could stay?" I was so tempted to include the bridge "They see right through me//They see right through me//They see right through//Can you see right through me?//They see right through//They see right through me//I see right through me//I see right through me" in that chapter. "All the king's horses, all the king's men//Couldn't put me together again" being Bim sat in the makeup chair. Oh I just love it.

right where you left me - Chapter Eleven

Bimini has been left behind. The others might be dead but Bimini is the one feeling like a ghost stuck in time. Okay I lied, if you take any song recs also take this one because it is rated as one of my favourite songs of all times and makes me sob almost every time.

If you got to the end of this then thank you for reading the unhinged writings of someone who loves Taylor and is really really going to miss writing Just Close Your Eyes

#thank you juno!! #im not sorry that this was so long #i put so much thought and time and love into this fic and i will talk about it until i die #hunger games au #just close your eyes #song recs

[favoniuscodex]

Sry, just wanted this out there: a bounty hunter that's a cowboy is a class traitor b/c many times cowboys came from marginalized groups who were already the target of the law themselves. If you meant cowboy as in "wild west themed" my b & feel free to ignore!

edit 2: my initial response was long for no reason lol so here’s actual response: yea i’m dumb and forgot the term wild west existed. didn’t want to use the term western (as in the movie genre) to avoid any confusion w/ audiences who might not be familiar w/ such a term and instead just made it more confusing. i 100% meant wild west. :DDD i just forgot the term existed

ty for the concern tho !!! i always appreciate ppl like,,, speaking their minds on this type of stuff so i can clear up any kind of confusion ! :D also, everything in this ask is 100% facts. i just butchered my terminology because brain no think

#i was trying to be respectful but instead just came across as dumb i apologize anon #peep me wrestling with the tags #peep me also wrestling with my wording my brain is foggy rn #i don't know if what im saying here makes sense but ive had some friends who do not speak english as a first language be confused #when i use the term western to describe genre that consist of cowboys n wild west related content #//mail #but yea actually for anybody reading this the true history (not just like... what American Media Says) about cowboys is utterly fascinating #if you ever wanna educate yourself abt the pasts of some marginalized groups #cowboys have a lot of rich history behind them! #Anonymous #literally this fic just takes place in a shitty 1800s-esque town in a bar there's no deep dive into anything cowboy related. #just wild west related content #sorry it's like 3 am here and the tags are fighting with me #which explains why i keep editing them

[dailyadventureprompts]

Western type vibes ?

Heavy Topics: The Western, Settler Fantasies, and Genocide

I was gearing up to do a week long run of western based adventure prompts when I came to realize I was having to write a lot of footnotes about the complicated history of the western genre and the history that informed it. A lot of other people have written about these subjects in depth, but I thought I could add my own voice to the conversation by specifically addressing how the western genre informed D&D and how to run frontier style adventures that don’t whitewash the bloody history of our world while still getting at the heart of what makes the genre such a draw. 

Below the cut I’m going to go into depth with some history and worldbuilding but TLDR: D&D takes its model of heroes protecting isolated villages form a savage wilderness directly from the cowboy based popculture that its original creators were immersed in during their childhoods. Most directly, it’s played out in the dynamic in which the heroes must clear tribes of monstrous squatters out from the land so that it can be properly exploited by civilized people, which directly mirrors the historical genocide of indigenous peoples to make room for white settlers. That said, the tropes of gunslingers, prospectors, outlaws, and the idea of the frontier itself is a thematically rich sandbox for creators of all kinds, so it’s important we approach them with a level of historical and genre awareness. 

The History: I can’t begin any discussion of the western genre without first acknowledging the apocalypse that proceeded it. Outside of the initial and often bloody colonization efforts throughout the “age of discovery”, contact with Europeans sent shockwaves of disease rocketing through the indigenous population of the Americas, scouring whole cultures off the map and reducing the population by up to 90% in a few generations. When settlers later reported to have found a vast Edenic wilderness ripe for exploitation, what they had really found were the lands that had been cultivated to sustain populations for thousands of years that had been left abandoned after their original inhabitants had died off. 

Now I’m going to toss any discussion of “manifest destiny” or “adventurous spirit” in the trash and approach the expansion of the west through the lens of colonial economics: America pushed west because it was looking to exploit new resources for profit, and it encouraged the “opening of the frontier” to settlers as a means to create trade channels by which those resources could flow back to the industrial centers along the coast. The system went like this: a few brave (read desperately poor) homesteaders would seek land just far enough out into the wilderness that they could still acquire necessities at borderposts, until they reached a critical population density and this borderpost would become a town. People, industries, and investors from more settled territories would move into some of these town and spur their growth. As the town grows, more homesteaders arrive and are forced to go yet further into the wilderness, starting this whole process over again. If any of this sounds familiar, it’s the underlying settlement mechanic behind the Oregon Trail, which grew to fame because it was a safe enough corridor of roads, towns and border settlements that it became one of the main arteries through which westward expansion occurred. 

As they progressed westward settlers continuously ran up against the territories of indigenous peoples, and while some groups managed to find a balance, more often than not the settlers found or contrived an excuse to claim that the natives had wronged them and that they must respond with overwhelming force. This patchwork was carried out at all levels, ranging from settlers themselves actively fighting the natives to  the US government constructing concentration camps, forcing relocations, or just outright sending troops to slaughter whole villages. 

With the coming of the railroad this process accelerated, until such time as there was no more frontier to truly settle. Territories were incorporated into states, and the era of the westward expansion was over. 

Writing the (fantasy) Western: If you have to boil it down, the western genre is thematically all about the frontier, the interaction between the purity and chaos of the untamable wilderness with the stability and corruption of approaching civilization. Westerns are always about change, with the characters at the center of the narrative usually caught up in the gears. The gunslinger and the adventurer are drawn from the same mold of heroism: striving against the challenges of the wilds while fighting against the powerstructures of civilization, trying to find a balance that ensures the common people don’t get swallowed up or rolled over. 

Swap out corrupt mayors, robber barons, and industrial magnates for your generalized grab-bag of European nobles and any adventure written for classic fantasy suddenly becomes at home in a rustic frontier setting, even with the addition of wizards and dragons and all that. 

Alternate Frontiers: Sometimes you just want to tell stories about sixgun wielding badasses riding horses, robbing trains, and playing poker with crossroads devils without having to delve into topics like centuries of continental genocide. Not every “western” campaign has to 1:1 recreate the circumstances of the American west, so here are a few ideas drawn from history that will let you create a reasonable “frontier”.

Failed States/No man’s land: when empires break down power is often concentrated into a few specific urbanized regions while everywhere else is left to fend for itself.  Colonies and territories on the edge break away while the lands between the power players are turned into an evershifting patchwork where authority shifts and shatters. This period of anarchy might be permanent, as in the ebb and of the roman empire, or a perennial reshuffling of the administration, as with china’s warring states era. 

The Edge of the Map: there are some places that civilization just can’t take root, usually when butting up against some natural barrier that mortal authority has no power against: Mountainranges, deserts, jungles, stormy seas. These areas create a permanent sort of frontier, though one that can settle into it’s own form of equilibrium over time. Bonus points if the natural barrier is magical in nature. 

Aftermath: Perhaps the closest to reality, setting your frontier adventure in the aftermath of a civilization toppling disaster, where survivors and those outside the fallout zone try to pick up the pieces. 

Also for the asker: please check out my frontier tag, it’s full of delightful western influenced adventures that’re sure to set your spurs a jangling. 

Art

#heavy topics #prompt postage #story prompt #frontier #western #west marches #history

[shieldmaidenofgod]

Writing Our History––Part 1

“Arthur, my boy!” Dutch van der Linde called as he spotted the outlaw ride back into camp. “Where have you been?”

“In town,” Arthur replied. “Had to grab some things. Why? Did something happen?” The light from the setting sun illuminated the worry in the cowboy’s eyes.

Dutch chuckled and a glint of mischief twinkled in his eyes. “You could say that. Hitch up your horse and follow me.”

Arthur ended up sitting by the campfire with a bowl of Pearson’s stew. The other men surrounding the fire leaned forward as they listened intently to Dutch’s news.

“So,” he began, “I got tipped off at the saloon today by the barman. Said there’s an enormous mansion right in the middle of a huge plot of land ‘bout ten miles north of here.”

“So we’re just robbin’ some rich bastard?” Sean asked, taking a sip from his beer bottle.

“Not if you let me finish, MacGuire,” Dutch scolded, and the Irishman raised his hands defensively, causing the other men to laugh.

“I also found out that the man of that house, Hawthorn, owns a rather successful tailoring company. He has a location right in the middle of Valentine, so I headed over there to see if I could find out anything else, and I heard he has but one daughter.” Dutch stopped there and spread his hands, as if the conclusion were obvious.

There was a pause while the men tried to figure out what Dutch’s plan was.

Arthur swallowed a bite of stew before asking, “So what, we kidnap ‘er?”

“You always were the smart one,” Dutch commented. “I managed to get a tipoff from one of his servants, if you can believe it. French girl. Poor young lady was barely holdin’ it together, you could tell she’d been cryin’ for a good long while. Apparently, he’s gonna marry his girl off to one of his business partners in a few days.”

“A good reason to demand a bigger ransom,” Charles spoke up.

“Exactly,” Dutch declared, pointing to Charles. “And think of this, if a mere servant has that much of an attachment to her mistress, who’s to say her parents don’t adore her even more? So, who’s with me? I’ll need a handful of men to get this done right.”

All the other men around the campfire looked to Arthur, as if for his permission.

Arthur shrugged. “When you wantin’ to leave?” he asked Dutch.

“Tomorrow morning. Early. Least we can do is scope out the house from afar.”

Arthur nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

Dutch grinned. “It’s settled, then. Are you all with me?” he asked the others, who all nodded (except for Sean, who gave a hearty cheer). “Good, very good. Well, we all better get some rest then, if we want to head out by dawn tomorrow.”

The next day, Dutch, Arthur, Charles, and Sean rode out of camp at the break of dawn for the northern end of Valentine and eventually arrived on the border of Mr. Hawthorn’s land by 7:30. They all managed to stay low while observing the house and its surroundings through their binoculars.

“See anything interesting?” Sean asked Arthur, who was using the pair of binoculars the two of them were sharing.

“Not much,” Arthur grunted, handing the binoculars over to Sean beside him. “Lot of windows, though. We’ll have to steer clear of those.”

“I see a carriage. They just pulled it up to the house,” Charles announced from his position, also looking through a pair of binoculars.

“Anyone gettin’ in or out?” Arthur asked, Sean still looking through his binoculars.

“Not yet.” Charles paused for a moment. “Wait. The front doors are opening. It looks like Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorn––I’m guessing it’s them, at least. Ah, that’s definitely their daughter.” He lowered his binoculars. “When do we move, Dutch?”

“Not yet,” their leader answered. “We wait until they’re far enough away from their property and not too close to town. Then we strike.”

<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>

Once the Hawthorns were seated in the carriage and their luggage strapped to the roof, the carriage was off to the nearest town: Saint Denis.

Mrs. Hawthorn looked down her nose at her daughter, who sat across from her and her husband and was engaged in reading her collection of E. B. B. poetry. “Put that accursed book away,” Mrs. Hawthorn snapped.

(Y/N) jerked in surprise at the sudden break in silence. She looked back down in dismay at the loss of her only entertainment, closed the book, and put it in her carpet bag beside her.

“Honestly––” her mother continued, “––it’s positively shameful, being a female author. As if any decent man would wish to marry one. It’s not a woman’s place.”

“No,” (Y/N) countered in a biting tone, a smug smirk on her pretty face. “But it must be a woman’s place to be married against her will to a man she’s never met.”

“You will marry whoever we choose for you and that is final!” Mrs. Hawthorn slammed her fan against her lap in emphasis.

(Y/N) slumped in her seat and crossed her arms, a difficult and uncomfortable position considering her garments and tightly-strung corset, but the action was worth the horrified looks on her parents’ faces.

“This is so unfair! Maybe I do wish to become an unmarried author! Why should you be the ones to stop me?”

“Stop that ugly slouching and sit up this instant!” her father exclaimed.

“Oh, I’ll slouch if I bloody want to!” (Y/N) shouted back.

“Now you listen here, young lady!” Mr. Hawthorn roared and pointed a shaking finger in (Y/N)’s direction. “We know far better what is best for you than you do. I’ll not have you vilifying our family name by running off and becoming some undignified, unmarried hooligan!” he spat, his eyes glinting with rage. His fat mustache continued to wag as he yammered on about what a disgrace she would be to the family name if she did not marry his business partner, but (Y/N) had stopped listening.

Everything about the whole situation was so unbelievably unfair. (Y/N)’s parents had always been rather controlling of her, but never to an extent as drastic as this. Or, perhaps, she had just never noticed how little control over her own life she had ever actually had.

What I wouldn’t give to just run away from all of this, (Y/N) thought to herself, completely unaware of how soon her wish would come true.

<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<*>

“Okay, move out! Come on! Go, go, go!” Dutch yelled, riding forward in a full gallop behind the carriage.

Charles, Arthur, and Sean, led by Dutch sped after the carriage, bandanas covering their lower faces to protect them from the kicked-up dust and from being recognized. Once they got closer to the carriage, Arthur whipped out a pistol and fired a warning shot at the carriage. The bullet zipped through the very top of the carriage wall right below the covered roof, signaling to those inside that they had company.

Terrified screams erupted from inside the carriage and the four horses pulling the car whinnied in fright. The driver desperately pulled on the reins, attempting to stop the beasts so that no more threatening shots would be fired in less-than-cosmetic directions. Once the carriage came to a stop, the driver threw his hands in the air.

“Pl-please don’t hurt me, sirs!” the driver exclaimed.

“Oh, we ain’t here for you, boy!” Dutch shouted as the other outlaws threw open the carriage doors.

Arthur and Charles reached into the carriage and pulled out a thrashing (Y/N). She clutched her carpet bag to her chest and screamed frantically but the men paid her no mind, throwing her in the front of Sean’s saddle.

“Take her home, boys!” Dutch shouted and he, Charles, Arthur, and Sean spurred their horses into a gallop back the way they’d come.

“Let me go!” (Y/N) screeched. “Let me go, you brutes!”

“‘Fraid I can’t do that, lassie,” Sean answered behind her. “We’re gonna be hangin’ onto you for now.”

Once the party arrived at camp, (Y/N) had calmed down, becoming rather apathetic. Sean lowered her off his horse and into the waiting arms of Miss Grimshaw.

“We don’t want to hurt you, miss,” Dutch called to (Y/N) in a slightly smug tone. “We just want some compensation from your family, that's all!”

“Come on now, dear,” Miss Grimshaw said gently. “Let’s get that dust out of your dress and a tent set up for you.” She led (Y/N), who only nodded, away from the horses.

#rdr2 #arthur morgan #arthur morgan x female reader #arthur morgan x reader #female reader #rdr2 fanfiction #fanfiction #writing our history

[maxwell-grant]

In your Lupin/World post you said: " I’ve nursed a pet theory of mine for a while now that, perhaps, one way the pulp heroes could once again thrive and find new audiences could be by making the same jump to anime that Lupin did ". So, do you still want to share it ?

Well I guess there's no reason to put it off any longer. So, let's get into.

First thing we gotta establish is that, despite being much more distant from that medium than they are from comic books and film, the idea of pulp heroes crossing over to anime is not as impossible as it may seem. And I don't mean it just because of aesthetic or thematic similarities shared between (there's an argument to be made that John Carter was the first isekai), I mean in terms of literal pulp adaptations. For a start, we have Captain Future as easily the most direct example. He was a 1940s pulp hero who eventually got an anime adaptation in the 1970s that used the plot of the pulp stories word per word, making it arguably the most faithful adaptation of a 1930s-40s American pulp ever made.

There is a long, long, loooong history of cultural exchange between anime and western properties, you can trace it all the way back to Osamu Tezuka openly being inspired by Carl Barks's Duck comics and setting forth many traits that would become identifiable as hallmarks of manga itself. Japanese creators have mined a lot of material from Western properties and in the process did a lot of work in reviving interest for said properties.

It's not a stretch at all to argue that the main reason Arsene Lupin is a worldwide cultural icon today has much less to do with the original stories, and instead a lot more with the sheer devotion Japanese creators have to the character and the immense cultural legacy of Lupin the Third. The Cobra manga was one of the greatest selling series of all time, and he was the space cowboy long before space cowboy before a pop culture archetype. Nadia: Secret of Blue Water, a series openly based on 20.000 Leagues, directly led to the creation of Neon Genesis Evangelion, as EVA was originally planned as a sequel for it.

In fact, you could very well argue that, pound for pound, many, if not outright most, of today's most popular and critically acclaimed properties, across all mediums, are those that participate in this decades-long artistic back and forth. Metroid, Castlevania, Dark Souls, Avatar, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Fist of the North Star, Berserk, Metal Gear, Hollow Knight, Cowboy Bepop, Earthbound, Vampire Hunter D, Hellsing, Samurai Jack, The Boondocks, Powerpuff Girls, Kill Bill, Pacific Rim, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jet Set Radio, Into The Spiderverse, Batman Beyond, Teen Titans, One Punch Man, fucking My Hero Academia and UNDERTALE. Hell, look at Star Wars! It's not even just a stylistic or thematic choice or a rich well-spring of influences, it's a sound, downright obvious, decision to anyone who wants to try and ensure success towards their property.

And the very clear message that a lot of people seem to think nowadays is that everything needs to have an adaptation, everything's gotta try being a movie or tv show. A lot of people approach comic books as just a place to try out soon-to-be movie pitches, and it's hard to blame them. The Marvel characters became blockbuster juggernauts thanks to the MCU and achieved the impossible of turning characters like Rocket Raccoon into household names. Invincible used to be a popular comic that became a super popular cartoon and suddenly it's like, what, the most popular superhero property right now not from The Big Two or from MHA? Movies, cartoons and videogames are the big mediums these days to try out for, and they are properties that the pulp heroes have only just barely dipped their toes in.

Currently, the big reason why characters like The Shadow or The Phantom sustain popularity is because of the 90s films that ensured more people learned about them than they ever would if they had just stuck to the comics. Characters much bigger than them have achieved stardom and died before and after them. Pulps are one of the least acessible mediums nowadays, and comic books keep lagging behind the popularity of their respective characters. The message is now as it's always been: Adapt or perish. So, why not adapt?

Why not give The Shadow a stylized anime of his own where we get to see in full who inspired the fashion of the likes of Vampire Hunter D and Alucard? Why not let Shinichiro Watanabe take a crack at the Green Hornet? What medium could possibly depict The Spider more accurately than a gory batshit slaughterhouse in the style of Wicked City? Why not put the likes of Conan or Elric or Imaro in a videogame where you get to live out the sword-and-sorcery fantasy in full?

Why not divorce these characters from their superhero forerunners and the medium they rule, from the time trappings and outdated cultural aspects that many people insist are the key reason these characters can't or shouldn't be revived, and instead pluck them into an entirely new medium, where they are more free than ever to run rampant and shine again?

I definitely think it's the best way you're ever going to see them thrive again in modern times. These characters have had to adapt so much as is, why not give them a clean slate and a new medium and see what happens?

#replies tag #pulp heroes #the green hornet #the shadow #captain future #cobra #lupin the 3rd #jjba

[manchesterau]

Your Gay Uncle Harry

Okay so I have been really hung up with all those photos of Harry in Italy recently and one thing came to mind when looking at all the photos: Gay Uncle. I even made a post about it! So now I present to you a small fic about your gay Uncle Harry. It’s written in 2nd person pov because I don’t like the feel of 1st person. I...have no idea why I wrote this, and who would even enjoy this but here it is! This is...diffrent from anything I’ve ever written before but I sorta fell in love with this, so I hope you do too.

My own prompt: harry is giving gay rich uncle who you don’t really know too much about because he’s always traveling around with his boyfriend but always invites you and your cousins to his villa in the south of italy for the summer where he plays host

Your family never really talks about him, and when you were younger you never really understood why. The way they all talked about him seemed like he had passed, always in past tense, never spoken about with happiness, always in hushed whispers. Always when the children were away, out of sight out of mind.

When you were younger you pictured him as a ghost, a white sheet with curly hair, bunny teeth, and dimples. You pictured him living hundreds of years ago, in the city somewhere if you were itching to get out of the country, and sometimes in the country herding sheep when you were in the city missing home. 

It took a while, but then you finally understood why no one really talks about Uncle Harry. You grew up on a vineyard in California. Uncle Harry was born in a small village in the UK. There is one picture of you and him together, and it’s when you were a baby. His mum, his sister (your Aunt Gemma), and Uncle Harry all traveled to the United States for the first time to see you.

Your mother holds up the picture, she doesn’t understand your curiosity about your Uncle, and quite frankly you can tell that it annoys her, but she tries not to show it for your sake.

You hold the picture up with shaky hands. You’re nervous because you’ve never really seen a picture of him before, it’s like he had been erased from history. Or your family tried very hard to make sure that he was. So when you see his big bright smile, wild curls, and steady arms holding you almost nineteen years ago you want to cry. You don’t, because then you would have to explain to your mom why you’re crying but you sniffling some here and there. He’s holding you with so much pride, so much love, like your his baby, and this is a photo taken right after he’s given birth.

“Why...I mean I guess I don’t understand why you all never really talk about him.” You say.

Your mom pauses, she turns away from you for a second. “I...honestly I think there was a falling out years ago and...and we all know Harry can hold a mean grunge like nobodies business. All of us can really. But, I mean he still comes around sometimes when he’s not busy traveling the world, to say hi and he always asks for updates on you kids.”

You nod, the photo in your hand weighs heavy in between your finger tips. Then your mom pulls out her phone, goes to Facebook, and pulls up Uncle Harry’s page. It’s like an explosion of rainbows, of the likes you’ve never really seen before. Only on the internet, communities you guard with all of your heart, a safe space for your eyes only. And then you start to understand why it’s all hushed voices when talking about Uncle Harry. You scroll for hours through his page, later on, watch video after video, smile at every picture he puts up. 

A random dish from a random country he visited last month. Funny old people memes that make you snort. Him all wrapped up in the pride flag, and what you assume is his lover right beside him. A picture from a few weeks ago of them embracing, his name starts with an L and that’s all Uncle Harry says about him regarding his name. Post after post after post about how he had found the one, how in love he was, how his boyfriend was pushing him to reconnect with his family, his love for his smile, the way his eyes crinkle, the barely-there freckles that dot his cheeks. The moments they’ve shared, the heartache they’ve endured, the sweet bliss and utter happiness and love they have for each other.

You cry. Not because you’re upset, but because of how robbed you were of knowing your Uncle. So you friend him on the Facebook you created an hour ago. When you get a message from him two days later asking if your family or a friend of the family you yell and thank whoever is above that no one is home. You reply that he’s your Uncle, go over the semantics on who your dad is, your mom, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandma, papa. By the end he sends you a video, saying how he doesn’t understand all the texting and emojis and you call him an old man and he says he doesn’t take offense to that.

“I like to think of myself as an old soul. Also I’m only thirty-seven, that’s hardly old.”

You laugh at his accent, and he laughs at your lack of one. 

You never talk about what happened that made him estranged from the family, but deep down you understand. And when he says he can see a little of himself in you, you cry.

It’s summer, you're at home miserable because of the sweltering heat. The past few days you’ve been to a lot of family gatherings, and it annoys you that the hushed whispers about Uncle Harry never stop. You want to yell at them, to scream and sing his praises but you don’t. And then your mother walks through the side glass doors, her white cowboy hat sling low on her head. Yours sits on the ground below you, an ant crawls by slowly. She looks over at you, once, then again, and then she smiles and nods to herself, hangs up, and walks over.

“Your Uncle Harry is inviting you and your cousins to his villa in Italy if you want to go.” She says it so nonchalantly that you think she’s joking around and you roll your eyes. She shrugs and crosses her arms, stares you down. That’s how you know she’s not joking.

The next thing you know you're on a long flight to Italy. Five of your cousins are on the same flight, the rest of them declined. And then you’re getting off the plane, taking a car, and now you’re standing in front of a house. The stone feels warm under your fingertips as you slide your hand across the side of the house. You’re welcomed by Uncle Harry’s boyfriend, his smile friendly and inviting. His fringe gets in his eyes a lot, and he complains about it, says your Uncle loves his hair like this. You smile, something deep inside you settling. 

He takes you all on a small tour, shows you your rooms, tells you your Uncle went on a shopping trip, and should be back very soon. He leaves you to unpack, and you leave your suitcase on the twin-sized bed, wandering around amazed at everything. It feels like home, in a way where you know you won’t get homesick from being here for the summer. It feels like love, like taking a bit out of a warm cookie, like a cuddle with your mom while it rains outside, like curling up next to the fire with a good book. You haven’t felt this way in a long time.

And if there’s one thing no one tells told you about Uncle Harry, is that he sure does know how to make an entrance. You’re looking at the view of the sea beside the pool, you can hear the sound of children playing on the beach below, people moving around in the house behind you, the gentle sway of the leaves as a light breeze blows through.

“How’s the view?”

He startles you, bright big smile on his face and his bunny teeth on display. His hair is shorter than the pictures he’s uploaded before, and he’s actually been able to grow a mustache. He laughs when you tell him this before pulling you into a big hug. You don’t cry like you thought you would, but you do tear up a little.

“I can’t believe you’re actually real.” You say. You still think of him sometimes as a ghost, but without the paper sheet and more real, a little translucent at times. 

He pulls back, an arm slung around your shoulder as he hip checks you, his sunburnt nose moves a little as he says, “In the flesh, love.”

You don’t tell him this, but later on as the summer winds down, as the gentle breeze that brought a little moment of peace between the unrelenting day's of heat starts to pick up more, and as classes are due to start again you think about how this was the best summer ever. You hug him extra tight before you and your cousins head off home. And just before you get in the cab he pulls you aside and gives you a rainbow pin.

He tells you, “Your never alone. I know how it feels, but know that you’ve got someone in your corner rooting for you.”

You cry, waving goodbye to Uncle Harry and his boyfriend as they wave back embracing. You take the pin and stick it to your shirt, you get a smile from one of your cousins at the airport and the weight on your shoulder lift a little.

#* #when I say I have no idea what this is yall #but I wrote it and it's the most ive wrote in literal WEEKKKKSSS ijuhygtf anyways embarrassed look away!!! #format of the pictures suck bc you can't add read more on the app and on the app is the only way you want put two pics #in a text post together side by side anyways look away!! #my writing

[prettywarriors]

Mini Mahou March Week 4

Hey everyone and welcome to the fourth and final week of Mini Mahou March! You can find the main post for the event here X.

The Prompt for the week of March 22nd-28th is...

Pirate themed Phantom Thief/Kaitou!

The sub-genre of magical girls that needs more love, the phantom thief has a long history of non-magical girl entries such as Lupin and Magic Kaitou. MGs include Shadow Lady, Saint Tail, Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, and the recent Phantomirage.

Magical girl kaitou often steal with good purpose- returning stolen goods like Saint Tail, or exorcising demons like Jeanne. With a much smaller pool of inspiration to draw from, there is very little consistency in designs for these characters, although they always have a way to make a quick escape. They often leave behind a calling card, sometimes as a form of cheeky flirting with their officer rival.

Pirates are sea-faring thieves with just a good aesthetic. You know. Captain Hook. The Jolly Roger. Patchy from Spongebob.

I’m only looking for a visual character design, something as simple as a single fullish-body picture, but you are more than welcome to go as wild as you want with trinkets, backstory, information, alt outfits, all that good stuff. Also I say girl but girl boy nb other as long as it’s a magical humanoid gender be damned, thumbs up. (Also nothing 18+ please. Your characters can be, just not your art for this)

Make your post and tag me before end of day March 28th (11.59EST) and I will be re-blogging participants here next Sunday/early Monday, with everything tagged Mini Mahou March.

Saint Tail uses stage magic to distract while stealing stolen goods and returning them to their proper owner while leaving calling cards for her crush who is the detective trying to catch her. Shadow Lady uses a magic eye shadow pallet to transform into different forms depending on the color, and steals, well, for fun until the plot happens, while the local cop is in love with her thief form. Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne transforms with assistance from her mascot to remove demons from pieces of art which makes the art disappears, and her rival is transformed boy who wants to stop her (and her best friend is the obligatory cop) D.N.Angel is the long accept magical boy, and he transforms into his older alter ego to steal magical artifacts made by the ancestor of the obligatory cop who has his own magical alter ego and there’s a love square Phantomirage has girls transform to steal evil jewels from the hearts of people transformed by (extra)evil magic cops, and the head of the magic cops eventually becomes a magical cop Tuxedo Mask just steals jewels because he’s looking for the physicals manifestation of his gf’s soul to get his memories back, and Phantom Ace was an idol who also stole people’s energy because he was a villain but look I gotta post what we have and it’s not a lot okay?

So uh. Complicated romances & police enemies with possible overlap in those categories, transformations range from ‘new dress’ to ‘new body’, stealing is good sometimes. It’s not my fault there aren’t more Kaitou MGs we deserve this sub-genre c’mon Toei. Pierrot? Anyway there’s always non magical girl kaitou like Skye from Harvest Moon or whatever is happening in Persona 5. Masks are generally not a magical girl thing beyond proto-senshi and a couple of weirder male-target series, but it is a thief thing so your call.

Is Captain Grace from Magical Girl Raising Project really the only magical girl pirate? We have Multiple cowboy/wild west gunslinger magical girls and somehow just Grace? Symphogear girls have some pirate outfit variants, and the Madoka gang had pirate alts in one of their mobile games back when, and for a series with Sailor in the name, you’d think there be more than one furoku of the senshi as ‘pirates’

https://symphogear.fandom.com/wiki/Senki_Kaizoku_Dan:_Kaij%C5%8D_Dai_Gekisen#Concept_Art_

https://mobage.booru.org/index.php?page=post&s=list&tags=mahou_shoujo_madoka_magica+pirate

Why yes I did just combine two topics magical girls are lacking and say go at it but jokes on ya’ll this was the first prompt I came up with. Both groups steal and look good doing it what more do you want a word list? 

Yeah okay. Pirate Words: 

ship 

peg leg 

bandana 

hook hand 

parrot 

buccaneer 

mermaid 

sails 

ropes 

eyepatch 

tricorne 

skull & crossbones 

saber 

canon 

pistol 

gold & doubloons 

treasure & chests

gems 

flag 

ocean 

anchor

I have no prompts in me tonight. But I believe in you. (magical girl who scatters fake gold as a distraction while she robs rich people who underpay their workers and robin hoods the goods to said employees)

You are obligated to play fast and loose with the concept, and I know you'll be creative, so I hope you have a fun time!

#mini mahou march #mini mahou march week 4 #prompt #art prompt #magical girl #mahou shoujo #text #kaitou #pirate

[ronnytherandom]

I forgot to watch content all week so i wrote about games ive been playing

9/2/2021: The Truman Show

You should fear your fears but embrace them and use them to guide you into the unknown, to explore and experience what life has to offer. Fear stands between you and the fullest experience of life so you must pass through it to better yourself. Heed not the walls built about you and the chains made to hold you. Though the architects insist it will preserve your life, containment is anathema to life. Do not take in faith the benevolence of powers that be; instead trust those who would support and liberate you, guide you through fear and into life.

As best I can lay it out, I think this is the philosophy of the Truman show but there is so much more to read into it also. There is critique of systems of commodification and celebrity (i.e. capitalism) reducing human beings to a consumable good as well as encouragement to find and pursue your goals despite adversity and even sensibility which is also tied to the illusion of economic responsibility. You can’t put a camera inside a human head, you can never “know” them without being an active and intrinsic part of their life, but also there is need for reciprocation. If one half exists with ulterior motive then the entire relationship is rotten; sincere humanity is what creates real connections. Without such your world is fake. A world built around one person is a world where no one can truly live. All these actors have given up basically their entire lives for the sake of watching Truman have his life built around him by outside forces, have allowed themselves to be commodified and dehumanised for the good of one man, Christoph. The man at the top has delusions of grandeur and thinks only of his own bottom line, he cares not for his subjects but simply wants them to do as he tells them because it benefits him to commodify their lives and interactions. Even then he cannot stand to lose control and in seeking to demonstrate Truman’s “realness” he structures his life so thoroughly that eventually there’s no reality left, only a script and adverts. But the people watching still empathise with Truman because everyone in the working class understands what it is to be trapped because real life is our own Truman show and one day we must all pass through fear, step out of the dome and create a real life for ourselves outside of the system of commodification which consumes everyone’s life and removes all realness and sincerity and emotional catharsis from it.

I unreservedly love this film.

14/2/2021: Assorted Game Reviews

Horizon Zero Dawn (Unfinished due to technical issues, 45 hours inc. parts of Frozen Wilds): This game is really cool and really fun. I think it is defined by its incredible setting which somehow creates a fresh feeling post-apocalyptic environment. Said environment creates intriguing alt-future lore and some very interesting environments to explore. I love the machine designs (especially tallnecks!) and was very sad to hear one of their contributing artists passed away recently but I’m glad their work lives on in this visually stunning game. I’m a sucker for Ubisoft-style open world games simply because it tickles a certain kind of itch and somehow this non-Ubisoft game has outdone Ubisoft on their own formula, which is hilarious, but also good for me as running around this world exploring and clearing map markers is engaging fun. Not least because of the combat. I have a minor criticism here that the combat feels slightly awkward on mouse and keyboard, the arrows never seem to go where I’m aiming, but aside from that the experience of fighting is a grand one. Enemies never lose their threat and I love the weak spot system the game employs which makes every tool useful in niche circumstance and rewards curiosity. It specifically manages this in a way that I feel the Witcher series could learn from if it ever returns; by making head on assault less viable and encouraging tactical hunting. I do feel this system makes hunting robots so fun that by contrast hunting humans becomes a chore however, though I noted this improves in the dlc with the addition of humans with elemental weaknesses limited in number as they are. I cannot speak for the story in entirety but what I encountered was pretty good, though I feel as if it was only just really getting going at the point where I could not continue. I find Aloy to be a compelling and well portrayed protagonist and though I can guess about her origin and the ultimate end of the alt-future apocalypse I still want to see how it plays out on screen, so will return to this as soon as I’ve fixed it.

Rimworld (122 hours. Familiar with but do not own Royalty Expansion):

Rimworld is one of those super special games that I don’t think I have a single problem with. Fair warning it can be brutal and is heavily dependent on RNG but this allows it to create truly unique and interesting scenarios on a constant basis. In the wider perspective it could be described as formulaic, with regular cycles of managing the settlement between raids and random events, but the devils in the details. Colonist traits, health and skills dictate how you play and sometimes you’ll be forced to adapt as some colonists simply refuse to perform some tasks. The depth of health particularly amuses me, in that each little part of someone’s body is modelled in a way. If you’re in a firefight you may take a single bullet which grazes your finger and you’re fine. Alternately it could pierce your human leather cowboy hat, your skull and kill you instantly and the game will tell you exactly what happened. The risk/reward element is addictive enough, and that’s without accounting for just how cool it is to see your colony slowly expand. Establishing more and more options for crafting is fun and shows off the full range of different items in the game which is fucking extensive. Between clothing, weapons, armour, sculpture and drugs to name only a few you have the opportunity to create many varied production lines either for your colonists or to trade for money and there is a lot of fun to be had here as well as it is quite satisfying to see psychoid you have grown personally become the cocaine your colonists snort to help them stay awake on limited sleep. From an archaeologist’s perspective it is especially cool to look back over your base and see the hints of how and why structures were built and remember the history of your limitations and development through structure. I think the lore of the universe is really cool too, a very 40k-esque kind of place except with far less order, somehow. But the universe does an excellent job of feeling alive and moving constantly on both a planetary and interstellar level. You can fully believe that while you build wooden shacks to shield yourself from terrifyingly low temperatures there are simultaneously rich pieces of shit living it up on the glitterworld that’s one system over. The music does an excellent job of creating the wild west frontier atmosphere the game cultivates to great effect. Ultimately, for just being a grid with a series of different numbers attached, this game does a fantastic job of creating a compelling, brutal and very real colony management experience. I dont think I can properly put into words the grandness and scope of this one. I didnt even mention the modding scene, which is expansive and tailors to basically any need you could have. The Rim is a terrifying place but theres so much fun to be had.

Factorio (86 hours, mostly 1.1): Having completed a game of Factorio I can tell you reliably that this is one of the best games ever made, thoroughly addictive and fun. If you like numbers, logistics, TRAINS, its gonna be your thing. Not to mention its probably the only documented case of a game with no bugs (so far as official forums are concerned). Strictly speaking this games combat is not the most engrossing thing but good lord do you feel it when you acquire a flamethrower. The way each aspect of the game (production, research, logistics, combat, upgrades for everything therein) feeds into the next is a really well constructed balancing act such that you must experience the full game in order to complete it and I always appreciate this kind of design. I think its one of the best tenets of factory game design especially as its something present in Satisfactory too. Beyond all of this generalised good the game is also excellent in its intricacies, the architecture necessary to build a maximum efficiency base, the level of planning and organisation that can be employed is mind-blowing. Not to mention the mod community, factorion is already an extensive experience and some mad bastards have seen fit to complicate it further, hats off to them. This really is a great moment in gaming.

 Destiny 2 (198 hours, all expansions, played some post Forsaken release, mostly Season of Arrivals onwards, spent roughly £20 on microtransactions):

This is a very interesting and enjoyable experience, but I must say it can be a bit controversial at times. What its does particularly well is moment to moment gameplay and design in all aspects. The game is stunning; between environments, cosmetics, shaders ships and ghosts there’s a vast range of incredible things to see, all rooted in the “pseudo-magi-science” aesthetic it’s got going on. The class design is excellent and you really do feel like you embody this rampaging madman / agile gunman / space wizard archetype, whichever you choose to play. The abilities, especially supers, are very satisfying. Everything has heft and power behind it which can be felt in all aspects of design; sound and animation is top notch. Movement is cool, you can feel how fast you move both on foot and in vehicles and the navigation has a little fun subtlety depending on your class jump, even if you can bounce unpredictably occasionally. But for the love of god why is the wall kick in there? It has only ever served to push me from a ledge into a bottomless pit. You're looking to remove antiquated content? Start there. Some guns are not so good to shoot but there’s such a great range of guns that are fun its like complaining about one drop in an ocean; and enemies are fun to shoot at, each faction distinct in meaningful ways and presenting an effective challenge. Speaking of oceans, that’s one way to describe the lore. I haven’t dived too deep but it keeps going down forever and everything I’ve read is intriguing. As a former Elder Scrolls lore nut this is something I could definitely sink my teeth into, though its much more of a pulpy sci-fi vibe than a pure nonsense vibe. I do think the game has a bit of a loot problem, primarily in regards to the conflict between high stats and looking good. This should never be a conflict, and yes you can apply ornaments to any purple gear but that’s not enough when I spend the entire time grinding power levels and thus must change armour and weapons on a constant basis to progress. This game needs a true transmog system and if not that, rethink how gear power level works. Perhaps rather than earning new instances of gear you always possess a version of it and the loot you acquire in missions just upgrades your instance to your current overall power level? This would serve to do away with the current upgrade system which I think is a needless additional grind. Perhaps it could be retained in using enhancement cores to empower gear as present but necessitating a whole upgrade module to keep your favourite weapon on hand is kind of painful honestly. There is also at present the issue of sunsetting gear, mildly controversial to say the least. If it’s necessary to streamline the game and make it function moving forward so be it but surely loot pools should be adjusted so you can actually get useful loot from older locations? And why sunset personal instances of gear which can be acquired at the regular power level anyway? I had to throw away my favourite bow and hunt down a new version of the exact same weapon for… what reason? I do think destination navigation leaves a little to be desired also. I get that having a physical hub world is meaningful but Destiny does not have a very extroverted community; I can count the times someone noticed me in the tower on one hand. And its not even like there’s fun activities to be found in the same sense as say Deep Rock Galactic, which really does take advantage of its hub. Perhaps for players who simply want to go about their business all of the vendors could be set into a menu system where just clicking an icon takes you to their menu from anywhere in the system rather than, per se, having to go through an entire loading screen (Which takes you to orbit and back) to reach a location which serves simply as the front for four menus. These are established player problems. As a dedicated PvE player I can say that this game is immensely fun in combat and growing in power does feel really good. It’s something I recommend getting into, there’s just some very large creases that need ironing which the Bungie should really take the time to address rather than pushing out new in game content every three months.

#the truman show #horizon zero dawn #rimworld #factorio #destiny 2 #d2 #film #movies #video games #i dont know what im doing #hzd #opinion

[kathyprior4200]

A Villainous Meeting

 “Good morning, my fucklings!”

 Verosika Mayday, the pink succubus, strolled into the room, wearing her high heels, heart-shaped sunglasses, short black and white dress and her faux pink scarf. She blew a bubble of pink gum before spitting it out in a nearby trash can. The fellow employees sat at a cracked black round table with bloodstained high-backed chairs with eyes on the tops. The Wrath Ring imp Striker merely smirked and nodded as he fiddled with the wheat stalk in his mouth. He wore his usual gray and brown cowboy gear with a hat and boots. Fizzarolli, the robotic jester imp, looked around eagerly at the small office room decorated with circus posters and porn magazine covers. Verosika was shown in a seductive pose with her gang on one poster, while another poster showed a sinister Fizzarolli with handcuffs advertising a “Loo Loo Land’s Fizzy Buddy, Brand New Vibrating Toy, Use At Your Own Risk!” A few pictures here and there displayed Striker riding his black hell-horse BulletProof through the desert with a mane and tail of fire. Finally, Vortex, the dark grey hellhound bodyguard, stared at his phone, wearing all black clothing.

 They were located somewhere in the Lust Ring under a pink sky in an abandoned building that looked like a warehouse from the outside. Spray-painted in red were the words “D.I.C.K. Headquarters,” on the door to the office.

 “Remind me why you choose “dick” to be our name?” Striker muttered to Verosika.

 “It’s spelled D.I.C.K. It stands for Demonic Immediate Crazed Killers,” Verosika replied. “Figured it described all of us well, because we do what I.M.P. does, only better.”

 “You and your sexual innuendos,” Striker began, and then winked. “I like it.” Fizzarolli giggled.

 Verosika cleared her throat. “Do any of you fuckers know why we’re here?”

 “Because I took this job after you and I got drunk and did a one night stand?” Striker asked with a smirk.

 “No!” Verosika bellowed in anger, though she knew it was true. She then blushed and stepped back. “I drank too much beelzejuice after returning back from Earth, alright? And you happened to be there staring at me with lust in your eyes with a bottle of Inferno 66 in hand. Let me tell you, sucking prisoner dick with your gang is worse than eating shit out of a toilet. Besides, I needed some time to recover after having to walk around after Blitzo took my parking spot. When we were together, he left me to pay for the hotel room, rang three rings around Wrath and maxed my credit card...”

 “…on shitty horse-riding lessons, yeah yeah, I got it,” Striker said with a wave of his hand. “You told us the story like five times.”

 “Is it because that imp was so jealous of my accomplishments at the circus that he set all of Loo-Loo Land on fire and allowed my robotic counterpart Robo Fizz to get eaten by a dragon?” asked Fizzarolli.

 “How did you hear about that?” Vortex asked without looking up.

 Fizzarolli turned nervous. “My boss Mammon heard about the incident and was furious. He said that unless I helped boost sales, fix the theme park and capture him…”

 “Yeah, I know how you feel,” Verosika sighed. “My gang and I got a bunch of warnings and threats from daddy Ozzie.”

 “You mean Asmodeus?” asked Vortex.

 “Yeah. He wasn’t very happy that I nearly exposed the humans to the existence of demons. We go topside in disguise to feed on their lust every spring. If Blitzo hadn’t kept that fact secret…well let’s just say Valentino pales in comparison to what Ozzie can do to you.”

 Everyone shivered at the prospect of the Ring Overlords’ plans.

 “To answer your question, Verosika, it is because I failed to kill that pompous owl prince Stolas?” Striker asked. “I was this close to finishing off that wimp imp and persuading Blitzo to join me. He’s a formidable fighter, and he’s half succubus.”

 Verosika crossed her arms. “There’s nothing special about him. He just pushes people away when they get too close and only cares about his job, murder and his stupid horses!”

 “Hmm…he’d be a fun little toy to play with,” Striker mused as Fizzarolli smirked. “We can all agree on that, right?”

 Everyone but Vortex murmured in agreement.

 “Yes,” Verosika called, shoulders square. “That is the reason why we’re all here. Because of them!”

 Verosika pointed to the whiteboard which had pictures of Blitzo, Moxxie, Millie, Loona and Stolas pinned on it. Several knives were stuck inside the pictures and scribbles in red on the white board read “Fuck I.M.P.!” “Striker Is Better Than You!” “Fizzarolli Was Here!” and “Verosika, Call Me For a Good Time!”

 “And I’m gonna led this shit!” she added.

 “What makes you the leader?” Striker inquired with a raised eyebrow.

 “I’m not the leader per se. Stella organized this group and Striker recruited us,” Verosika explained. “Though I’m technically higher than imps, sinners and hellhounds, so I say the position is a good fit.”

 Striker scowled. “We get treated like scum in Wrath enough as it is. I ain’t gonna play nice if you don’t show me some respect.”

 “Prove to me you’re better than that scumbag Blitzo.”

 “I already did…in bed at the club, remember?”

 Fizzarolli laughed much to Verosika’s disgust.

 “While I will admit it felt amazing, that’ll be the last time I ever sleep with an imp. And I certainly don’t need some rogue cowboy to get in the way of my revenge.”

 “Need I remind you, missy,” said Striker, “That I’m the one who recruited you and the jester in the first place? After you were getting over your hangover, you told me to fuck off or else your friends would have their fun with me.”

 “Yeah, and?”

 “I then noticed your heart tattoo on your shoulder with “Blitzo” crossed out. Then I asked, ‘Having imp problems, too? Wishing to see a certain imp?’”

 “And I said ‘no, none of your damn business, imp.’”

 Striker continued, “But then I told you, ‘I’m on a covert mission to take down a worthless royal…and to meet up with I.M.P.s leader. Perhaps I could offer you my services to you, monetary and otherwise, if you could tell me more about him.’”

 “Yes and I did,” she said. “I remembered Robo Fizz back when I worked in the circus with Blitzo and figured he’d be a good person to talk to.”

 “Hmpth,” Fizzarolli interrupted. “His business may be impressive, but his jokes were utterly pathetic! I got to be the star of the shows while he got to be alone and unloved! Ha!”

 Verosika briefly stared at him. “You sure you didn’t get jealous because Blitzo left you behind and made more money killing people?”

 Fizzarolli turned slightly red. “What?! No! How stupid are you?”

 “Perhaps smarter than you think,” Verosika remarked, her boobs bouncing slightly.

 “Get a room, love-fuckers!” Fizzarolli mocked to Striker and Verosika. “At least I was the first villain to appear in the show! First is the best! And my Ring is higher than yours!”

 “Oh partner, even a sex bot like you…”

 “I’m not a bot!”

 “…could never handle what’s under these jeans.”

 Striker smirked and continued the story. “Then I told slutty clown about Blitzo and he seemed to understand who he was,” said Striker. “I said, ‘A Goetia is giving me cash to kill a royal and that imp leader from I.M.P. What do you say we bask in riches, glory and chaos?’”

 “I remember saying, ‘Is this a scam? Loo Loo Land must be fixed!’” said Fizzarolli.

 Striker recalled what he said back to Fizzarolli,“’Mammon sent you off on a mission, didn’t he? Just like Asmodeus gave a warning to Verosika and what Stella did to me. All our stories and failures are connected. Connected because of what those imps did. If you can help me track down I.M.P. and that prince…no more worries for you.’”

 “The show must always go on,” mused Fizzarolli. “It wasn’t like I had many other options. As long as my boss is satisfied…”

 “And mine…” added Verosika.

 “And mine…” added Striker.

 “Indeed, we must all complete this mission, or else we’re all dead,” Verosika finished.

 “Double dead,” Vortex corrected in a low voice, making the others shiver. “The Seven Deadly Sins do have angelic weapons. You’ll wish you were frozen in the Ninth Circle.”

 “Hell only has seven,” Fizzarolli added.

 “Shut up.”

 “Loo Loo Land burned down, Asmodeus and Mammon got together, we took the Hellevator through the Ring portals and the rest is history,” said Verosika. “Now I’m stuck with an imp and a robot.”

 “I’m an imp!” Fizzarolli protested.

 “You’re just a robot,” Verosika replied.

 “With partial robotic features! The model for all Robo Fizzs made by Mammon himself!”

 “Still just a sex toy,” said Verosika.

 “A useful one, nevertheless. One who Stella herself deems valuable, right Striker?”

 “She did say to me, ‘I don’t care who you have to go through.’ Never thought I’d be dealing with a bunch of hooligans from other Rings,” Striker remarked.

 After several minutes of loud arguments and hisses, Vortex barked loudly. “Shut the fuck up!”

 Everyone then sat down in silence before Vortex stared at his phone again. “I never get paid enough for this shit,” he muttered.

 “Somebody tell me any useful information about I.M.P. before I lose my shit!” Verosika barked, almost going into her demonic shadow form.

 “The only reason why I’m here,” said Striker, his voice turning calmer and darker, “Is for my money from Stella. And revenge of course. Let me tell you where I think Blitzo will be at next.”

 The villains crept closer.

 “I came to the Lust Ring because I heard from Stella that this is where Stolas likes to “entertain” himself as it were.” His glowing eyes spiraled in yellow-green hypnotic circles. “Rumor has it that he goes to Ozzie’s place to cheer himself up. Heard he suffered quite a breakup from his dear hurt wife. And to have Stella potentially gain custody over his dear daughter…man that must’ve broken that bird’s heart.”

 “Oooh what a charming little theater!” Fizzarolli remarked. “Stripper dances, pole dances, lots of lustful siren songs. Winged imps serve you food and other imps are in cages for display! Hahahaha! It is almost as good as the Big Top in Loo Loo Land!”

 “Was, you mean,” Striker smirked before the jester seethed.

 “I still perform there,” Verosika said. “When I’m not traveling around the Rings on tour. Lust is my home, after all.”

 “Greed is mine!” Fizzarolli said.

 “You already know where I’m from,” said Striker. “No one fucking cares.”

 “Mammon and Asmodeus heard the news as well,” said Fizzarolli. “I heard Stella had a meeting with them at midnight last night. That was before we all got our orders to come here to Lust.”

 Vortex looked up in concern. “It’ll only be a matter of time before Lucifer hears about this, too. Not just about the trouble I.M.P. has caused, but now that humans know of Hell…”

 “Let’s focus on one problem at a time,” said Verosika with a deep breath. “We’re in no rush. It’s not like our leader’s gonna call us and demand…”

 Just then, Verosika’s pink computer beeped and rang.

 “Shit,” she muttered. “It’s her.”

 Everyone straightened up as Verosika pushed a button. Stella’s angry white feathered face appeared on the Zoom/Doom screen. She scrutinized all their faces with pink glowing eyes, her face appearing on the screen.

 “Striker,” Stella began, her golden crown shining on her head. “So this is the gang you recruited?”

 “Yes ma’am!” he grinned.

 “Hmm…” she pondered. There’s you…there’s some clown imp, there’s a fine-looking succubus…from who knows where…”

 “The clown is Fizzarolli or Robo Fizz,” said Striker. “The succubus is Verosika.”

 “Working for a queen, Striker?” Verosika asked. “How…”

 “Long story, I already told you,” Striker said. “She’s desperate…”

 “You bet that’s right!” Stella barked. “Then again, I’m…mildly impressed that you managed to get such a…diverse crew together.” She didn’t bother to hide her disgust. “Well done.”

 Striker beamed with pride.

 “But we’re far from done! You have no idea how long I’ve waited to properly unleash these feelings in me.”

 Fizzarolli giggled and Striker elbowed him hard.

 “That stupid prick of my husband thinks he can sleep all he wants with that assassin imp…in our fucking bed behind my back! If he stays any longer, my family will be a laughing stock. I’ll be stripped of my royal status and goodness knows what bad influence he’ll have on Octavia.”

 Stella paused, brief hurt in her voice. She didn’t dare cry, though. “Sometimes I wish he didn’t have to die. That all three of us could be a good family again like we once were. He could’ve been a proper responsible father, kept the grimoire safe from the imp, and none of this would’ve happened.”

 Fizzarolli cried tears at the rant while Vortex rolled his eyes. Striker yawned. Verosika, however, seemed to listen with a common understanding. She and Blitzo had been together and then they were broken up and fighting. Although she wanted power and revenge like Fizzarolli and Striker, she knew what it was like to get the short end of the stick in a relationship.

 “Then again, I was forced into marrying Stolas millennia ago by my parents. It’s obvious I’d concern myself with status and wealth and hold my resentment inside.”

 ‘All that wealth, all that power,’ thought Striker, greedily. ‘Watch her talk on and on until the rug slips from under her feet…and the glory becomes all mine!’

  “I love my daughter and Stolas…I really do…but…I must do what has to be done!” Right then, her regal imposing side was back.

 She stared into their eyes, glaring at Striker in particular. “First of all, if any of you land a finger on my daughter, I’ll make sure your screams are heard by every Ring in Hell. She must not be harmed. But…if I have to use Octavia as leverage as a last resort to bring Stolas to his knees…then so be it. I don’t care what we have to do…I just want him dead. Do you all understand?”

 “Yes ma’am,” said Striker. The others nodded.

 “Good. Now to review the plan. Stolas and I recently had our breakup. He will be going to the same place he always goes to when he’s upset: Ozzie’s place. If you spot I.M.P., follow them, but do not attack yet.”

 She continued. “Striker, your objective is the same: kill Stolas with your angelic weapons. Keep them safe in your hands at all times, but eliminate anyone who gets in your way.”

 Striker already glowered at Fizzarolli and Verosika who were staring closely at his pistol.

 “If you use it on anyone else important,” Stella said, suspicion already in her eyes. “I’ll fuck you with your own horns.”

 Striker nodded, with the tip of his hat.

 “Verosika, you will track down Blitzo and distract him inside the club,” said Stella. “Use any manipulative means necessary to catch him off guard. Fizzarolli, you and Asmodeus will sneak behind Moxxie and take down the other I.M.P. members. Verosika’s crew and some Robo Fizzs will also join in.”

 She added in a sing-song voice, “You’ll all receive an extra bonus and royalty favors if you bring me their heads!”

 Fizzarolli grinned. “This is gonna be so fun!”

 “The rewards. Striker, you’ll be rewarded by me for killing Stolas. 10,000 souls or more. And a new home in Wrath for you and your family.”

 Striker had to roll his eyes. He didn’t have a family anymore. He didn’t just want 10,000 souls. Now that he thought about it, he wanted much more.

 “Fizzarolli, Loo-Loo land will be repaired and you’ll get to lead future productions in Lu Lu World. Plus money, your own brand and perhaps…” she whispered so only he could hear, “…freedom.”

 “Oh goody!”

 “Verosika…more tours, more sex and money for you. You’ll be the star of every Ring in Hell.”

 Verosika grinned and fluffed her long pink-white hair.

 Stella smirked in a manner unfit for a queen. “And to make things a little more fun…as a way to show Stolas what his infidelity means…a special prize for the first one to kill Blitzo for me…”

 She playfully massaged her boobs under her pink dress. All the villains minus Vortex blushed in delight and shock as they knew what she was implying. Verosika’s gang in the far back of the room watched while eating popcorn. Vortex made a face of disgust.

 Seconds later, Stella was regal again. “And you there, dog!” Stella called, making Vortex look up. “Verosika has a special assignment for you.”

 “What?” he asked.

 “Keep a close eye on that loony hellhound of theirs,” Verosika grinned deviously.

 Worry was etched onto Vortex’s face as he nodded. Though he had a girlfriend, he had found Loona adorable at the beach on Earth. He couldn’t believe what he had to do now.  

 “I’ll keep you updated on Stolas’ whereabouts and when it’s time to move,” Stella finished. “Do not disappoint me.”

 The screen went dark.

 “Well, that’s a wrap folks,” said Verosika. “Meeting dismissed. Fuck around, get some sleep, we have a big day tomorrow.”

 Verosika took out her phone and began texting.

 “Who are you texting?” Vortex asked.

 “There’s this pink southern succubus sinner named Martha,” Verosika grinned. “She says she leads an army in the name of Satan and they want blood after being killed by you know who on Earth. Ralphie and her two kids live with her there. She also wants this Mayberry sinner dead.”

 “What does that mean?” Striker asked.

 Verosika grinned. “It means…we have a potential ally in the Pride Ring!”

 “Awesome!” said Fizzarolli. “Their enemies keep growing and growing!”

 The villains laughed.

 “With so many souls seeking revenge, I.M.P. won’t know what hit ‘em!” Fizzarolli cackled.

 “Yes, but let’s focus on our main mission first,” said Striker. “Perhaps we’ll have the honor of getting to them first!”

 The villains laughed again and retired to bed.

 ‘This plan better work,’ Striker thought. ‘Because Stolas’ blood will not be the only blood that’ll be on my hands soon enough…’

#helluvaboss #villains #legion of doom

[strangeandforlornbooks]

best books with morally ambiguous narrators!

all y’all’s problematic faves and villains! :) also included are third person narrators but in books with morally ambiguous leads/themes 

Sci-fi

Scythe by Neal Shusterman: in a future free from pain, disease, and war, people can live forever. ‘scythes’ are given the power to decide who lives and who dies to preserve the balance. sad and kinda gives of hunger games vibes, if you like that.

Neuromancer by William Gibson: basically invented the cyberpunk genre. strange and removed protagonists. (a team of computer hackers have to face off against an evil AI). you kind of dislike everyone and suddenly you’re crying over them. one of those trippy sci-fi classics.

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut: very beautiful and very very sad (same author as slaughterhouse five). the richest man in america has to face a martian invasion. more about free will and bad people doing good things than a plot that makes any kind of sense.

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick: set in an alternate universe where the germans and japanese won world war two. not really like the tv show at all- it’s not an action story, and there’s not really the hope to somehow fix the world that drives a lot of dystopia stories. instead its about how people survive and connect to one another in a hopeless society.

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow: a supercomputer convinces the leaders of the world to keep the peace for hundreds of years by taking their children hostage and obliterating any city that disobeys. what happens to the hostage protagonists when war seems inevitable? lots of morally fraught decisions and characters slowly losing their identity. (plus a fun lesbian romance)

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson: a brilliant mathematician and a dedicated marine fight to keep the ultra secret in world war two. fifty years later,  a tech company discovers what remains of their story. one of the most memorable sequences in the book is a japanese soldier slowly becoming disillusioned with his nation and horrified by the war even as he continues to fight.

Blade Runner by Philip K. Dick: another one of those sci-fi classics that’s not at all like the movie. there is a bounty hunter for robots, though, as well as a weird religion that probably is referencing catholicism and a decaying society with a shortage of pets. kind of a trip.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power: girls trapped in a boarding school on an isolated island must face a creeping rot that affects the animals and plants on the island as well as their own bodies. the protagonists will do anything to survive and keep each other safe. very tense (and bonus lesbian romance whoo)

The Fifth Season by N K Jemisin: three women are gifted with the ability to control the earth’s energy in a world where those who can do so are forced into hiding or slavery. some veryyyy dark choices here but lots of strong female characters.

Historical Fiction

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters: two victorian lesbians fall in love as they plot to betray each other in horrific ways. lots of plot twists, plucky thieves, gothic settings, and a great romance.

Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiwicz: a powerful roman soldier in the time of Nero plots to kidnap a young woman after he falls in love with her, only to learn more about the mysterious christian religion she follows. very melodramatic but some terrific prose. 

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr: a blind girl in France and a brilliant German boy recruited by the military struggle through the chaos of the second world war. ends with a bang (iykyk.) very sad, reads like poetry.

Boxers by Gene Luen Yang: graphic novel reveals the story of a young boy fighting in the boxer rebellion in early twentieth century china. the sequel, saints, is also excellent. beautifully and sympathetically shows the protagonist’s descent into evil- the reader really understands each step along the way.

Fantasy

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake: three triplets separated at birth, each with their own magical powers, have to fight to the death to gain the throne. lots of fun honestly

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo: everyone in these books is highly problematic but you love them all anyway. a ragtag game of criminals plan a heist on a magical fortress. some terrific tragic back stories, repressed feelings, and revenge schemes.

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King: idk how to describe these frankly but if you can put up with King’s appalling writing of female characters they’re pretty interesting. fantasy epic about saving the world/universe, sort of. cowboys and prophecies and overlapping dimensions and drug addicts galore.

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud: lots of fun! a twelve year old decides to summon a demon for his cute lil revenge scheme. sarcastic demon narrator. lighthearted until s*** gets real suddenly.

Elegy and Swansong by Vale Aida: fantasy epic with machiavellian lesbians and enemies to lovers to enemies to ??? to lovers. charming and exciting and lovely characters.

The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen: an orphan boy must compete with a few others for the chance to impersonate a dead prince. really dark but very tense and exciting and good twists.

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu: fantasy epic. heroes overthrow an evil empire and then struggle as the revolution dissolves into warring factions. interesting world building and three dimensional characters, even if they only have a small part.

Circe by Madeline Miller: the story behind the witch who turns men into pigs in the odyssey. madeline miller really said, i just used my classics degree to write a beautiful gay love story and now im going to write a powerful feminist retelling because i can. queen. an amazing and satisfying book that kills me a lil bit because of the two lines referencing the song of achilles.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer: the tragic backstory for the queen of hearts in alice in wonderland. a little predictable but very fun with a compelling protagonist

A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) by George RR Martin: ok I know we all hate GRRM and rightfully so but admittedly these books do have some great characters and great scenes. they deserve better than GRRM though. also he will probably never finish the books anyway....

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket: not really fantasy but not really anything else either. plucky, intelligent, and kind children fight off evil plots for thirteen books until suddenly you realize the world is not nearly as black and white as you thought. 

Classics

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: gothic romance!! a new wife is curious about the mysterious death of her predecessor in a creepy old house in the British countryside...good twists and lovely prose.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles: not really morally ambiguous but one awful decision suddenly has awful consequences and certain people are haunted by guilt forever.... really really really beautiful and really really really sad. boys in a boarding school grow up together under the shadow of world war two.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: while imperial russia slowly decays a beautiful young woman begins a destructive affair. a long book. very russian. the ending is incredibly tense and well written.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding: I think you know the plot to this one. the prose is better than you remember and the last scene is always exciting.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie: one by one, the guests on an island are slowly picked off. one of Christie’s darkest mysteries- no happy ending here! very tense and great twists.

Contemporary

The Secret History by Donna Tartt: inspired the whole dark academia aesthetic. college students get a little too into ancient greece and it does not end very well. lovely prose but I found the characters unlikable.

Honorable Mentions

The Dublin Saga by Edward Rutherford: has literally a billion protagonists, but some of them are morally ambiguous ig? follows a few families stories’ from the 400s ad to irish independence in the 20s. beautifully captures the weight and movement of irish history.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer: how morally ambiguous can you be if you’re, like, eleven? a lot if you’re a criminal genius who wants to kidnap a fairy for your evil-ish plan apparently!

Redemption by Leon Uris: literally my favorite novel ever. the sequel to Trinity but can stand alone. various irish families struggle through the horrors of world war one. the hero isn’t really morally ambiguous, but the main theme of the novel is extremely bad people suddenly questioning their choices and eventually redeeming themselves. sweeping themes of love, screwed up families, redemption, and patriotism.

The Lymond Chronicles and House of Niccolo by Dorothy Dunnett: heroes redeem themselves/try to get rich/try to save their country in early renaissance Europe. if I actually knew what happened in these books I'm sure it would be morally ambiguous but its too confusing for me. in each book you spend at least a third convinced the protagonist is evil, though. lots of exciting sword fights, tragic romances, plot twists, and kicking english butt.

Bonus: Protagonist is less morally ambiguous and more very screwed up and sad all the time

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt: you know this one bc its quoted in all those quote compilations. basically the story of how one horrible event traumatizes a young man and how he develops a connection to a painting. really really really good.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro: hard to describe but strange... not an action novel or a dystopia really but sort of along those lines. very hopeless.

#book recs #morally ambiguous protagonists #dark academia #book recommendations #mine

[bellaslittlebitch]

Twilight AH highschool years

Edward Masen would be the president of those weird church, bible study, type groups American highschools always have, getting an A is a disgrace it has to be A+, believes in abstaining till marriage, has a purity ring, also keeps handing out fliers about herpes and the dangers of unprotected sex to everybody, plays piano in every school event, is in fact in a christian band, teachers pet, lowkey a snitch, never gets into trouble, rumor has it that he’s in love with the pothead girl but is too scared he’s not cool enough for her, once asked Bella to join his bible group as an ice breaker and she laughed so hard she almost chocked and had to be taken to the nurse, wants to be a doctor like his daddy, is genuinely a nice guy but can come off as stuck up and a know-it-all sometimes, people think he’s spoiled because his father’s rich but he’s actually really shy and down to earth when you get to know him, passionate about his beliefs, pro-choice.

Bella Swan is known as the local pothead, always has the best weed, almost to chill sometimes, really easygoing until someone insults her friends, can hang with anyone and everyone as long as they’re not a piece of shit, once spray painted “fuck the police” on her dad’s cruiser with Emmett, has lots of friends in Phoenix, Seattle and La Push, superior taste in music everybody always asks for her playlists for everything, tried every single extra curricular activity at least once but had to quit all of them after like a week because she kept forgetting about it, her favorite subject’s English Lit, she says it’s because the teacher has good vibes but she’s actually a major book nerd and has read books even the teacher’s not aware of, nobody knows where she finds them, writes short stories that do really well, wants to study literature, always goes book thrifting with Angela on Sundays, her favorite hobby is visiting Edwards little bible study meetings to annoy him by asking dumb questions about God and life.

Emmett McCarty is not a jock anymore because he got kicked out from the football team after beating tf outta too many homophobic sexist pieces of shit on his team and because America is a trash pile he’s the one who got in trouble so recently he’s been taking an intrest in art and joined the pottery club, keeps making cute vases for Rosalie, always there if you want to vent, loyal to the bone, considers Edward his little brother from another mother, kept him from being bullied since kindergarten, one of the warmest people you’ll ever know, got a Hummer for his 17th birthday and haven’t shut up about it since, has a custom bumper sticker that says “proud to be a feminist”, has about 12 siblings and carries pictures of all of them in his wallet like an old man, never skipped a family dinner, goes bear watching with the boys, considers becoming a park ranger, wants to preserve wildlife in Forks.

Alice Brandon is not a part of the planning comitee she IS the planning comitee, carries every event on her back while dressed flawlessly also belongs to photography club while also being a cheerleader and has and incredibly popular fashion blog, complains there’s not enough to do in Forks because she’s already bored, friends with everybody, local fashion police, always has an iced coffee in hand and refuses to sleep, keeps saying it’s for the weak, Bella and Rose have to force her to at least take a nap during their weekly sleepovers, plans to own the biggest fashion brand to ever exist, sometimes kind of flaky but always pulls through for her best friends, everyone is scared of how perfectly put together she always is while simultaneously respecting the hell out of the grind, her parents wanted her to do ballet because of how small and graceful she was but it was too boring for her, if you gon have beef with her you gon have beef with her forever.

Rosalie Hale got tired of everything the school had to offer after perfecting it all, said fuck it and created the mechanics group that teaches girls how to work on cars, men are not allowed I mean they are because school wouldn’t allow it otherwise but boys never join because they’re too scared, as they should be, once led a “men in cages 2020” campaign and got suspended, never backs down from a fight and never lets anybody disrespect her or her closest friends, lives by: “friends are the family we choose”, ran away from home in middle school once to prove a point, constantly fixing Bella’s truck she refuses to give up, volunteers at the local women’s shelter every weekend, stays over at Bellas house so much Charlie’s shocked when she’s not there. When Bella moved into town she didn’t trust her because she was protective of her chosen family but then saw her punch a boy at recess and they became inseparable, plans to open a non-profit organization that helps women that went through domestic abuse, knows her future kids names already, considers joining the cheerleading squad, has a black belt in karate.

Jasper Hale is simply not there, if you ever saw him in class you didn’t, the only place you’ll ever see him is making out with Alice in the girls bathroom or smoking weed with Bella behind the bleechers. Also driven 3 history teachers to quit by simply knowing more about everything, somehow still gets decent grades, fakes a southern accent because he thinks it sounds hot, Rosalie bullies him for it constantly, kind of rude sometimes, introverted, likes to sit in silence with Bella, only talks about his feelings with Alice, got off the wrong foot with Edward at first but they’re chill now, refuses to call hanging out with Edward and Emmett “sleepovers”, wants to be a cowboy but since it’s not a profession he’ll settle for being a history major for now, has no idea what he’ll do with his life, lowkey scared about that, loves painting, has his own little studio in his parents basement, always sketching something in his little book.

#idk man that’s how I see them

[incarnateirony]

Hey dude! Do you have any recommendations for LGBTQ+ movies in the romance genre that have like a happy ending. I really don't care how old they are. I'm feeling the Gay™ hence I need the Gay™. You feel me?

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII NONNIE

First sorry for taking so long, not only did I have to timeline this :) but :) my computer :) froze :) after writing like :) 2 pages :) and I had to do it again :)

So anyway let it be said, the LGBT dialogue is one of osmosis and shared growth and awareness. Some of these films will be very poorly dated, but as you (thankfully) mentioned that them being old wasn’t a *problem*, expect a lot of old stuff. Because one of the most important things to have under your belt when talking about the LGBT media representation battle is the actual journey from A to B – be that incrementalization, subtextual inclusion, text-breeching features, outright evocative and groundbreaking films at the time (which is what MOST of this list will be) and an improvement in our dialogue; let us never forget that while tr*nss*xual is considered a slur and transgender is proper, tr*nss*xual was at one point the politically correct way to speak it – things like that breach in our growing understanding of the spectrum of human sexuality. 

I *WILL* disclaimer these aren’t all romance, so if you explicitly want romance, google them and take a look if it sounds to appeal, but I’m taking this as a general cinema history plug considering what a confused mess fandom conversation about LGBT history in film or modern text as applicable, accepted or not.

Wonder Bar (1936) (I wouldn’t really call this queer cinema, but if you have the time to watch it too, I think it was the first explicit mention of homosexual engagement even if it was fleetingly brief. You might even call it Last Call style. A blink and you’ll miss it plug that was still decades ahead of its time)

Sylvia Scarlet (1936) (Again, I wouldn’t call this queer cinema, but a lot of the community takes it as the first potential trans representation on TV due to the lead literally swapping gender presentation, even if the presentation is… not what we would modernly call representation IMO)

Un Chant d'Amour (1950) (Worth it for the sheer fact that it pissed off fundies so bad they took it all the way to the US supreme court to get it declared obscene.)

The Children’s Hour (1961) (also known as the 1961 lesson to “don’t be a gossipy, outting bitch”)

Victim (1961) (The first english film to use the word “homosexual” and to focus explicitly on gay sexuality. People might look on it disdainfully from modern lenses, but it really helped progress british understanding of homosexuality)

Scorpio Rising (1964) (Lmao this one deadass got taken to court when it pissed people off and California had to rule that it didn’t count as obscene bc it had social value, worth it for the history if nothing else)

Theorem (1968) (Because who doesn’t wanna watch a 60s flick about a bisexual angel, modern issues and associations be damned)

The Killing of Sister George (1968) (by the makers of What Ever Happened To Baby Jane)

Midnight Cowboy (1969) (…have I had sassy contagonists in RP make a Dean joke off of this more than once, maybe)

Fellini-Satyricon (1969) (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA THIS)

The Boys in the Band (1970) (This… this… this made a lot of fuss. Just remember leather)

Pink Narcissus (1971) (a labor of love shot on someone’s personal camera)

Death in Venice (1971) (This is basically a T&S prequel but whatever, based on a much older book)

Cabaret (1972) 

Pink Flamingos (1972) (SHIT’S WILD)

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972) (The title doesn’t lie, be warned)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) [god I hope you’ve at least seen this]

Fox and His Friends (1975) (some really hard lessons that are still viable today, that just because someone acknowledges your sexuality doesn’t mean they give a shit about you as a person, and that some will even abuse the knowledge for gain)

The Terence Davies Trilogy (1983) (REALLY interesting history look it up, it’s sort of one of those “drawn from own experience” story short sets)

The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) (Documentary)

Desert Hearts (1985) (Pretty much the first film to put lesbianism into a good light as a true focus based on a novel from the sixties)

Parting Glances (1986) (the only film its creator got out before his death from the aids epidemic)

Law of Desire (1987) (two men and a trans woman in a love triangle, kinda ahead of its time)

Maurice (1987) (This one’s really interesting, cuz it was based on a book made about 15 years before it, but the book itself had been written half a century earlier and wasn’t published until after the guy died, he just thought it’d never get published Cuz Gay, so basically it’s based on a story written in like, the 20s finally getting screen time. It has a bittersweet but positive-leaning-ish ending without disregarding the cost that can come with it and even addresses class issues at the same time 100% DO RECOMMEND)

Tongues Untied (1989) (a documentary to give voices to LGBT black men) 

Longtime Companion (1990) (This one’s title alone is history, based on a NYT phrasing for how they talked about people’s partners dying, eg longtime companion, during the AIDS epidemic)

Paris Is Burning (1990) (Drag culture and related sexual and gender identity exploration as it intersected with class issues and other privileges explored in a documentary)

The Crying Game (1992)( I should correct this that I guess it’s more, 1992 considered, “SURPRISE, DIL HAS A DILL!” – I guess I really didn’t do that summary justice by modern language and dialogue as much as how people in the 90s were talking about that and that’s a my bad. LIKE. SEE, EVEN I CAN FUCK UP MY LANGUAGE I’M SORRY CAN I BLAME THE STRAIGHTS T_T) #90skidproblems – I guess I should call it a trans film. And this alone tells me I should go watch it again to recode it in my brain modernly rather than like circa de la 2000 understanding.

The Bird Cage (1996) (So you mix drag culture, otherwise heterosexually connected lovebirds, and then realize the girl comes from an alt-rightish house and the guy comes from a Two Dads Home and does cabaret, how to deal with the issues OF this conflict when it’s between you and your happiness, even if the fight isn’t even your own as much as it is that of the person you love. The answer is PROBABLY NOT to dress in drag and pretend to be straight, but what are you going to do? – while played for laughs we’d consider modernly crude, the fact that they even dared to approach this narrative was pretty loud)

The Celluloid Closet (1996) (Ever heard of the Vito Russo test for LGBT representation? This is based on a book by Vito Russo.)

Happy Together (1997) (Ain’t this shit an ironic name; a mutual narrative, via chinese flick, of hong kong ceding to china and an irrevocably tangled MLM pairing as a giant mirrored metaphor)

Boys Don’t Cry (1999) (one of the most groundbreaking films about trans identity at the time)

Stranger Inside (2001) (As easy as it is to recoil to the idea of “black gays in jail”, the film makers actually went and consulted prisoners and put a great deal of focus into intersectional african american issues that really weren’t around even in straight films at the time)

Transamerica (2005) (While it made a bit of a fuss for not casting an actual trans actor, it was one of the first times a big budget studio really tried to tackle it which really pushed us forward)

Call Me by Your Name (2017) (since I’ve apparently leaned really heavy old cinema throw in a modern one lmaooooo)

Also honorable The Kids Are All Right (2010) mention for the sake of the fucking title alone. 

And to any incarnation of “On the Road” by Kerouac, which

Was originally a book

Released a sanitized de-gayed edition because of the times

Later released the full homo manuscript

had a few film adaptations

Was one of Kripke’s founding inspirations for Supernatural once he left behind “Some reporter guy chases stories” and took the formula of Sal and Dean (and tbh later, Carlo) in a beat generation vibe gone modern as we know it today.

Reading both versions of this can actually help some folks currently understand that when you get confused over some shit (WHY IS CARLO SO UPSET? WHY IS HE ACTING LIKE AN UPSET GIRLFRIEND??? WHY IS HE SO JEALOUS AND SAD WHEN DEAN IS AROUND GIRLS???? WE JUST DONT KNOWWWWWWWWWWWWW) it’s because some big money asshat bleached the content, and sometimes, it takes a while for the full script to come out and again, surprise, it’s been GAY, they just didn’t want to OFFEND anybody. *jazz hands*

Now if you wanna go WAY WAY BACK, during 191X years, a bunch of gender role flicks came out like Charley’s Aunt, Mabel’s Blunder and the Florida Enchantment.

Also where is @thecoffeebrain-blog to yell about the necessity of watching Oz, for the next few hours? But no, seriously, just look into the entire LGBT *HISTORY* of Oz.

Beyond that though I’m gonna stop here cuz hi that’s a lot. I really don’t know how much counts as “happy ending” but if I had to give an LGBT cinema rec list, that’s it as a sum. I don’t really have like, a big portfolio of UWU HAPPY ENDING GAYS because 1. there aren’t a lot of those but 2. to me, it’s not about the ending, it’s about the journey. Be that in flick or through culture and history itself.

If you want more happy ending stuff, you definitely have to look at 2010+, but it’s not like we’re in a rich and fertile landscape yet so honestly just googling that would probably serve you better since I don’t explicitly explore romance genre or happy endings to really have a collection. LGBT life is hard and film often reflects that if we’re making genuine statements about it and really representing it, and we’re just now getting to a point of reliably having the chance at a happy ending. That or maybe someone can add like “Explicit happy endings” lists after this that has more experience in that subgenre.

Also, I can’t emphasize ENOUGH to remember what was progressive then is not what is progressive now, and frankly, what some people think is progressive now they’ll probably look back on what they said and feel really fuckin’ embarrassed. See: “It’s not text because by alt right homophobic dialogue, M/M sex isn’t gay if you do the secret handshake” MGTOW kinda crazy ass dialogue or parallel narratives they inspire that encourage self-closeting and denial based on the pure idea that being gay makes you somehow lesser, so It’s Not That. Like. I am. 99% sure. At least half of the people talking in this fandom. Are going to regret that the internet is forever. And maybe hope hosting servers end in the inevitable nuclear war that will annihilate this planet.

Also, edit: Speaking of mistaken dialogues and words aging poorly, I’d like to apologize from the poor description I rendered “The Crying Game” with, but that really goes to show how deep-seated the issue is we can so casually fuck up identifying a trans narrative as SURPRISE DICK IS GAY when we were all absorbing the content like 20+ years ago and HOW HARD it can be to de-code yourself from that kind of programming because here I am, writing a giant assed rep post and fucking it up because my brain hadn’t soaked that movie since Y2K. Guess what, time for me to go watch the Crying Game again.

#lgbtqia #representation #media #cinema history

[moviemagistrate]

ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD review

ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD is my favorite movie of the 2010’s. 

I’ll give you a minute to put your recently-blown mind back together.

So why do I love this movie so much? The overall response to Quentin Tarantino’s supposedly penultimate opus has been very positive if not rapturous, but I’ve seen some surprisingly lukewarm and even negative reviews, with people criticizing it for being slow, meandering, lacking in depth or *shudder* boring. Obviously the quality of any movie is subjective, as I’m quick to remind anyone who hates Michael Bay movies, but I honestly don’t understand people who dislike OUATIH. Maybe it’s a matter of expectations, because I didn’t know how to feel about the film for much of the first time I watched it either.

The year is 1969, a time of great political and cultural change in the country and in the entertainment industry. The star-driven films of yesteryear are giving way to grittier, artsier, more auteur-driven works as we primarily follow Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), former star of a popular cowboy show whose failed attempt to start an A-list movie career has left him relying on guest spots as TV villains-of-the-week to stay afloat. This is wonderfully laid out in the opening scene where he meets casting director Marvin Schwarz (Al Pacino, easily his best role since JACK & JILL), who lays out Rick’s lowering hierarchical status (“Who’s gonna kick the shit out of you next week? How about Batman & Robin? PING. POW”), while offering him an opportunity to be a leading-man again in Italian pictures.

Tagging along is Rick’s best, and maybe only, friend Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), Rick’s go-with-the-flow stunt-double who in the slowdown of Rick’s career has effectively become his driver and gofer, as well as Rick’s sole source of emotional support. Rick is also neighbors with Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), the beautiful young actress and wife of then-superstar director Roman Polanski (whose inclusion in the film is minimal and handled tastefully), as she lives out her idyllic life, beloved by those around her like the ray of sunshine she was in real life. Her gated, hillside home looms over Rick’s, as he ponders aloud about how even meeting her the right way could resurrect his career.

For almost two-and-a-half hours, we follow these three characters as they just live out their lives, Rick nursing hangovers and having emotional breakdowns in front of his 8-year-old co-star on set while contemplating his future, Cliff going where the wind blows him while taking care of his adorable and highly-trained dog, and Sharon as she drives around Old Hollywood, spends time with her friends, and sneaks into a matinee showing of one of her movies, her eyes and infectious smile beaming with pride when the audience laughs at her comedic timing and cheers her martial-arts prowess.

I think it’s safe to say it’s not the film any of us were expecting from Quentin Tarantino. Having only made loud, gory, over-the-top genre pastiches for the last 15 years, you’d expect from the trailers for this to be about an actor and his sexy stunt-double getting mixed up with the Manson family before teaming up with Bruce Lee to save Sharon Tate from her horrific real-life fate, mixed with the filmmaker’s usual self-indulgent homages to films of yesteryear. While some of this is true to some extent, it’s surprisingly a much more relaxed, easygoing dramedy that follows a trio of funny, charismatic people as they just…exist, as people living in the moment instead of relics.

OUATIH is much more concerned with atmosphere, character, and capturing the feeling of a bygone era than the traditional narrative structure. It’s more effective than pretty much every nostalgia trip movie I've ever seen because you can feel Tarantino's affection for this era of his childhood bleed through every character, car, song, radio advertisement, TV show, background poster, etc. It’s through this meticulous level of detail and willingness to just hang out with these characters and take in this world that he reconstructed, Tarantino successfully resurrects the era in all its 35mm glory, but with the knowing twinge of real-world melancholy.

I guess the reason I love it so much is because the love that Tarantino has for everything and everyone in it is so tangible that it’s infectious. Watching OUATIH I honestly felt like I understood him better as both a filmmaker and as a person. He shows a level of restraint and maturity I haven’t seen since JACKIE BROWN. Even most of his trademark foot fetishizing is tasteful and subdued (I say “most” because I recall at least three close-ups of actresses’ feet that definitely made him a bit sweaty behind the camera). He’s a weird, shameless nerd with a big ego, but he’s 100% sincere about expressing his love for film and its rich history. And it’s this love, and the skill and style with which it’s expressed, that just put a big smile on my face each of the 6 (SIX) times that I’ve seen it since it came out. 

Tarantino offers a tantalizing contrast between reality and fantasy. Throughout the film, as the characters of Hollywood live in their own idyllic world, relaxing in pools or driving around in bitchin’ cars, we also see the disquieting eeriness and griminess of the Manson family. The soundtrack and accompanying old-timey commercials for tanning butter or Mug Root Beer that plays through a lot of the film is a joy to listen to, but we also hear news bulletins of the war in Vietnam or the aftermath of the Bobby Kennedy assassination. You could argue this is just to set the scene for the era, but it feels too deliberate, because even after that joyously fantastical ending, we remember that it was just a fairy tale and real life didn’t turn out as pleasantly. Tarantino’s ability to make his world and characters so meticulously detailed and lived-in works to great effect in instilling a bittersweet melancholy to this film in a way I was really taken aback by. It feels like a window into his soul, someone who yearns for the fantasy of the world he grew up in but remembering that not all good things last and not everything in your nostalgic past was good to begin with.

One beautiful, spellbinding scene is Rick and Cliff coming back from their excursion into the world of Italian filmmaking. In this montage, we see Rick, Cliff and Rick’s new Italian wife arriving at the airport and driving home before unpacking their baggage, interspersed with Sharon Tate welcoming a guest at her home and having lunch, before cutting to a series of shots of famous LA landmarks like Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Taco Bell, and Der Wienerschnitzel all meticulously resurrected in their retro glory as they light up the night. “Baby, baby, baby you’re out of time”, sings Mick Jagger as we’re watching multiple stories about people who are each embodying those words: Rick’s career, his friendship with Cliff, Sharon Tate, and Hollywood itself.

Tarantino himself feels like one of the last mainstream auteur filmmakers, as well as one of the last and biggest proponents of shooting large-budget movies on film (even Scorsese’s embraced digital now, the fantastically-talented traitor). And with the rise of streaming services, one can’t help but feel like the movie-going experience itself is also becoming obsolete, especially recently, what with theaters going to war with distributors over fucking TROLLS: WORLD TOUR, not to mention that global pandemic we’ve been having lately all but killing general audiences’ enthusiasm for the movie theater experience (Christopher Nolan’s TENET certainly didn’t help). If all these things, both real and fictional, are indeed out of time, then at least with Tarantino’s penultimate film they get one hell of a bittersweet sendoff, a great time that’s more of an Irish wake than a funeral, and it’s a film I have no issue calling a truly introspective, late-career masterpiece.

And that’s without mentioning uniformly incredible cast. Leo DiCaprio, an actor I normally don’t care too much for, gives the best and funniest performance of his career as a dependent prima donna actor clinging to his remaining fame. Brad Pitt earns the hell out of his Oscar as an embodiment of old-school masculinity and charisma with an amazing set of abs (and everything else) whose outward coolness masks his mysterious past and complete badass-ness. Margot Robbie shines in her depiction of Tate, a beacon of warmth and likability who in many ways symbolized the love and carefree attitudes of the swingin’ 60’s. I’ve heard people criticize her character for not having a lot of dialogue, but to me it feels like they’re ignoring the visual storytelling, which just gives way to them assuming the film is sexist just because the female lead isn’t constantly monologuing. Every member of the supporting cast is memorable with their own quirks and great lines, no matter their screentime.

And of course, it wouldn’t be a Tarantino joint without some truly hilarious and shocking violence, and without going into spoiler territory, the last 20 minutes delivers on this promise to such a degree that I feel comfortable calling it the best thing he’s ever done. Some may decry the climax as unnecessary or over-the-top, but the way it leads to an alternate world while subtly acknowledging what happened in the real one is cathartic beyond belief. And if you’re paying attention, every scene in the movie has been quietly building towards this finale, which to me takes away any potential of feeling meandering in the story. If you saw the movie and didn’t much care for it, I recommend giving it another watch. Having the context ahead of time makes it feel so much more rewarding, and even on the fifth watch I’m noticing clever, subtle set-ups I missed beforehand.

It’s also just super cozy and really easy to watch. The two hours and 45 minutes fly by. I could watch a 4-hour version of this.

Quentin, if you’re reading this, please don’t let your last movie be Star Trek.

#tarantino #feet #hippies #brad pitt

[hello-robin-goodfellow]

THE DIFERENT CYCLES OF NOSTALGIA FILTER

Most of the nostalgia towards the past is based on Nostalgia Filter. The good stuff is remembered and the bad stuff ignored, forgotten or not even taken in account. When it's about a time period Two Decades Behind people will be nostalgic for it because they experienced it themselves, but from the viewpoint of a child or a teenager, when they didn't have to worry about all the adult stuff that depresses them nowadays, because the grownups took care of all that: taxes, work, bills, tragic news events,... If the nostalgia is about a time period people didn't directly experience themselves the romanticism is even more rampant. People will base their rosy posy image of that time period on stuff they have seen and read in books, comic strips, cartoons, TV series, films, old photos and/or fond memories of older family members. Usually they aren't aware that many things they now take for granted didn't always exist back then or were still considered highly controversial.

The glories of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome where the cradle of philosophy and science started, everyone is able to enlist in the army (well, if you weren't a woman or a slave, of course) and see the world while doing so. You can go and enjoy watching Olympic Games, a play in the theater or watch exciting gladiator battles in the arena, philosophers like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Virgil are respected as pillars of their societies, and people were opened to sex and LGBT as opposed to the close-minded Christians in later centuries. Not taken in account: class systems, people dying early of diseases we nowadays have proper treatment for, slavery, democracy only for rich upperclass males citizens, bloody battles, Roman military service had to be fulfilled several years! before you could retire and start a civilian life, women having no rights, not even allowed to watch sporting games, xenophobia was so prevalent that would make modern prejudices and bigotry look tame, scientific contributions were more based on superstitions and empirical and weren't always based on logic (see Plato's and Aristotle's works), pederasty was the only accepted form of homosexuality and it was punishable if a relationship did not fit in those criteria (also it was only tolerated in some city and states), Roman sexuality was still arguably patriarchal and not all sexual taboo was acceptable (ie. a wealthy man get away with his slaves while married women were expected to be faithful, oral sex was considered shameful).

The thousand years of Chinese dynasties up until Republic was the time where people dressed in beautiful colorful haifu with good etiquette and manners, scholars were appreciated, education was valued as opposed during the Cultural Revolution, the Tang Dynasty was the golden age of prosperity and where women has more rights than any other periods. Not taken in account: the Confucians were oppressive against the lower social classes, the caste system, education systems were corrupted with many scholars and students were promoted based on bribes rather than actual skills, women were still considered inferior in the Tang Dynasty, the royal court were so deadly and decadent that would make the place in wuxia media look tame, slavery, the rebellions and civil wars (ie. The Three Kingdoms, An Lushan Rebellion, Taiping Rebellion) that were very common that cost million of lives that went unheard of and resulted in many famine and diseases that led to cannibalism, footbinding was practiced since the Song Dynasty, xenophobia was prevalent including against their sister countries like Japan and Korea.

The Middle Ages are usually romanticized as a glorious past with chivalrous knights fighting for the honor of beautiful princesses, proving their worth in tournaments, stuffing themselves at royal buffets with the kind old king, and defending castles against malevolent invaders. Not taken in account: The Plague, wars, mercenaries and soldiers plundering farms and villages, filthy streets, people dying at a young age because of insufficient knowledge of diseases, the injustice of the feudal system, monarchs and the Catholic Church being oppressive towards people with other viewpoints, high illiteracy, people executed and tortured for audience's pleasure and often without anything resembling a fair trial, women considered being lesser in status than men, famine whenever harvests failed... Ironically, the part that was arguably good, the Byzantine Empire (with its extremely high literacy and such luxuries as running water) is usually overlooked or completely ignored.

The Renaissance and The Enlightenment are the time when society finally got out of the bleak, primitive and God fearing Dark Middle Ages and gained wisdom by discovering a lot of stuff. Kings and queens never looked more magnificent. Artists and sculptors painted the finest works and humanists, philosophers and Protestants learned humanity to think for themselves. You could enjoy a Shakespeare play, listen to baroque classical music or have a swashbuckling duel. Not taken in account: A lot of new thought and discoveries in the field of science were very slowly adapted into society. Mostly because a lot of royals, religious authorities and other government officials suppressed these "dangerous" new ideas. Compared to those "primitive" Middle Ages more people have been hanged or burned on the stake for their beliefs and/or on the assumption that they were witches during the 1500s, 1600s and 1700s than in the centuries before! The Reformation and Counter-Reformation divided Europe and caused many casualties. All the great books and art works created during this era were only enjoyed or experienced by the very rich. Wars still ravaged Europe, colonization exploited other continents, slavery became a real industry and absolutism made the monarchy and nobility so powerful and decadent that they didn't care about the lower classes. Duels weren't glorious at all, just a matter of killing off your opponent.

The Golden Age of Piracy is one big adventure where you could go on a boat trip with pirates and have fun attacking other ships, taking gold and bury or search for treasure on some Deserted Island. Men were real men with a Badass Beard and cool looking eye patches, hooks for hands and wooden legs. Not taken in account: scurvy, people forced to do what their captain told them, your ship being attacked by other ships and losing, keelhauling, loot just being spent instead of buried, anti-piracy laws could get you arrested and hanged, storms could destroy your ship, all the cool looking eye patches, hooks for hands and wooden legs were just practical solutions for grievous injuries suffered during fights, and the fact that most of the Caribbean economy was reliant on the slave trade. There were also plenty of brutal attacks on helpless villages, indigenous communities, plantations, civilian ships, and even colonial settlements. In addition to helping themselves to everything that wasn't tied down, pirates would also torture, murder, enslave, and/or rape men, women, and children indiscriminately just for their own sick pleasure.

America's Wild West is a fun era where you could roam the prairie on a horse, visit saloons and shoot outlaws and Indians. Not taken in account: slavery was not abolished until deep in the 19th century and still going on in many colonies or remote place in the American South, cowboys took care of cattle and didn't engage in gun fights, gun violence was just as illegal as it is nowadays and could get you arrested by local sheriffs, outlaws could actually remain on the loose for several years, Native Americans being massacred by white settlers and armies, black people having no basic human rights, The Ku Klux Klan was a respected organization...)

The mid-to-late 19th century and early 20th century were a classy time period where everybody was impeccably dressed and had good manners. You could take a coach ride or (later on) test the "horseless carriage", read some of the greatest novels in history, listen to the first records or even the great Caruso in person, admire the wonders of electricity and enjoy a world still untouched by modern industry. Life in the colonies was even more fun because you so many countries were still unexplored territory and the ideal place for adventure. Not taken in account: Victorian values were dominant, women couldn't vote, poor people couldn't vote, industrialization didn't have any health, safety or ethical rules to obey, child labor was rampant, workers had no rights, factories were very harmful to people's health and the environment, city rivers were open sewers, upper class had all the advantages upon the lower class, people could be sent to the poor house when they couldn't pay their debts, many novels were just pulp (think of it as the 19th century version of Internet) and music was strictly symphonic, the first automobiles were as dangerous as electricity, colonization was great for white Europeans but not as much for the oppressed native populations of Africa and Asia, animals were still hunted down as trophies, people who looked different were exploited in freak shows and circuses for spectators to Come to Gawk.

The Interbellum (1920s and 1930s): Between the two world wars, life was great. Everybody went to night clubs and/or revue theaters where they could enjoy great jazz music, girls and comedians. Movie theaters were a great place to be, because fantastic cinematic masterpieces were made. On the radio you could great music and serials, and newspapers published the best and most engaging comic strips ever printed. Not taken in account: From 1920 until 1933 alcohol was prohibited in the USA, so having an alcoholic drink was impossible without getting arrested or dying because of bad homemade brew. Crime was able to organize itself in a way that will probably never get untangled again. Many people got murdered in gangster violence. Jazz music was initially seen as "barbaric" just because it was made by blacks, and it had to be adapted to symphonic music to make it well-known. Hollywood in its early years was subject to more scandals than ever since, leading to a industry-wide censorship that lasted until the 1960s. The Great Depression between 1929 and 1940 caused major unemployment and poverty in many civilized countries, also forcing quite some people to start a life in crime. The "Dust Bowl" generated a desertification of the Midwest. Germany was particularly struck hard, because the country was still paying huge war debts to other countries, causing mass poverty and the ideal atmosphere for Nazism to gain voters. Many countries during this time period suffered under either Nazism, Fascism or Communism. From 1933 on Jewish, homosexual, Romani and left wing people were already persecuted in Nazi Germany, at the same time disagreeing in anything with Stalin meant a one-way ticket to Siberia. War was already brewing in Europe and the Far East, when Japan invaded China and South East Asia. Many countries were still colonies, which wasn't a great deal for the natives there. Afro-Americans were still second class citizens and the Ku Klux Klan was still quite powerful in many political circles.

The '40s and World War II, the time where the entire world was united against a common evil foe and soldiers could still fight a just cause. Everybody worked together to defeat the Nazis or Japanese, while enjoying great Hollywood films and jazz and big band records on the radio. Not taken in account: Not everyone was united against the Axis. Numerous people (even Lindbergh and Ford) didn't consider Nazism or Fascism anything bad or felt their country should stay neutral in the war. During the occupations many people on both sides were arrested, deported, and/or murdered. People couldn't trust anyone, because your neighbor might be a Nazi collaborator or a spy who would turn you in to the authorities. The Nazis banned American and English music and films in Europe, so you could get in big trouble if you tried. Also, you know, there was a big war on. Millions of young soldiers were drafted and died on the battlefield, cities were bombed and occupied by enemy armies, you could die any day, shortages were rife.

The '50s: The last truly great time period in history. Music, films, politicians were nice, clean and decent. There was a general optimistic feeling about the future, exemplified in sunny fashions, interiors and technology. The youth enjoyed some great rock 'n' roll on their transistor radios and the early TV shows show how happy and pleased everybody was. Not taken in account: the Cold War, the Red Scare, anti-communist witch hunts, the Korean War, the French Indochina War, many European countries tried violently oppressing the inevitable independence of their colonies, Afro-Americans were still second-rate citizens in the USA and had to fight for human rights, homosexuals were forced to keep their sexual identity silent in many countries, the traditional role of women as housewives was still encouraged in many Western countries, a lot of music in the hit parade was still the bland, square, formulaic and sappy crooner music popular since the 20s, adults were scared of early rock 'n' roll and actually did everything to suppress the youth from listening to it and becoming teenage delinquents, the TV shows and films of that decade were so escapist that they ignored every controversial element.

The '60s and The '70s, a great time when everybody was a beatnik or a hippie and enjoyed fantastic rock music, marijuana, LSD and free love. People chased bad guys with their own hands with cool funk and disco music playing in the background. The young demonstrated for more democratic rights and everything changed for the better. Not taken in account: the older generation looked down upon hippies, the Vietnam War cost many lives, The Cuba Missile Crisis nearly caused a nuclear war between the USA and USSR, Afro-Americans still had to fight for civil rights, just like today there were just as much idealistic but naïve demonstrators who merely wasted time smoking pot instead of actually doing something, drug casualties were just as rampant back then as they are today, people took the law on their hands because of the alarming crime rates, not helped by the extreme corruption of police forces, psychedelic rock, funk and disco are now confined to sit in the shadow of both rock-and-roll and modern pop music, to the point that for decades, these were considered as the most cheesy genres created by man, [[not all demonstrators were pacifistic in their approach and it's an open question whether everything actually changed for the better.

The '80s: Oh yes. A great decade for pop culture after the sordid '70s and before everything went to the gutter in the '90s: Everybody felt a bright future coming along, as demonstrated by good TV shows, groundbreaking technology, computers and videogames, colorful clothing, simple yet catchy pop music and finally a TV channel that showed your favorite bands 24/7. The Cold War came to an end, the Berlin Wall and Apartheid fell. Not taken in account: The early 1980s had many people fear the Cold War wasn't going to end well. The Latin American debt crisis. President Reagan wanted more nuclear missiles in Europe, envisioned the Star Wars defense system and the "Evil Empire" speech reflected the "Red Scare" at a time "the Bomb" was still making everybody nervous. The Cold War, Berlin Wall and Apartheid did fall, but only near the end of the decade. Unemployment and economic crisis were a huge problem in many Western countries in the early years of the decade and the high speculation led to a bubble which fatigued in 1987 and burst in 1989. AIDS caused many victims because governments were slow to inform the general public on this disease as most people at first dismissed as just a problem for blacks, gays and drug users. TV shows and movies were extremely escapist and PCs and video games were prohibitively expensive. MTV did bring music videos on TV, but the downside was that how a pop star looked and danced became more important than the music, which was now created by computers, becoming increasingly sappy and repetitive as samples became the norm, becoming a disadvantage for those who still wanted to use actual instruments, chords and tunes. Metal and rap were seen as crime-mongering and even "satanic" as a whole. Also drugs went artificial during this time, turning Florida into a Crapsaccharine World. The nuclear power plant explosion in Chernobyl caused another major fear among people about the dangers of nuclear power.

The '90s and The Aughts: Dude. The Cold War has ended, and though some pesky Arabs (and some nutcases in the West) will try to blow people up and some Central European countries will be at each other's throats, there is peace at last! Outsourcing has lifted the West from the heavy load of manual work for good and turn to technology, and anyways, isn't the Internet wonderful? Society and culture are now free to break all imposed boundaries: Music has become more authentic with the arrival of rap, hip-hop, grunge and pop-punk. TV and movies now address modern issues instead of being stuck in those stodgy 50s and 60s. Politicians at last agree on stuff and generally get along. Whatever. Not taken in account: While a couple of years in the late 1990s were quite peaceful, the years before were marked by the extremely chaotic rearrangement of the former Warsaw Pact nations and the decade after was dominated by the Iraq War and memories of 9/11. The "technological revolution" ultimately never became the boon it was supposed to be: Economically, the exodus of manufacturing jobs forced the middle class to live on debt, which would give way to an economic meltdown by the end of the 2000s while privacy would gradually become a major source of concern as personal data became readily accessible. During the 1990s, the Internet was very expensive and was the province of businessmen and geeks while during the following decade, online downloads and chatrooms became incendiary topics. Grunge and "gangsta rap" were better known at their peak for the demise of several of their stars than for the music while hip-hop and pop-punk would be regarded in retrospective as trashy as the bubblegum pop that dominated the late 90s. By increasingly appealing to the trendy set, TV and film became increasingly shallow. While ideological differences became a thing of the past, politics became more self-serving and conflicts became pettier. As a result, people began to feel a sense of disconnection, which eventually led to the rise of strongly ideological populist movements.

SOURCE:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NostalgiaAintLikeItUsedToBe

EXTRA: IN THE DISTANT YEAR OF 2045.

The New '10s and New '20s : Remember that meme? Do you have a Harriet doll? I need her to complet my My Little Poney: Friendship is Magic and Equestria Girls collection. Do you want to exchange her for my Fluttershy doll? Oh, do you like Lady Gaga? Her music was so deep. “Oppan Gangnam style. Gangnam style. Op, op, op, op oppan Gangnam style. Gangnam style. Op, op, op, op oppan Gangnam style. Eh sexy lady. Op, op, op, op oppan Gangnam style. Ehh sexy lady, oh, oh. Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh”. Oh, i love your funko pop of Baby Groot!  “ Gotta get that. Gotta get that. Gotta get that. Gotta get that that that. Boom boom boom (Gotta get that). Boom boom boom (Gotta get that). Boom boom boom (Gotta get that). Boom boom boom. (Gotta get that) Boom boom boom. That boom boom boom. That boom boom boom. Boom boom boom”. Avengers Assemble! 

Not taken in account: The Syrian refugee crisis. The burning of the Amazon jungle. Donald Trump as the american president. Jair Bolsonaro as the brazilian president. The Covid-19 Pandemic. Navy oil in the beachs of the brazilian north east. The Brazilian Cinematheque getting closed. Height of murders of LGBTQ in Brazil. Disney monopolizing the american TV an Movie Industry.

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