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atozphantomsquadron · 1 year

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Ariel - IV

She stood on a darkened, barren plain, the only upright figure in a flat world. Thunder sounded in the distance, the voice of nature like the voice of a wounded animal. Suddenly fearful, she looked behind her. Clouds, low and rolling, stormed toward where she stood. She felt the need to run, but her feet would not obey.

“Ariel!”

A voice called out to her. Looking before her, she could see its source: Ken stood there, his arms outstretched toward her. A shorter man stood to his left, motioning for her to approach.

Her feet still would not move.

The clouds threatened to engulf her. She turned and pleaded for her life, reaching out toward Ken and the short man. They turned away, covering their eyes.

The clouds closed around her, making her entire world black. The roar of the thunder came again, only it was closer, more animalistic. She crouched low to the ground, trying to become as small as possible. A scream boiled in her throat, but was cut off.

The clouds hid a creature. Its jaws were wide open, approaching, threatening, enclosing around her.

Ariel yelped, shooting upright in the bed. The blankets flew off of her, landing in a heap over a human lump beside her.

She carefully looked over her wrists. Bandages were tightly wrapped around them, but they had barely soaked any blood up. She looked around the room, recognizing it finally as being back in Ken’s apartment.

Still alive?

The human lump under the blankets finally revealed itself. Ken’s face looked up at her, showing signs of relief.

“Oh, thank God, you’re awake. You had us worried.”

She dropped her hands down to her sides. “Why did you save me?”

Ken settled into a seat on the side of the bed. “Because I’m worried about you, and I want to help. I think I can help you.”

“No you can’t, nobody can.” Ariel buried her face into her hands, her shoulders heaving and shuddering. “I’m a monster, nothing but, nothing can take this back, nothing can make me normal ever again …”

“Normalcy is so overrated.”

The deep voice made Ariel look up. At the other side of the bed from Ken stood a man less than four feet high, heavily muscled and deeply aged, smiling up at her and holding a beer mug filled with a dark liquid.

“Hi, we haven’t met formally yet. Cyrus Salem.” He reached a hand out to her. “You must be Ken’s friend Ariel.”

She looked back and forth at the two men. His friend? “Yes, that’s right, I guess.”

Cyrus chuckled. “Then that makes him our mutual friend. I work with him over in Langley.” He lifted the mug up to Ariel. “Please, try some of this, it’ll help you recover your energy.”

The girl took the mug from the short man, examining its contents. The dark liquid was thick, like sludge, and smelled like burning motor oil. Ken took a brief look at the fluid as well.

“Cyrus, this isn’t the stuff you gave me when I got dysentery in Somalia, is it?”

“The very same. Why?”

Ariel held her breath and took a long swig of the fluid. Much to her disgust, it tasted like burning motor oil as well. Her eyes started to water.

“Get a bucket.”

Cyrus rushed out of the room, as Ken started patting Ariel’s back. “It’ll be okay, girl. I’ve tried that stuff too, it really works but you have to get past the gag reflex, y’know?”

She nodded. “Why are you both doing this?” she asked weakly.

Ken sighed. “I want you to know, we kind of found your service records, and … well, we want to know a little bit more about Dr. Gerard and his project.”

She looked over the man’s face. His eyes gave the aura of sincerity to his words. Braving another swallow of the disgusting medicinal fluid as Cyrus entered the room, she nodded.

The car roared up to the parking lot, where twenty other government vehicles were parked, lights flashing. A security officer on foot noticed, running over to the driver’s door.

“Dr. Gerard, I presume?”

Gerard opened the door, turning toward the officer. “I came as soon as we got word. Where is she?”

“Follow me.” The guard led Gerard through the maze of cars, toward a clearing in a small civic park. An empty swing set lurked in the darkness: the two men walked past its imposing hulk.

“I don’t get it.”

“You will soon, doctor.” The officer turned on his flashlight, pointing it toward a group of bushes. “We found it just on the other side here, asleep. Marked just like you said it would be.”

Gerard cleared his throat, taking the officer’s flashlight and approaching the bushes. The closer he came, the lower he crouched down. He parted the leaves slightly, looking through them.

“Excellent work, mister …”

“Jacklin, sir.”

“Mr. Jacklin, I’m approving a pay increase for you. Get the rest of the men over here, I want her contained and back at the facility by the time the cock crows in the morn, got it?”

The officer nodded, turning toward his radio and calling the others. As Jacklin walked away, Gerard continued to observe through the branches.

A single red eye opened, casting a glow upon the scientist. A growl followed the glow. Gerard backed up slightly.

“Okay, I won’t stand so close. You’ve been a very bad girl, though.”

Another growl.

“You’re not safe out here. We need to take you back.”

Gerard slid his hand into his jacket.

“You remember home, right? You’ll be safe there. No one will harm you.”

He slowly extracted his hand from under the jacket’s panel, wrapped around the hilt of a pistol.

“Just stay still, my dear, and you’ll be home in no time.”

A dark shadow lashed out from the foliage, creating loud panic and chaos on the ground behind Gerard. The scientist backed up quickly, his finger reflexively pulling on the trigger of the pistol. Five tranquilizer darts shot toward the giant figure, every one striking nothing but air.

The other security officers started blindly firing up toward the shadow. Jacklin broke into a sprint toward Gerard, but was lifted up by the shadow, disappearing into its dark bulk. Gerard ran over to one of the officers, wrestling the gun away from him and screaming.

“Hold fire! Nobody shoot her!”

An officer away from Gerard responded. “Bullshit! It takes Jacklin, we take it out!”

Gerard found the officer and pointed the gun at him. “You had damn well better do what I say. Track it, that’s all. No weapons.”

The other officers started dispersing to their vehicles to track the giant shadow. Gerard made his way back to his own car, slamming the door and turning to his in-car navigation screen. He tapped a few buttons on the console until he found the right display.

-TRACKING: 37A

“I know where you’re going. You won’t get away that easily.” He tapped an up-pointing arrow key on the screen several times until the display changed again.

-TRACKING: G66

One keystroke later, Gerard was starting his car and driving away.

The woman made her way out into the living room of Ken’s apartment, wrapped in an oversized bathrobe. Ken helped her take a seat on the sofa once again.

“Are you sure you’re ready to do this?”

She nodded, her eyes focused straight at Ken. “I am. If it will help you, I will do this.”

Ken smiled. “Okay then. Cyrus?”

The shorter man climbed up on the sofa, sitting next to Ariel. “I need your hand, please.”

She turned to her left, offering her right hand. Cyrus gently took it into his own, the delicate fingers obscured almost completely by his massive palm. They both closed their eyes, as an orange glow appeared in the space between their hands.

Ken sat across from them, watching the silent exchange. He caught himself focusing more on Ariel than on Cyrus, though, the girl’s frame looking even more fragile than it had the previous night. Her breaths came in deep, slow movements of her shoulders and chest, her hand motionless in Cyrus’ grip.

Of the two, though, Cyrus seemed to be getting the worst of the exchange. His head jerked, first to the left and then right. Suddenly he released Ariel’s hand and leaped off of the sofa, glistening with sweat.

“What happened?” Ken stood up to help support the shorter man.

“God … Ken, she’s been through hell … so much humanity lost … the project …”

Cyrus looked over quickly at the apartment door. At that instant, it burst open.

“Gerard!”

Ken spun to face the scientist as he entered the space, pointing a gun at the group. Ken’s body shielded Ariel from the door.

“I’m so sorry, this investigation is over. Cdr. Sharpe, please hand over my property.”

Ken backed up more, taking Ariel’s shoulder in his hand. “Ariel is a human being, an officer, not a slave!” He looked across the room, to where the Sword hung near the door.

“As soon as she volunteered for my project, G66 became my property. I need her now, gentlemen, and neither one of you is going to keep me from her!”

Cyrus set his feet into the floor, hunching his shoulders to prepare a spell. Gerard fired a shot over the short man’s head, embedding a bullet into the wall behind him. At the shot, Ariel leaped off of the sofa, clutching to Ken.

“You are mine, G66. You will bring 37A back to me.”

Ken’s eyes widened. “The numbers on the shirt.”

“You noticed those. The two are connected, you see, one cannot survive without the other. 37A is my greatest creation. G66 is the key to unlocking her potential!”

Gerard fired wildly toward the two men, making them leap for cover. As quickly, the scientist was grasping at Ariel’s arm, yanking her out of the room.

Ken looked up from his crouch, spotting the girl’s eyes, her pleading face.

He saw Cole in her face.

“Help me!” Her fearful scream pierced the silence of the apartment building. At that, Ken raced up to the door, grasping the Sword and drawing it on the run on his way out.

Cyrus climbed up to an upright position, brushing himself off. He rolled his eyes.

“Great. Guess I have to find them now.” Closing his eyes, he spread his arms out, the glow created lifting him off the ground and floating him outside.

#advance guard #phantom squadron

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thestageyshelf · 2 years

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SOLD 🎭 The Ferryman @ Gielgud Theatre 2017 (#207)

Title: The Ferryman

Venue: Gielgud Theatre

Year: 2017

Condition: Small tear to front cover

Author: Jez Butterworth

Director: Sam Mendes

Cast: Elise Alexandre, Sophie Ally, Brid Brennan, Meibh Campbell, Paddy Considine, Turlough Convery, Grace Doherty, Laura Donnelly, Fra Fee, Oliver Finnegan, Tom Glynn-Carney, Stuart Graham, Isla Griffiths, John Hodgkinson, Gerard Horan, Amy Jayne, Scarlett Jolly, Carla Langley, Des McAleer, Michael McCarthy, Conor MacNeill, Rob Malone, Dearbhla Molloy, Clara Murphy, Jack Nuttall, Angel O'Callaghan, Eugene O'Hare, Genevieve O'Reilly, Niall Wright

FIND ON EBAY HERE

#The Ferryman #Gielgud Theatre #Play #theatre #theatre programme #stageyshelf #sold

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shihlun · 3 years

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The Blue Aeroplanes

- Friendloverplane

1988

#the blue aeroplanes #blue aeroplanes #friendloverplane #1988 #gerard langley

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xxlunawarriorxx · 4 years

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fun meme I did

#will graham #asuka langley soryu #gerard way #reigen arataka #tord eddsworld #springtrap

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kin-playlists · 3 years

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PLAYLIST MASTERLIST !

Below is every playlist we have posted so far, alphabetically ordered by source. Updated daily !

American Horror Story: Apocalypse

Michael Langdon

Ava's Demon

Gil Marverde

Nevy Nervine

Beastars

Legoshi

Louis

Black Butler

Undertaker

Drossel Keinz

Grell Sutcliffe

Mey-Rin

Sebastian Michaelis

Cookie Run (OvenBreak & Kingdom)

Blackberry Cookie

Espresso Cookie

Pure Vanilla Cookie

Rye Cookie

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

Toko Fukawa

Yasuhiro Hagakure

Danganronpa: Ultra Despair Girls

Jataro Kemuri

Danganronpa v3

Gonta Gokuhara

Kokichi Ouma

Korekiyo Shinguuji

Ryoma Hoshi

Deadpool

Death Note

Light Yagami

Misa Amane

Nate River [Near]

Doki Doki Literature Club

Natsuki

Sayori

Yuri

Encanto

Mirabel Madrigal

Fruits Basket

Tohru Honda

Fullmetal Alchemist

Edward Elric

Genshin Impact

Kaedehara Kazuha

Hiveswap

Lanque Bombyx

Homestar Runner

Strong Sad

Homestuck

Aradia Megido

Cronus Ampora

Dave Strider

Eridan Ampora

Equius Zahhak

Feferi Peixes

Nepeta Leijon

Rose Lalonde

Sollux Captor

Vriska Serket

IdentityV

Fan Wujiu [Black Guard / Wu Chang]

Joseph Desaulnier [Photographer]

Luchino Diruse [Evil Reptilian]

Xie Bi'an [White Guard / Wu Chang]

Interview With The Vampire

Lestat de Lioncourt

Just Roll With It

Chip

Kiznaiver

Chidori Takashiro

Katsuhira Agata

Hisomu Yoshiharu

Honoka Maki

Labyrinth

Jareth, the Goblin King

League of Legends [Arcane]

Jinx

Silco

The Magnus Archives

Gerard Keay

Jonathan Sims

Martin Blackwood

Michael Distortion

Tim Stoker

Mo Dao Zu Shi / The Untamed

Lan Wangji

Wei Wuxian

Jiang Yanli

Xiao Xingchen

Xue Yang

My Little Pony

Fluttershy [Shimmer Pop/Indie Pop/Lofi ; General Character Playlist]

Fluttershy [Indietronica/Weirdcore/Baroque Pop ; Themes of Self Loathing & Angst]

Twilight Sparkle

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Asuka Langley Soryu

Otherkinnity / Therianthropy

Domestic Caninekin

Domestic Felinekin

Dragonkin

Snow Leopardkin

Vampirekin

Wolfkin

Zombiekin

The Owl House

Luz Noceda

Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom [Erik]

Raoul de Chagney

Ponyo

Fujimoto

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph

Soul Eater

Spirit Albarn

Super Danganronpa 2

Gundham Tanaka

Izuru Kamukura

Nagito Komaeda

Tokyo Ghoul

Shuu Tsukiyama

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hatingwithfears · 2 years

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ALL THE BOOKS I READ IN 2021.

117 BOOKS. 38,063 PAGES.

Jonathan Allen, Amie Parnes- Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency

Ellis Amburn- Subterranean Kerouac

Thomas Aquinas- Selected Writings

Marcus Aurelius- Meditations

Lee Baer- The Imp of The Mind: Exploring The Silent Epidemic of Obsessive Bad Thoughts

Lily Bailey- Because We Are Bad: OCD and a Girl Lost in Thought

Nicholson Baker- The Fermata

James Baldwin- Jimmy’s Blues: Selected Poems

Julian Barnes- The Man in The Red Coat

Sharon Begley- Can’t Just Stop: An Investigation of Compulsions

Ingmar Bergman- Images: My Life in Film

David Berman- Actual Air

Philippe Besson- Lie With Me

Kai Bird, Martin J Sherwin- American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J Robert Oppenheimer

Roberto Bolano- Cowboy Graves

John Boswell- Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality

Thomas Brothers- Help!: The Beatles, Duke Ellington, and the Magic of Collaboration

Craig Brown- 150 Glimpses of The Beatles

Anne Carson- Autobiography of Red

Ann Charters- Kerouac

Michel Chion- Eyes Wide Shut

Rachel Cusk- Second Place

Nelson A Denis- War Against All Puerto Ricans

Michael Eric Dyson- Long Time Coming

Margaret Edson- Wit

Bart D Ehrman- Heaven and Hell: A History of The Afterlife

Scott Ellsworth- The Ground Breaking: An American City and It’s Search for Justice

Mariana Enriquez- The Dangers of Smoking in Bed

Jeffrey Eugenides- Fresh Complaint

James Finley- Merton’s Palace of Nowhere

Jim Forest- Living With Wisdom: A Life of Thomas Merton

Monica Furlong- Merton: A Biography

Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder- Selected Letters

Garth Greenwell- Cleanness

Oakley Hall- Warlock

Faith G. Harper- Unfuck Your Brain

Joel F. Harrington- Dangerous Mystic: Meister Eckhart’s Path to The God Within

Ethan Hawke- A Bright Ray of Darkness

Makato Fujimura- Art+Faith

Julian Herbert- Bring Me the Head of Quentin Tarantino

Frank Herbert- Dune

Tracy Hickman- Wayne of Gotham

Sasha Geffen- Glitter Up The Dark: How Pop Music Broke the Binary

Eddie S Glaude Jr- Begin Again

Neal Goldsmith- Psychedelic Healing

Blake Gopnik- Warhol

Mira Jacob- Good Talk

Nick James- Heat

Lesley-Ann Jones- The Search for John Lennon

Stephen Graham Jones- The Only Good Indians

Stephen Graham Jones- Night of The Mannequins

Carl G. Jung- The Undiscovered Self

Carl G. Jung- Answer to Job

Carl G. Jung- The Red Book

Jack Kerouac- The Beat Generation

Jack Kerouac- Visions of Gerard

Jack Kerouac- Good Blonde and Others

Soren Kierkegaard- Fear & Trembling

Soren Kierkegaard- Sickness Unto Death

Val Kilmer- I’m Your Huckleberry

Stephen King- Later

TJ Klune- The House in The Cerulean Sea

Martin Laird- Into a Silent Land: A Guide to The Practice of Christian Contemplation

Travis Langley- Batman and Psychology

Raven Leilani- Luster

Ben Lerner- The Topeka School

Jonathan Lethem- Motherless Brooklyn

Carmen Maria Machado- In The Dream House

David Mamet- Writing in Restaurants

Greil Marcus- The Weird, Old America: The World of Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes

James Martin- Learning to Prey

Cormac McCarthy- The Counselor

Thomas Merton- Bread in The Wilderness

Thomas Merton- Mystics and Zen Masters

Thomas Merton- The Springs of Contemplation

Thomas Merton- Seeds

Ottessa Moshfegh- McGlue

Ottessa Moshfegh- Eileen

Ottessa Moshfegh- Homesick For Another World

Ottessa Moshfegh- Death in Her Hands

Jon Mundy- A Course in Mysticism and Miracles

Sayaka Murata- Earthlings

Graham Nash- Wild Tales

Adam Nayman- Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterworks

Christopher Nolan- Inception

Philip Norman- Wild Thing

Barack Obama- A Promised Land

Tommy Orange- There There

Chuck Palahniuk- The Invention of Sound

James Patterson- Deadly Cross

Richard Powers- The Overstory

Leah Raeder- Black Iris

Marieke Lucas Rijneveld- The Discomfort of Evening

Sogyal Rinpoche- The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

Robbie Robertson- Testimony

Richard Rohr- The Naked Now

Philip Roth- Goodbye Columbus

Philip Roth- Letting Go

Lillian Ross- Picture

Jean-Paul Satre- Being and Nothingness

Paul Schrader- Transcendental Style in Film

Frederick Seidel- Poems: 1959-2009

Gary Snyder- No Nature

Bob Spitz- The Beatles

Oliver Stone- Chasing The Light

Howard Suber- The Power of Film

Courtney Summers- Sadie

Quentin Tarantino- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

David Thomson- Murder and The Movies

Jeff Tweedy- How to Write One Song

Ocean Vuong- On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

Benedict Wells- The End of Loneliness

Edward White- The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock

Peter Wohlleben- The Hidden Life of Trees

Kevin Young- Brown

Ed. Willis Barnstone, Marvin Meyer- The Gnostic Bible

Ed. David Carter- Allen Ginsberg: Spontaneous Mind: Selected Interviews

Ed. Jonathan Cott- Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews

Ed. Barney Hoskyns- Joni: The Anthology

Ed. Thomas P. McDonnal- A Thomas Merton Reader

Ed. Bill Morgan- The Letters of Allen Ginsberg

Ed. Nduka Otiono, Josh Toth- Polyvocal Bob Dylan

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bandcampsnoop · 3 years

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9/19/21.

Magic Roundabout were a 1980s UK (Manchester) band that played shows with the likes of The Pastels, and My Bloody Valentine. According to the Bandcamp page for this 7" single, Noel Gallagher was rumored to have been a roadie at their last show.

Obviously influenced by The Velvet Underground, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and various C86 bands, this has a decidedly UK take on the Olympia sound of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Third Man Records released this single, and while this is sold out on Bandcamp you can find plenty of copies on Discogs. Additionally, there is a full length, "Up" due on 9/24/21.

#Magic Roundabout #Manchester #UK #The Pastels #My Bloody Valentine #The Velvet Underground #The Jesus and Mary Chain #Olympia #C86 #Third Man Records #Noel Gallagher #Bandcamp

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365days365movies · 3 years

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January 20, 2021: Taken (2008)

Well, I know one thing about this movie. He’s gonna find ‘em. And he’s gonna kill ‘em. And also, Luc Besson didn’t direct this movie! Yeah, my bad, he wrote this movie. But, then, he also wrote Leon, so I wasn’t entirely wrong. Anyway, 2008!

I remember this year well. Obama was elected the first Black president of the United States of America; the Olympics took place in Beijing, months after a massive earthquake in Sichuan; the Large Hadron Collider was totally gonna make a black hole; and, of course, the most important news event of that year: Iron Man and The Dark Knight came out.

And of course, the film Taken came out, creating what is arguably the most repeated film meme ever. Or, at the very least, it’s WAY up there. It’s a 12-year old meme at this point, but lemme tell ya: this thing was HUGE in 2008. Not the movie itself, just the meme. And I could lie and tell you that I’m watching this movie because it’s another French action thriller, and it’s fitting, but…

...it’s the meme. It’s 100% the meme, I’m not gonna lie to you guys. So, uh...yeah, Taken, let’s do this. SPOILERS AHEAD!

Recap

Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is dreaming of his daughter and wife. In the modern day, he brings a birthday gift to his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), and his bitter ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen), who is married to a very wealthy man, Stuart (Xander Berkeley). Bryan, meanwhile, is a recent and comparatively poor retiree, whose friends come over for a night of drinks.

Retiree from what, you ask? Well, it’s likely the CIA, given that his friends refer to military missions and Langley. They invite him to join security detail for a pop star, Sheerah (Holly Valance), In the process, he saves her from crazed fans, including a knife-wielding assailant. Not sure why that guy wants to LITERALLY STAB HER, but somebody needs to look into that guy!

Out of gratitude, Sheerah gives Bryan some references to give to his daughter, who wants to be a singer, apparently. However, when he sees her and Lenore the next day, all she wants from him is permission to go on a trip to Paris with her friends. When he shows his doubts for her safety, she’s upset, and his wife berates him for...government and military service? I mean, that stuff breaks up marriages, of course, but GODDAMN, Lenore’s bitter about it! Whoof.

Bryan’s definitely being made to be sympathetic, while Lenore’s the opposite of that. And Bryan’s understandably worried about his daughter’s safety, as she’ll be abroad. And we get the idea that Bryan’s a bit of a helicopter parent, but...c’mon! He’s underage daughter is asking to go to Paris with her friends! It’s cause for a parent to be worried, and yet Lenore is like, “She needs to be freeeeeeeeeee!” And that’s made even WORSE by the fact that both of them lie to Bryan, a father who clearly loves his daughter, because she’s actually following U2 on a music tour around Europe!

Which...really? U2? Who the hell can stand that much Bono, for their ENTIRE EUROPEAN TOUR? Anyway, what I’m saying is, Lenore sucks, and I’m not Kim’s biggest fan either. But I get the feeling that, given the one thing I know about this movie...Bryan’s gonna be proven right. So Kim and her friend, Amanda (Katie Cassidy) go to Europe, alone, despite Bryan’s understandable misgivings.

They IMMEDIATELY get hit on by Peter, a French boy who gives them a ride. He invites them to a party, Amanda accepts for them, and this is OBVIOUSLY A BAD IDEA. That’s even further confirmed by Peter making a mysterious call, telling the other person about the girls’ location. Kim doesn’t call Bryan, as promised, and Amanda is clearly a TERRIBLE influence. Looks like Bryan was completely right to be concerned, if his daughter’s gonna be so irresponsible. Oh, also because they’re about to get kidnapped.

Luckily, Kim had called Bryan just before, after realizing that he had called her, and he guides her through the upcoming kidnapping. With his help, although she gets kidnapped, Bryan is able to figure out that the kidnappers are Albanian, and that one of them is a six-foot tall bearded man with a moon and star tattoo on his right hand DAMN THAT’S OBSERVANT. But still...she’s been Taken.

Someone picks up the phone...and he says the speech.

youtube

Had to do it, folks. It’s the most iconic scene in the film. Time for action! Bryan calls a friend with Langley connections, then goes straight to Lenore and Stuart’s place, who find out that BRYAN WAS FUCKING RIGHT GODDAMMIT HOW DO YOU FEEL NOW

Having COMPLETELY FUCKED UP, Lenore asks Bryan to get her back safely. They actually figure out that the men who kidnapped her are professional sex-traffickers, who specialize in kidnapping travelling women and putting them in prostitution. But they tend to disappear...within 96 Hours. That’s how long Bryan has to find her, as well as being an alternate title for this film!

The time limit, by the way, is a common construct for the action-thriller. You know, “she has 12 hours to live,” that kind of deal. Thrillers are going to be peppered throughout this year, and there are a few coming up as well, so might as well start with this one, right?

Bryan flies to Paris, then makes his way to the apartment, tracing Kim’s steps up to her kidnapping. He also finds her destroyed phone, alongside an SD card with photos. From this, he gets a blurry look at Peter. I get the feeling that his face isn’t about to look much better. Speaking of, Peter’s playing his old tricks at the airport, and is caught by Bryan. Painfully caught. After Bryan fights off another guy, and chases Peter up a road, Peter also gets caught by karma.

80 hours left. Having exhausted options, Bryan meets an old contact, Jean-Claude (Olivier Rabourdin), who tells him where the Albanians hang out. He hires an Albanian translator, then heads for a prostitute-heavy area. He harrangues a prostitute until her manager comes out, whom he puts a small microphone on. With the translator’s help, he discovers that they’re having “merchandise problems” at a construction site.

Following a hunch, he makes his way there, and sees several drug-addicted young women in a makeshift brothel. Also there is his daughter’s jacket. The prostitute that has it, however, is not exactly cognitively sound at the moment. So...she’s Taken. By Bryan, who fights his way out of the brothel and construction site, with gunshots, explosions, and car chases along the way.

Bryan brings the girl back to a hotel, where he somehow gets ahold of an IV and medicine, and detoxes her in the room. Which, given the time frame and other factors...seems like a very large risk to take for testimony that, let’s be honest, right not exist. Still, as this is happening, he gets a call from Jean-Claude, asking to meet.

56 hours left. After 7 people dead, a destroyed trailer, and 3 people injured (and probably stolen medicine from a hospital, let’s be honest), Bryan isn’t exactly the best friend of the French government. He escapes police custody and heads back to the hotel, where the girl is cogent enough to remember where she got the jacket: from Kim herself, at the house with the red door on the road of paradise. No, really.

Bryan gets to the house, and poses as Jean-Claude...badly. He apparently passes his bluff check, and takes advantage of a corrupt police system, and makes them give him protection money. Over the course of the conversation, he figures out that one of them is Marco. Which means that he found him. And he said that when he found him…

After that spree is done, he searches the facility and looks for Kim. He doesn’t find her...but he does find Amanda. And sadly, he’s too late for her. Turns out, though, that he didn’t kill Marko (Arben Bajraktaraj), the leader of the group. And of course not! He has some questions.

Bryan tortures Marko using electricity, and he reveals that Kim’s been sold quickly, as she is a virgin. She’s been sold to Patrice Saint-Clair (Gerard Watkins), although Marko doesn’t know where he is. And so, Bryan fulfills his promise, and electrocutes him. He then makes his way to meet Jean-Claude at his home. And, uh...that’s when he crosses a line.

...Um. Bryan shot his wife. And yeah, Jean-Claude’s clearly not on the up-and-up, but he’s not directly complicit in the kidnapping of his daughter. And yeah, he’s in Bryan’s way, but JESUS CHRIST DUDE. He officially loses the moral high-ground here for me, even if his cause is just. Jean-Claude concedes, and Bryan gets the information that he’s looking for and leaves, knocking Jean-Claude out in the process.

Bryan goes to the Saint-Clair residence, where an auction is taking place for various young women. The last of these is, of course, Kim. Having barged into a booth of one of the buyers, he forces him to buy Kim (ew). Unfortunately, he’s caught and chained to a pipe, where Saint-Clair’s henchmen are about to kill him. But, of course...

Bryan escapes and kills Saint-Clair in the process, but not before finding out that Kim’s been Taken to a boat. He obtains a car, and after a length (and seizure-inducing) car chase, gets onto the boat, which is owned by the Sheik, a man of unknown Arabic origin. And yeah, in case you were wondering, this feels very...VERY...wrong. It’s brief, yeah, but...you gave a rich Arabic guy multiple wives obtained through illegal means and made them the main villain? FUCKIN’ OOF BRUV

Anyway, as expected, Bryan kicks the asses of everybody on the boat, and finally rescues Kim, killing the Sheik in the process. The two have a tearful embrace, and Bryan NEVER LETS HER OUT OF HIS SIGHT AGAIN PROBABLY. THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT BONO. THIS IS ALL YOUR GODDAMN FAULT.

Well, Bryan wins the I WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG GODDAMIT award, Kim gets to go home and meet that singer from before, Lenore gives Bryan some consideration as a human being for once, Stuart stepfathers, and that’s Taken! Also, WHERE IN THE HELL ARE AMANDA’S PARENTS, A GIRL IS DEAD

Epilogue soon!

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matricideawards · 1 year

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MATRICIDE AWARDS: ROUND 3/QUARTERFINALS

Joy Wang vs Oedipus (WINNER: Joy Wang)

Eleanor Shellstrop vs Gerard Keay (WINNER: Gerard Keay)

Azula vs Asuka Langley Soryu (WINNER: Azula)

Steven Universe vs Crona (WINNER: Crona)

#matricideawards #matricide awards #round 3 #quarterfinals #joy wang #everything everywhere all at once #oedipus #greek mythology #azula #atla #asuka langley soryu #steven universe #crona #soul eater

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deejaybearclaw · 3 years

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Ursine Waves Episode 060: Cub Club 009 - March 2021 Roundup

Listen on Mixcloud

Your roundup of notable releases from March 2021, starting with droney/ambient sounds and then kicking into rock before easing out with some pop:

Landon Caldwell - Brain's Last Trip - Deep Strand News Feeds - Apple House - News Feeds E.P. Josh Medina - A Summer to Forget - Drifting Toward the Absolute Whettman Chelmets - Spring 1 (Oblivious) - For... Child's Pose - Ella's Fate - Eyes to the Right Sarcasm - (Above the) People Wall - Creeping Life Go Lamborghini Go - I'm Exhausted - LOW Fake Fruit - No Mutuals - Fake Fruit The Mind - Lets Experience Yr Head - Open Up The Window and Leave Your Body Smirk - S. Construction - LP Bibione - Colours - Bibione Magic Roundabout - Sneaky Feelin' - Sneaky Feelin' b/w Song for Gerard Langley iLL Sugi - Capricorn Siamese Cat - Music for Indoor Cats Little Sprout - THE BEES THE BEES - Fake Cake Floatie - Shiny - Voyage Out Backspace - Skunk Rules - Ants Corrupt Elephant Gaadge - Do What Now? - Yeah? Double Grave - across montana - Chrysanthemum Kane Strang - Happy to Perform - Happy to Perform Special Friend - Ennemi Commun - Ennemi Commun MOON RITUALS - Aura - Aura / Painting A Bird Linda Smith - Untitled 7 - Untitled 1-10 Plus 1 Real Numbers - In the End - Brighter Then

Originally broadcast 4/7/21 on Hollow Earth Radio, KHUH-LP Seattle, 104.9 FM & http://hollowearthradio.org.

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collinsportmaine · 5 years

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Twenty More Actors Who Have Played Dracula on TV or Movies

1964 - The Munsters (Al Lewis)

1973 - Purple Playhouse Dracula (Norman Welsh)

1979 - Cliffhangers (Michael Nouri)

1979 - Halloween That Almost Wasn't (Judd Hirsch)

1990 - Dracula: The Series (Geordie Johnson)

2000 - Buffy Vampire Slayer (Rudolf Martin)

2000 - Dracula 2000 (Gerard Butler)

2000 - Shadow of the Vampire (Willem Defoe)

2002 - Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary (Zhang Wei-Qiang)

2002 - Italian Dracula (Patrick Bergin)

2004 - Dracula 3000 (Langley Kirkwood)

2004 - Van Helsing (Richard Roxburgh)

2004 - Blade Trinity (Dominic Purcell)

2006 - Young Dracula (Keith-Lee Castle)

2006 - BBC Dracula (Marc Warren)

2008 - The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice - (Bruce Davison)

2013 - Dracula: The Dark Prince (Luke Roberts)

2013 - TV Dracula (Jonathan Rhys Meyers)

2014 - Dracula Untold (Luke Evans)

2016 - Penny Dreadful (Christian Camargo)

For an addition list:

https://collinsportmaine.tumblr.com/post/185524282897/actor-who-have-portrayed-dracula-not-a-definitive

#vampires #dracula #luke evans #the munsters #chridtian carmargo #penny dreadful #Richard Roxburgh #gerard butler #dominic purcell

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twiststreet · 5 years

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I don’t think this is really a story about Tom King.

UPDATED HERE. SEE RESPONSE HERE.

I. TRAINED TO BE GHOSTS

So, the other day, DC Comics announced a new publishing initiative called DC Rebirth.

(The other day was 2016).

And when DC Rebirth was announced, DC also announced that the new writer of one of the Batman comics would be a fellow named Tom King.

What struck me as a little daffy at that time about the DC Rebirth hype was that it wasn't trumpeting King as a wordsmith with a track record of praised books under his belt. King had a respectable reputation at that point, books received with some polite applause, a critical mass that they could've focused on.

But instead of focusing on any of that, the announcement was instead that “King will be using his experience in counter-terrorism to bring new threats to Gotham.”

Counter-terrorism was the centerpiece for how King’s Batman work was promoted. For example, Newsarama published an article entitled "REBIRTH BATMAN Writer TOM KING On His Own 'Rebirth' From C.I.A. To Comic Books," where King explained that he was

"... supposed to go into law school and then 9/11 happened and I did this CIA thing. [...] I was big into counter-terrorism, loved going overseas and that’s a very good job and very rewarding, but I had a kid and to be really good at that job, you have to be around 15 hours a day. With the counter-terrorism you have to be able to go 24/7. So those were the options I was looking at."

The interviewer was awed by King's counter-terrorism credentials, asking some perfectly lovely questions like "Were you at headquarters in Langley" and "given your past as a C.I.A. operative, the stress level has to be somewhat lesser than that, right?"

In other words, rather than ask King about his plans for Batman, comic interviewers were asking him to judge the job of writing The Batman on a scale of 1 to CIA counter-terrorism.

This is “a thing”, now. I remember seeing a lot of fans excited about how Charles Soule was an Actual Lawyer. Fans similarly seemed overly-excited that Gerard Way was formerly in some ska band. Or if I understand recent comics news correctly, a lot of fans are thrilled that comic books about talking toads are being created by a Real Life Cryptofascist. Fans suddenly want comic creators to have impressive resumes outside of comics now-- perhaps a logical consequence of an era of aggressive comic creator self-branding.

And so King mentioned his CIA credentials often. It was part of his whole sales pitch to comic fans -- it was why he was qualified to write about their favorite heroes.

But as I was reading all this hype about how Tom King's past in the CIA had prepared him to write Batman comics, I found myself asking myself a pretty simple question:

Did I really believe that Tom King was an actual CIA agent?

II. RED LIGHT! GREEN LIGHT!

By 2016, I'd spent some time writing a kind of schlocky psuedo-commentary on comic news.

None of this writing was very impressive or interesting, according to Very Serious Comic Fans on the internet. If you missed it, you suffered no great loss. But I had wanted to explore the following premise: that maybe there was a toxic stew around the North American comic book industry of dishonesty, male insecurity, neediness, relentless careerism, selfishness, and silence, that (a) encouraged and excused bad conduct and (b) was therefore ultimately more significant in understanding why so many comics are terrible than anything one could learn reviewing some inconsequential issue of the Discourteous Avengers.

And it had turned out that there was plenty to write about. Constant sex scandals-- the grodiest kind, frequently overlooked by the same comics creators who lectured fans online day after day. Intellectual property theft, that comic creators happily participated in. People claiming they were at the vanguard of creator rights, who had ripped off their co-creators. Creepy "male allies" and other curious, charmless do-gooders.

Dumb scams. Lazy writing. Bad apologies.

It all grew very tiresome. I’d rather review some issue of the Discourteous Avengers now, please and thank you.

But did I believe Tom King was a CIA agent?

*Could* I believe that after what I'd written about?

...But of course, what did it matter what I believed?

Did it matter if I found it all a little odd, that some funny-book writer would super-casually volunteer that he had a history of being a CIA counter-terrorism agent just to sell Batman comics?

Of course, it didn’t matter.

After all, it's not like I could write a letter to the CIA, asking them if Tom King was a spook!

...

I'm not a Republic serial villain.

I wrote to the CIA nearly three years ago.

III. THE LIST IS IN THE OPEN

I prepared a letter, and I faxed it into the CIA. I did it for the only reason really worth doing anything-- I thought it'd make for a good goof for my prestigious tumblr blog. Here's my letter:

And perhaps you'll notice something in my letter-- something that I had noticed when researching the topic:

People do this!

People make up being in the CIA for personal benefit. And they don't just do it in small ways-- they go on FOX NEWS-- they lie big-- they lie that they're ex-CIA in spectacular ways, and at a spectacular cost. It's kooky, but this is a thing that happens.

It happens so often that it has its own name: "Stealing Valor."

And if this is a thing that happens, I guess that means you can't just take people at their word when they say they've been in the CIA. I guess...?

So, that evening, I sent my paranoid little letter off to the CIA. Then, I had dinner, and then I went to sleep, not expecting anything.

Heck, I probably forgot that I'd even sent it-- it was just a moment of tumblr-spurred mirth, after all. I had the notion that the CIA won't actually tell you who its Secret Agents are. If you've ever wondered if Tom King was fibbing about his CIA career, you probably didn't take that extra step of writing the CIA because (a) you have that same notion, that being a Secret Agent is, uh, a secret, and (b) unlike me, you tragically don't have a sufficiently prestigious tumblr blog that you needed goofs for.

But I needed that goof-fuel, darling.

I certainly didn't expect the CIA to write back!

...

Then, the CIA wrote back:

First, let me note that it's an extremely odd feeling to get a letter in the mail from the CIA. I always assumed the CIA didn't communicate with people by ordinary mail. Based on a lifetime of bad movies, I just assumed that if I ever spoke with the CIA, they'd have a man in a black trenchcoat meet me in a park. Or I’m brown, so maybe I assumed that I would meet with the CIA under more “caged” circumstances.

I never imagined the closest my life would come to a spy novel would be “I got a form letter about a Batman writer”.

You kind of do a little "am I on camera? Is this a Jamie Kennedy experiment?" move before opening an envelope that has “The CIA” on it, too, which is great fun. All in all, I recommend having the experience.

Also an “extremely odd feeling”?

"We do not have a record of the individual."

.... what?

But wait. Wait-- wait!

There had been news articles. News articles about how he was in the CIA! Actual journalists had looked at this-- not just schlocky commentariat that the Very Serious Comic Fans on the internet frowned upon. Real, entertainment journalists-- the kind that write recaps of TV shows!

Entertainment journalism-- that's a proper thing, right? Isn’t that a thing?

This was an e-mail exchange I had in April 2016 with a journalist for a general-audience internet publication-- not a writer for a comics-focused website. Let me type out the interesting bit, in case that’s a little fuzzy for you:

He and Geoff Johns mentioned that he’d worked for the CIA during the creators announcement at WonderCon. From that, I did an interview with Tom at the convention. It was a quick turnaround. All of it was taken at his word and supported by DC. There have been comic press articles in the past mentioning that background, though it wasn’t the main focus. If you have reasons to believe his claims aren’t true, I’d be interested in hearing.

Oh dear, "entertainment journalism" might not actually be a thing, you guys!

This was an e-mail to someone who had written an article with the word “CIA” literally in its headline, essentially asking me (a random person e-mailing them) if perhaps *I had any information* about whether Tom King was really in the CIA.

Is that how journalism is supposed to work? I suppose that I don’t know. What the hell do I know about journalism? I just know what you know-- that if you have lunch with Bari Weiss, apparently the thrilling taste of a shrimp salad sandwich and the pleasure of her company will somehow magically make you forget how completely noxious and toxic her contribution to public life is.

But maaaaaaybe, instead of “entertainment journalism,” all we really have are clickbait farms that are so desperate for "content" that they put a minimal effort into any kind of fact-checking, in order to more quickly churn out articles. In which case, we can't rely on any of the shit that gets published as actually having journalistic merit, as having been checked or double-checked, as having been vetted or verified-- especially when it comes to a "who really gives a shit?" industry like comics, since the point of the articles is just to generate clicks from a historically disrespected audience, not to challenge them.

And maaaaaaybe that's a situation getting infinitely worse since even talking about the wrong guy could get you sued, including where comics are concerned.

But wait, wait, wait, wait-- look, there's DC Comics. The entertainment journalist I had contacted said DC supported King’s story-- Geoff Johns himself had vouched for that story. It’s not like DC would do all that without checking-- right? It's not like DC Comics would allow one of its star writers to steal valor-- right???

Sure, we could say DC Comics has an imperfect history when it comes to "women" or "treating women like human beings" or "looking the other way for years and years after getting complaints that its employees mistreat women" or "hey they never fired any of the high-level executives who looked the other way for years and years while one of their editors preyed upon women, even though those high-level executives had thereby created an unwritten company policy to tolerate and thus ratify sexual misconduct, irreversibly damaging the culture around comics".

Heck, we'd all say that they’re terrible people enabled by cowards, where that topic is concerned. All of us. Every single one of us. No hesitation.

But who is saying that DC Comics has a history of not catching that one of its writers was lying about having served his country?

...Oh, except True Believers might remember: DC Comics tooooootally has a history of failing to catch that one of its writers had lied about having served his country!

Back in about 2004, there was a comic called Stormwatch, and the writer of that comic claimed to have liberated Panama while working for the Army Rangers. All of which was true, except (whoopsie-doozy!) for the part about a comic book writer having liberated Panama while working for the Army Rangers, because duuuuuhhhh of course that wasn't true-- were you dopers all stoned on grass??? He was some frumpy comic nerd; that was obvious bullshit; he got caught (though not by DC, who did not give a shit, not enough to check); it was remarkably embarrassing.

But this is completely different than that.

This isn't some comic guy ridiculously claiming to have liberated Panama while being an Army Ranger.

This is a comic guy claiming to have liberated Iraq while being a CIA Counter-terrorism agent.

Completely different!

But wait a second, Tom King also wrote for Marvel Comics. And it's not like Marvel comics has a history of letting writers lie about who they are...

...except for when Marvel's editor-in-chief lied about who he was, when bizarrely impersonating an Asian man, astonishingly without there being any real consequence for having done that, whatsoever.

So...

...

... what?

IV. RELAX YOUR CRACK, FOGHORN

Anyways, after I got this letter from the CIA, nearly three year passed.

(Let's just say if your question as you read this is "why didn't you do better comics journalism", the very most I am able to answer that question at the moment is to just wave my hand vaguely at those three years and then kind of shrug confusedly. The reasons for that will presently have to remain as secret as the truth about the CIA’s contact with UFO’s).

Three years is enough time to take a deep breath.

Is this letter I received from the CIA three years ago evidence of... anything, really?

The answer is obviously no.

After all, the CIA also checked a box that says "A release was not provided from the individual. Please provide his/her authorization and resubmit the request."

Because my letter didn't attach some kind of release from Tom King authorizing the release of his personal information, perhaps the CIA was not in a position to really answer my question. Maybe they have to say they don’t know an employee if the employee hasn’t provided a release. Who knows? I don't know how the CIA works. What do I know about the CIA??? I just know what you know-- that George HW Bush had them invent AIDS.

Obviously, some form letter plus me fussing about comics history are alone not sufficient evidence to conclude anything. Not really.

Or when the CIA suggests that it doesn’t know anyone named “Tom King” -- heck, maybe he didn't use the name Tom King while he worked for the CIA. Maybe he had a cool spy name, like spies have in the James Bond movies. Maybe the CIA knows Tom King only by his Official Spy Name of Patty Myvagina or Vani LlaNipples. Or maybe Tom King is just his pen name, and his real name is Tommy Godemperor-- maybe Tom King is his more humble pen name.

Or maybe the CIA forgot who Tom King was-- maybe the CIA was just really hammered while he worked for them. Bitch, you don't know the CIA's life-- you don't get to judge us!

Or after that Stormwatch fracas, maybe DC Comics actually learned a lesson and put in place some kind of system (any kind!) to make sure none of its writers were possibly engaged in stealing valor before supporting and vouching for their service, rather than just trusting in the “moral character of comic book writers.” Maybe that's a no-brainer that they should have such a policy given their history of dealing with some rather scummy-sounding individuals. And therefore, maybe it'd be extremely unusual if they were unable to answer (a) whether such a policy existed or (b) how Tom King's claims about being in the CIA were checked on by them (if at all). Maybe that’s what this story would actually be about, in an ideal world!

(Put me down as being hypothetically curious about that, if anybody wants to ask, as I would sure expect that DC would be extremely cooperative with promptly answering such reasonable questions!)

If you stop and think, there's a million reasons why some CIA form letter is potentially meaningless-- a million ways I could be made to look offensively stupid, in short order. Pay stubs! Medals and certificates! Employee ID! Friends from the service! Or maybe the CIA already has said something contrary to their form letter, that I somehow missed, or Tom King put some evidence out already that I’m blissfully unaware of. All in all, Tom King and/or his super-fans can most probably make me look very small and very foolish, very easily.

So am I saying you should not believe Tom King’s story or “official” biography? No, I am unable to say that, and am definitively not saying that, at this time. You are urged to continue to believe whatever it is you may have believed heretofore.

(Based upon the foregoing, and in order to make the foregoing again 100% clear, here is a little DISCLAIMER, affirming that I am neither stating nor implying that I have any substantive knowledge of any unique kind as to Tom King's affiliations with the CIA or the veracity of his representations relating thereto, or DC Comics's actions with respect to that subject, or the knowledge of any party in relation therewith. At best, I am offering only mere opinions on this topic (which I understand to be a matter of public interest) and in fact, my ultimate opinion on this topic is that any documents attached hereto are unreliable. Such documents and opinions are presented herein purely for entertainment purposes, and not to be relied on beyond the purposes presented herein, within these United States or elsewhere, from now until the end of time. I am further adding that though I have quite disliked the one or two Tom King comics I have read at present date and may have said so in an animated fashion for entertainment purposes, I have no personal malice towards Mr. King and in fact, wish him the best, in all of his future endeavors. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed as a waiver of any of my rights at law or in equity, all of which are hereby expressly reserved).

V. A RADAR TOWER IN ALASKA

And so once this gets properly snope-d, (*if* that should happen... shrugs confusedly), it’s more likely than not that

the CIA's form letter will be proven to be an innocent mix-up;

my suspicions will be proven paranoid, disgraceful, dull;

DC will be happy to explain all the things they did to properly investigate Tom King's claims before vouching for them in the media;

I'll somehow be made to look even more buffoonish than ever before-- which is no small feat.

It will be a great day for everybody -- except terrorists, who would have to continue to fear the writer of The Batman, day and night.

(And I guess I'll have made an enemy of a counter-terrorism specialist-- Jack Bauer might take a break writing about the Penguin to set up a perimeter around my one-bedroom apartment. That might suck, but wheeeee, life's an adventure!)

But regardless of what happens next, regardless of what embarrassment may be coming my way, I will say this: watching Tom King for the last three years, and getting to ask "But What if He Weren't" has been delightful. Just getting to ask that question has been a gift.

“There used to be a bounty on my head from the fucking Taliban-- I can deal with a few Twitter followers.”

These quotes have been weirdly entertaining for me, in a very dark kind of way, difficult to verbalize. I've gotten to see these (possibly innocuous) statements as fun clues to a Mystery that other people weren't even trying to solve. Does this sound like a real-life CIA Agent to the rest of you?? How am I the only person going “W-w-wait a second” here??? But maybe that is what a CIA agent sounds like-- probably that’s what we ultimately learn from all this! After everything, why would I expect the Deep State would sound any better than that??? Wheee!

It has been a singular experience for which I am enormously grateful to the CIA and Mr. King. It’s been a real crack-up.

The part that I actually keeping coming back to, though, the part that's been the most interesting part for me hasn't been what job some guy had before writing Batman. No, the part I keep coming back to is the part we started at:

Why do comic fans want Batman to be written by a CIA agent?

Why is that a selling point?

"What does it take to be good at writing? Oh, a career in counter-terrorism." -- Charles Dickens.

Wait, wait, he never said that because that's not a thing people go around saying!

And yet comic fans seem to believe it. Why?

Counter-terrorism experience has very little to do with the job of crafting characters, believable dialogue, solid plotting, interesting page layouts, etc. I don’t read his comics, but I’m not sure I understand how dreaming up “What if Batman got engaged to Catwoman?” ever necessarily required a jaunt to Mahmoudiyah, how one informs the other. It just seems to be a non-sequitur.

During those same nearly-three years, some left-leaning guy was fired from writing GI Joe, allegedly because he clumsily expressed some (very dumb sounding) 9/11 sentiment online (though IDW disputed that). And Marvel Comics during that same time tried to publish a team-up comic with military contractor Northrup Grumman, that it had to cancel after a backlash.

Maybe for comics fans, having a leftist write G.I. Joe wasn't America enough, the Northrup Grumman comic book was too-America in ways that it's uncomfortable to think about, while the guy who writes Batman being a CTU agent is just America-enough, in some kind of psycho Goldilocks scenario.

I subscribe to a certain level of "Support the Troops", at least as I define that phrase for myself. I don't know how positively I feel about the CIA's history generally or in Iraq specifically (some of that torture stuff sounded pretty uncool!)-- I don’t know what I make of our foreign policies generally. But I had a Midwestern upbringing and as such, I suppose that I do believe to some extent in certain old-fashioned ideas about sacrifice and there being a respect owed that. At least, I had a friend who didn’t quite survive Iraq, not really, so I feel a certain way about that. And perhaps that’s a feeling or an experience shared by many comics fans.

But my gut's saying that's not the whole story, though, about why fans would get so turned on by the idea of a CIA Batman writer.

Comics-- you pick up sometimes on a lot of messy relationships with the concept of masculinity. People might not remember, but comics used to have these utterly grotesque message boards where comic people would yell "LOOK AT ME, I LOVE WHISKEY" at each other, night after night, role-playing He-Man at each other. And it certainly bleeds into the contents-- it's a lot of characters solving problems through fight scenes; a lot of orphans who never knew their dads because OH EXQUISITE PAIN; a lot of women who have to die because they don't understand how hard it is to Man. Ahhhh, to Man-- so difficult!

You pick up on this being a hobby particularly beloved by people with damaged relationships with their father figures.

Maybe a story about the writer of Batman being a CIA agent gives those fans some feeling of being macho-adjacent, that fills some hole for them, that satisfies some fantasy, for reasons maybe too dark to really talk about much.

VI. THIS TAPE WILL SELF-DESTRUCT

But I don’t think this is really a story about Tom King.

When you look at the whole structure of things, when you look at How the World Is, with comics, with anything...

How much do you see a system that can be easily gamed?

Put another way: do you believe you live in a world where people have it in them to be dishonest? Do you live in an ecosystem that gives people a motive to lie?

And if so, do you believe you live in a world where our systems work, and our institutions work, a world where dishonest people will be caught and not allowed to promulgate falsehoods without being stopped? Do you believe you live in a world with journalism in it and not just hot takes? Do you believe you live in a world where anyone's checking the hype, besides creeps on tumblr who Very Serious Comic Fans all gave up on eons ago?

Do you believe you live in a world where the truth matters to anyone?

And if not, if your answer to any of these questions is no, then who do you trust? Who can you trust if you fear that you live in a world where dishonesty is a winning strategy? Why trust anyone? Why trust anything?

I'm not a comics journalist (generally)-- comics journalism probably just gets you sued. And to the extent I might have liked for actual "comics journalism" to have been done here, (waves hands at three years and shrugs confusedly).

But maybe we can both at least marvel at what's possible, how much might be possible, in these confused times, among these sometimes-troubling people. All the bizarre and uncanny possibilities, in this strange place where we hope we are awake.

UPDATED HERE. SEE RESPONSE HERE.

#Worst Hobby or Worstest Hobby?#Nerd Business.

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