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incorrectbatfam · 10 months

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Batfam’s Father’s Day plans

(also on Ao3)

"Morning, Bruce."

The way Stephanie says that instantly makes him look up. She traces her socked toe on the right angles of the tile, looking down.

"Morning, Steph." Bruce puts his coffee down. "Something wrong?"

"Huh?" She perks up in realization. "No, not at all. I actually just have something for you. I stopped by Walgreens on patrol last night 'cause I ran out of antiseptic, and I saw something that reminded me of you."

She hands him a dark blue greeting card with a cartoon fruit bat and Comic Sans text reading: You drive me batty, but I love you.

"Get it? 'Cause it's a bat, and you're the Batman." She scratches the back of her neck. "Not trying to make it weird or anything, you're just a cool mentor and whatnot. But also, it's nice to have someone who you can mess around with. My old man was always talking business even when he was at home—you kinda do that too, but in a good way 'cause anything's better than being a D-list villain, y'know. Plus, unlike him, you're working on striking a balance. Sometimes you even have a sense of humor." She chuckles awkwardly. "Anyway, I'm going on a jog. Text me if you need anything."

Before he processes her rambling, she grabs a granola bar and races out the door. He opens the card and out falls out a handful of purple confetti plus an ever-rare two-dollar bill. Smiling, he brushes the confetti up and puts it in his shirt pocket.

Bruce checks his watch. Everyone else is already out, except for Cass. She was out late last night on that Clayface mission, but even she should be up by this time. He fixes her a bowl of cereal with the package instructions and brings it upstairs.

"Cass?" He knocks. "Are you up yet? It's past 9:30."

He hears the duvet crunch like a candy wrapper as she shuffles around. A moment later, the door swings open as a messy-haired Cass yawns.

"I'll leave this up here for you," he says, putting the bowl on the dresser. "Any big plans today?"

She shakes her head. "Write reports. And relax."

"Well, you deserve a break. Great job on the stakeout, Princess." He plants a quick kiss on her forehead.

"Love," she says.

"Huh?"

"Favorite thing you do. Love."

He laughs softly. "I try. Now go get dressed."

The rest of the day goes by like any other. Despite it being Sunday, he still has a meeting scheduled with some Singaporean investors on their timezone. By eleven, he and some other executives are gathered around the long conference table as the video call drones on, and it's not until over an hour later that they're finally let out. Bruce loosens his tie and Tim does the same, sighing in relief and exhaustion.

Bruce asks, "Did you have lunch yet?"

"Oh, I forgot that's a thing," Tim says, stretching. "Hey, remember that ice cream place on 32nd?"

"You want ice cream for lunch?"

"I'd break your no killing rule for their M&M cookie sundae, okay?" he says. "Besides, remember when you took my friends and I there even though we massively bombed our first off-world fight? I might still be a massive perfectionist but that made me get a little more comfortable with failing. Anyway, I thought it'd be cool to stroll down memory lane—and have junk food as a meal without Alfred knowing. Unless you're busy, which I totally get."

"Not at all," Bruce replies, putting an arm around Tim's shoulders. "Duke and Damian will be at the arcade all day and I don't have any urgent side business."

And so, instead of calling Alfred for a ride, they journey through the Gotham subways with Tim's camera capturing the Grammy-worthy saga of a billionaire CEO battling a common turnstyle. They get a few side-glances in the sparse train car, but besides a teenager asking for Tim's autograph, the civilians leave them alone. Pretty soon, they're at a 1950s-themed ice cream parlor, where the waitress slides their orders down the long chromium bar.

"Why do they call it a banana split?" Bruce asks, grabbing the cocoa powder shaker.

Tim pauses mid-bite of his cookie. "...Because they split the banana in half?"

"Really?"

He moves the whipped cream aside to reveal the cut banana in Bruce's dish.

"How would it sound if I said I never noticed that?"

He smirks. "That's why I'm the brains of this operation."

"Indeed you are." Bruce ruffles his hair. "Though this head of yours could use some shampoo."

"Will saying I love you get me a free pass out of it?"

"No." He laughs. "But I love you too, son."

Alfred catches on to their little dessert escapade and picks them up from the parlor, though not without commenting on the strawberry stain on Bruce's jacket. As Tim plugs his music into the car, Bruce takes the time to listen to the voicemails he got during their lunch break.

"Hiya Bruce," Clark's voice plays. "I hope today's going swell for you. I just want you to know that I'm glad I can call you my pard'ner." Bruce snickers at the country twang.

Next is Diana. "Bruce, I apologize if I must keep this brief since I have a curator's convention today. However, I wish to tell you that you are an invaluable teammate and even more remarkable friend."

"Hey Batman, I gave you a shoutout to the Central City press for your help taking down Weather Wizard," Barry says. "Also, thanks for letting me borrow your communicator. I can always count on you to be overprepared. Have a good one!"

"Bats, tell your kid to quit taking my yogurt from the fridge." Ah, good old Hal. "Also, today's all about guys like you, so... yeah. I admit, you could be worse."

Finally, there's one from Zatanna. "Afternoon, Bruce! I'd tell you in person if I wasn't caught up in Kahndaq, but I hope today is extra special for you. I know how much the birds mean to you, and I know they're gonna treat you well."

(There's also one from Ollie, but he's just asking if he can use the communicator after Barry. In the background, Dinah is is clearly ordering food.)

After dropping Tim and Alfred home and switching to a more discreet vehicle, Bruce makes his way to pick two of his other kids up from the arcade.

"Did you guys have fun?" Bruce asks as they climb in.

"We decimated every game," Damian says, "and won you the finest specimen as a trophy."

He plops a five-foot Snorlax into the front seat and buckles the seatbelt.

"This is for me?" Bruce asks.

"Tt, who else would it be for?"

"I didn't win as many tickets," Duke says, "but I also got you a spider ring and a Chinese finger trap." He puts them in the cupholder.

"Why are you giving me all your prizes?"

"Again, who else would we give them to?" Damian asks.

Duke says, "I think what he means is that you do a lot for us, so this is a thanks from us."

As silly as it might seem, Bruce is genuinely touched.

Pre-patrol dinner is a quiet affair, with Kate stopping by because she apparently forgot to go grocery shopping. She takes a fingerling potato off his plate.

"Um, you're welcome?" he says.

"Bruce, we're family. It's what we do." She takes a bite.

He takes a piece of asparagus from her. "I wish all of us were here, though. Too bad Dick and Jason have that Penguin stakeout. Hopefully they're being safe."

"Even if things go wrong, they were taught by the best. You should trust them more." Selina gets up and places a peck on his cheek before going to get a drink.

"I do," he mumbles into his meal. "It's the world I don't trust."

As he puts on his cowl, he asks Barbara for an update on the evening. So far, Duke is handling a carjacking, the girls are preoccupied with a strip mall hostage situation, Damian is patrolling Metropolis with Jon, and Kate is kicking off her shift with a car chase against Two-Face. Tim and Selina are staying back to catch up on some overdue reports, but other than that, the cave is quiet.

"Before you go," Barbara says, "my dad was cleaning out the attic and found something you might like."

From her bag, she pulls out a blue mug that says: World's Okayest Dad.

"My brother got it for him a long time ago, but... you know. It's all yours now, if you want it."

He takes it, running his thumb along the words.

"It suits you," she says before turning back to relay something to Stephanie.

The route laid out for him tonight gives him the perfect opportunity to swing by and check on two of his boys. He lands on the rooftop silently, where Nightwing and Red Hood have already set up camp. Evidently, they don't notice him as they keep going with their conversation.

"Did you get dropped on your head as a baby?" Jason asks. "Sour cream and Greek yogurt are not the same thing."

"They totally are, change my mind." Dick glances through his binoculars. "No sign of Cobblepot yet."

A moment goes by as Jason not-so-covertly steals some of his brother's patrol snacks.

"So how'd family therapy go yesterday?" Jason asks. "Did the old bat finally show an emotion?"

"It was pretty insightful, at least on my part." Dick lowers his binoculars. "I think I realized where Bruce's persistence comes from. It's annoying as hell, but I think that's how he maintains hope. And who knows, maybe it's his love language."

Jason scoffs.

"I'm serious," he says. "I know none of us are stellar at this family thing, but we care about each other. You can't deny that. We just gotta... refine how we express it."

"Count me out."

"Jaybird."

"Codenames, Dickhead."

Dick snickers. "You love us, admit it. All of us."

Jason mutters a string of curses under his breath before saying, "If you tell him, I'm filling your mattress with sour cream."

Bruce smiles and leaps to the next building.

At the end of the night, Bruce finds Alfred brewing tea in the kitchen and takes the kettle from him.

"I got this," he says. "Why don't you go relax in the living room? I think they added your favorite detective movie to Netflix."

"This is a pleasant surprise." Alfred raises an eyebrow. "What brought it on?"

"It's Father's Day, of course," he replies, pouring the cups of tea. "You know you've always been a second dad to me."

"You made that clear with last year's breakfast surprise," Alfred says. "Care to join me?"

"Always," Bruce says. "By the way, do the kids seem different to you today?"

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mcflymemes · 7 months

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PROMPTS FROM HITCHCOCK'S STRANGERS ON A TRAIN * assorted dialogue from the 1950 film, adjust as necessary

oh, excuse me!

i beg your pardon, but aren't you [name]?

i certainly admire people who do things.

i suppose you think it's corny.

it must be pretty exciting to be so important.

people who do things are important. i never seem to do anything.

wish i could see you play.

there i go again. too friendly. i meet someone i like and open my yap too wide. i'm sorry.

that's all right. forget it.

you'll have to drink both of them.

when's the wedding?

what would anybody want to go there for?

do you know if there are any vacant seats in the dining car now?

sure, i went to college. three of them.

nobody thinks i'm anything special.

my father hates me.

i want to do everything. i've got a theory you're supposed to do everything before you die.

i'm not like you. you're lucky. you're smart.

i'm your friend, remember? i'd do anything for you.

let's not talk about it any more.

i may be old fashioned, but i thought murder was against the law.

my theory is that everybody is a potential murderer.

you can't go around killing people just because you think they're useless.

i'm afraid i haven't time to listen.

what's your hurry?

i got over being jealous a long time ago.

let's talk in there.

it's pretty late to start flirting.

do you know, i think you're hansomer than ever?

what are you trying to say? come out with it.

you always smile when your picture is being taken for the papers.

so it's really serious between you two?

keep your voice down.

i never want to see or hear of you again.

who would believe you?

i know how you must feel.

you're so restless lately.

you have that "look." i can always tell.

you can always make me laugh.

i do wish you'd take up painting. it's such a soothing pastime.

don't you stay out too late.

what are you doing here? at this time of night?

you don't seem very pleased to see me.

it was all over in no time.

we planned it on the train together, remember?

we'd both be arrested for murder.

you think you can get away with that?

you've got me acting like a criminal!

don't you call me that.

i've been a fan of yours for a long time. in fact, i follow everything you do.

just two more days left.

i've got to get some sleep.

when a murderer is caught, he must be tried. when he is convicted, he must be sentenced. when he is sentenced to death, he must be executed.

you seem very interested in the subject of murder.

i suppose i'll have to get a gun from somewhere.

what about a little poison?

let me show you what i mean.

you're a mad, crazy maniac and you ought to be locked up.

come on. pull yourself together.

have you got a car here?

what did i have to do with it?

i want you to tell me.

i'm sure this thing must be some practical joke.

i wish i understood what this is all about!

don't just stand there... do something!

the killer is here tonight.

i've never seen this man before in my life!

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misscrazyfangirl321 · 6 months

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9 People You Would Like to Know Better

I've been tagged by... A lot of people. @authortobenamedlater @fairytale-lights aaaaand it seems like somebody else, but those are the only ones I'm finding in my drafts. ANYWAY, thank you! <3

1. Three ships: Jisbon (Patrick Jane/Teresa Lisbon, The Mentalist); my first ship that really introduced me to the concept of shipping/fanfic/fandom in general. Garcy (Garcia Flynn/Lucy Preston, Timeless); to this day my best experience with fandom as a community. It's hard to explain, but something about the bonding that took place while everyone was fighting to save the show together will make that ship forever hold a space in my heart, I think. And Emotional Compass (Will Zimmerman/Helen Magnus, Sanctuary); Chosen for being the latest ship living rent-free in my head, though I'm due for a new one any time soon.

2. First ever ship: So Jisbon was the ship that introduced me to fandom, BUT my first ship before I knew what shipping was? Either Superman/Wonder Woman, or, going back further, a spider and a worm from a couple of kid books I read. I don't remember the titles or anything now, but they were buddies, and I shipped them hardcore.

3: Last Song: Champagne Problems (Clean Version) by Taylor Swift

4. Last Film: The 1950s Cinderella

5. Currently Reading: Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card, and Once Upon A Christmas Heart by Melody Carlson. Vastly different books, I'll say.

6. Currently Watching: Not much. I've nudged a few different shows, but nothing is really sticking.

7. Currently consuming: Nothing. I have a bottle of water I should probably be drinking from, though.

8. Currently Craving: Rest. I had a busy and stressful dream last night (late to work+can't find boss's phone number to call and explain+texts to coworkers aren't going through+tried to drive there but drove to the wrong side of town+oh no I tried to get back in my car to drive to the right side of town and it Wasn't There Anymore+you get the idea), and am hoping I rest better tonight.

Tagging @accidental-spice @kanerallels @amandamonroe @the-kirbe-anon @taleweaver-ramblings @zeegeetee @exhaustedhope @songsintheattic and @dangerously-human but only if you want to play! And anyone else that wants to join in, feel free! Yes, that means you; I'd love to get to know you better! <3

#tag games #thanks for the tag!

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cheeseanonioncrisps · 22 days

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Love how Vox and Velvette seem to alternate between portraying themselves as the ‘head’ of their little trio, with Velvette referring to herself as “the backbone of the Vees” and Vox plastering his logo over everything and vehemently denying Alastor's insinuation that he couldn't go on without the other two.

And meanwhile, like… Hells entire cinematic industry seems to mostly centre around porn.

Like, I'm sure there are other films out there (Blitzø has apparently seen Shrek) but the “cinephiles” are all off watching “award winning demon bukkake shows”. And I'd be very surprised if the internet porn industry wasn't also pretty big.

Outside the main three Vees, Angel Dust appears to be the figure most associated with their brand. Not any of Velvette's models or Vox's stars. And posters of Angel appear in the Lust Ring in Ozzies, implying that Val's influence extends outside Pride, something that doesn't seem to be the case for the other Vees.

And the whole reason Vox had to hire Sir Pentious to spy on the hotel is because Val hires so many people that all the randos on the street who might be looking for a quick buck were already working for him. Given how sex-obsessed the culture is generally (and considering that for every pornstar Val hires, he's also going to need several camera people, sound people, set designers, editors, etc.) Val could easily qualify as the biggest employer in Pride.

And if he owns even a fraction of those souls, he'd probably be one of the most powerful Overlords with or without the other two backing him up.

And that's not even getting into the age thing!

All the Media Demons seem to be loosely associated with the era when their chosen form of media got popular.

Vel is the social media demon, and one of the youngest Overlords, seeming to have died in the '10s. Vox is the TV demon and supposedly died in the 1950s. Alastor is the Radio Demon and died in the 1930s.

Photographic porn first became a big thing in the late 1800s. Val's style of dress to me loosely indicates 1910s or 1920s. If we're sticking with the established pattern then Valentino could well be older than Alastor.

What I'm saying is: the reason Valentino seems so much less concerned with the image and branding of the Vees compared to the other two might not just be him being dumb and impulsive.

From his perspective, the whole Vee thing might just be something his boyfriend and best friend are invested in, that he just kinda puts up with (and, heck, probably finances) because it makes them happy and gets him out of Overlord meetings.

Out of the three of them, Val may actually be the one who would be most able to go it alone, and the one who is the main source of their power. Possibly the only reason Vox and Vel even get to argue over who is the top dog in the group is because the actual top dog is too busy with his real business to give much of a shit about their fun side project.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin headcanons #hazbin meta #vox hazbin hotel #valentino hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel velvette #the vees #vox and vel are having serious group meetings to discuss preserving their territory and exploiting weaknesses in their political enemies #while val is bedazzling his gun in his boyfriend's aquarium #while the other two bitch about some tiff they're having with another overlord #and he pretends to listen #just in general i love the idea of val actually being way more intelligent than most people give him credit for #but his priorities are different to the other vees #so he doesn't show it much outside his own business

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henrysglock · 6 months

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Now because I’m just about at "horse in a hospital" levels of insane today after being up until 2am on VC with Em.

Nancy (?) and Jonathan (?) are labeled as being in the Upside Down:

...and I dare say they’re in the back of a 1950s car/truck (no later than the 60s, I think, given the split windshield, which was phased out in the mid 50s...Inch Resting...). Which, if you know your cars, should come as strange, since headrests didn't become common until the mid-late 60s.

Anyway, autism tangents aside.

Dustin's camera is labeled without the Upside Down:

He's in the right side up.

So what the fuck are Nancy (?) and Jonathan (?) running from in the UD that Dustin is also running from at the same time in the same scene...and where??

Eugene McCorkle's farm from ST2.

Y'know, the guy Merrill Wright accused of poisoning his pumpkins? One of the two farms to notice rot from the tunnels?

This takes me right back to my post about Steve/Jonathan and the lights:

...given that the lab is the main access point to the tunnels in ST2.

Since this thought path has a touch more credibility now, I'd like to return our attention to what I've been saying this entire time: We seem to have two separate Upside Downs, with a distinct possibility of multiple BBEGs.

The tunnels were accessible in relation to the original gate, which was, as we know, a vertical gate containing the Mindflayer, demodogs, demogorgon, etc. (bats not included):

All very similar to the Dimension X gate from ST4 the One went through, which contains all the same creatures.

Vecna, as we know, works with flat gates:

And we don't see even a hint of the Shadow Monster, demodogs, or demogorgon in there. It's just bats.

Completely different place...completely different guy?

So...Can I please please please draw our attention back to these guys. Please. Just for a little bit. Just look at them.

Completely different place...completely different guy!!

Literally having a fit at my desk rn...what are they doing???

strangerwriters leave me alone challenge [FAILED]!!

#st5 speculation #stranger things #strangerwriters #timeline theory

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nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos · 7 months

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Oh look more headcanons

Who'd have guessed

Not me for sure

Okay sorry I'll shut up.

I'm highly music-driven and have been for many many years of my life.

And I'm presently unreasonably obsessed with The Fratellis after suddenly remembering they exist after like fifteen years of not hearing a single one of their songs. Don't ask me, it just happened a couple months ago and I decided not to question it.

So this is really stupidly niche of me, but these are their songs/lyrics that I associate with the Best Boys™, in a Character X Reader sense. The songs that are typically playing halfway on repeat when I'm writing any of them lately.

The song-links go to Spotify. It's not necessary to listen to them, the lyrics here are the main catalyst, but if you want to listen I'm not going to complain.

no but please I hope you like the music that I like I have no one to talk to about it and as a half-assed musician it's literally killing me and

Anywho.

Zoro

Living in the Dark

I was nothing less than torn, crying out to be reborn

Come back, baby, you could make me happy,

Maybe you could prove me wrong

You're the only one who could ever save me,

Maybe you could prove me wrong

I've been living in the dark down here too long

The song itself is far more upbeat than I'd generally associate with Zoro, but the lyrics speak to me on his behalf. The upbeat tempo is the equivalent of what you do to his heart when you're near him; it's strange and unfamiliar, but it's nice. He's iffy about being close with anyone, and he won't admit it out loud but he wants to be.

He's been alone for years, for damned near all of his life, and you're like the light at the end of that tunnel. He might try to push you away or be aloof and impersonal at first because the thought of being vulnerable frightens him a little, but he wants to be proven wrong. He wants to let you in, and he's willing to try.

Sanji

Sugartown

I get the strangest sense we were lovers past-tense

Like a dog in heat I just can't be indiscreet

And when I see you there, I whisper my prayer, so sweet

I'm getting shakey on my feet, I'm incomplete

And if you just can't do me right

Then, honey, please, do me wrong

I'll be your one man band, I'll be at your command

Just say the word and I'll be your Renaissance man

This entire damned song is the anthem of Sanji. It's like a 1950's bop, the type of song that you can't help but smile at. It's sweet and cute and pining, just like our favorite chef. He's just utterly obsessed and hoplessly devoted to you and every single thing you do. He can't keep his eyes or his mind off of you at any given time.

Just the sight of you entering the room takes his breath away, puts stars in his eyes. He would do or give absolutely anything to have you and to keep you forever, and he's going to make sure you know it.

Shanks

Babydoll

Babydoll, do you believe they'll catch you when you fall?

And when morning comes, the sun is gonna shine

Don't forget, your minor keys your half-lit cigarette

'Cause when morning comes, I know that you'll be mine

So let me in

I'm ready to beg and to sing for my sins

Not leave it to chance and sweet coincidence

I don't know. The soft yet slightly playful tone of the song in general just screams Shanks to me for no reason I can completely put in words. This particular portion of the lyrics is what I associate most with him.

He knows he wants you, and he wants to make sure you know it. Not to beat around the bush about it, but not pressure you either. Just make sure you know how much he cares about you and be as gentle and sweet as possible to prove it...and he knows it's going to work, and that you're already his whether you know it or not. But jfc also imagine that goddamned voice of his calling you babydoll please excuse me I need to go touch grass now

Mihawk

Medusa In Chains

I'm not your miracle man, I'm not your spirit guide

Before this whole thing began I had some sense of pride

Just one more night with your lips, your company is hard to eclipse

Weak-kneed, yes indeed, guardanteed, make my heart bleed

Give me a reason to breathe, don't let my sun go down

I'll make you stand and recieve, I'll be your sacred ground

Be my Medusa in chains, petrified

Only your beauty remains

The entire song. The ENTIRE SONG screams Mihawk to me. Slow-burn and seductive from start to finish. I get the same exact chills from this song that I get when he delivers that "Magnificent" line.

Lyrically relevant too. Falling for you in spite of his pride (and he has a LOT of pride to get past). You're like nothing he has ever experienced and he's utterly and hopelessly addicted to you. As much as he wants to fight it, he can't. In the same breath that he's trying to push you away and retain some grip on himself he's also pulling you back for more. He hardly even knows who he is anymore when you're near.

#opla #one piece fanfiction #mihawk one piece #mihawk opla #one piece headcanons #fluff #mihawk x reader #shanks opla #dracule mihawk #sanji opla #sanji x reader #zoro opla #zoro x reader #zoro one piece #sanji one piece #shanks one piece #shanks x reader

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aconflagrationofmyown · 1 year

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“Just a Mother”

a Sarge & lil Mama blurb || circa 1957

Summary: just adding some back story and motivations to Elaine’s side of the story presented in The Beginning.

Warnings: None really, except for talk of 1950’s gender roles, throw away line of masturbation and motherhood

“Is that all?” was the most common question asked Elaine after she first piped up in class and said she wanted to be a mother when she grew up.

A twelve years old girl, born with the luxury of living in the progressive halfway mark of the 20th century, belonging to a prosperous middle class and raised by lenient and liberal parents ought to have more ambition. Or so her impossibly cool, east coast imported, die hard beatnik geometry teacher chided her lovingly.

“A teacher then?” Little Elaine had fudged, meaning in her heart of hearts she wanted to raise little people, she wanted to make a difference with another generation, she wanted to be loved and depended on.

And why shouldn’t she? Her mother seemed happy enough being a mother. Her mother only seemed fretful when it came to father’s business. Juggling work and home life was the only cause of strife Elaine could perceive between the two, and it ingrained the notion in her little mind that keeping it separate was the key to domestic tranquility. Children, an only child like herself or a dozen taken in by the neighbor, never seemed to be the cause of any true regret between a couple.

“Oh darling, that takes money.” is what mother said when Elaine told her that she wanted a bunch of kids. “And a lot of effort and patience, which you may have but -it takes money, too.”

The white-picket-fence-American-dream could only afford two or three little ones and a new car every five years, it would seem. Elaine would rather forgo the new car and have another child, she told her mother.

Those squabbles over money and the business that Elaine witnessed between her parents ceased altogether when Elvis Presley’s infamous yawling stuck gold on the national charts. She watched then as her parents put their feet up and joked around the family dinner table that maybe they should have given Elaine that longed for sibling, a little bother or a sister. If they’d only known college tuitions would be paid for by a rockabilly record.

That’s when Elaine decided she’d need to marry a wealthy man. Or perhaps father would give her an inheritance early, a dowry of sorts. The first Rock n Roll heiress in America. Mother had warned her that their new wealth would attract no good boys who wanted her money without sticking around after to do right by her.

“Is that still all you want, darling?” Mother had asked when Elaine hit eighteen, right before God took her. “You’ve the opportunity to do so much more.”

“Miss Gladys says it’s the most important job of all.” Elaine had insisted, wounded that her own ambitions should be always so belittled.

“Well, I'd be careful of what you adopt from Miss Gladys.” her mother had warned, a funny look in her eyes, “I’ve a feeling she has ulterior motives for directing your interests that way. You should get out before you settle down, see the world, try other vocations out.”

That had worked for awhile. First Elaine had helped in the studio and then in the hospital and then she had studied hard to become a teacher, forever gravitating towards being useful, being needed, towards nurturing others. For her it was only ever that, that was all of it, that was enough.

Ambition and experience, that’s what everyone encouraged her to seek after mother’s death. The middle aged women, those who had chafed under their own domestic responsibilities and been too late to taste the freedom Elaine longed to squander were particularly insistent. Ambition and experience. Those were things that Elaine had plenty of time to indulge before marrying and being chained to highchairs and the marital bed.

Perhaps too much time, Elaine had begun to think. She was antsy, floating around in her dead mother’s circle, working herself to the bone to forget her loneliness and making little found families with any who’d let her dote on them.

No one to call her own beside her father who’s booming business needed her less and less. He needed her in his grief, but that didn’t mean he accepted her help.

Gone only a few months she had already begun to miss Elvis, and to resent his imposed law of abstinence while he was away. She wanted to marry, she wanted a man to give her children, she wanted to have a life to call her own at long last -she didn’t trust anyone to vet her prospective husbands save for Elvis. And the cycle would begin again. She cursed him in her head, and took to watching men as they swam in the public pools, distracted by muscled backs and furred legs as she taught Mrs. Davie’s children how to swim. She wanted a man, she didn’t know what for but she wanted one.

Elvis had woken her up to that sudden ambition, and she sought it with the single minded drive she put into logistics for the March of Dimes functions. She watched the way these men talked and walked and carried themselves, the ones who curled in on themselves and the ones who swaggered. The ones who whistled at her and the ones who opened doors.

What she had initially thought cruel and lewd teasing on Elvis’ part that night in the kitchen she grew to realize was him merely looking out for her welfare. He wanted her to taste the danger of attraction just enough that she’d know what to guard against. Though every passing day made that harder, charming waiters and slick doctors and grabby handed father’s of children she nannied all sparked an interest in her that had been dulled before.

There was curiosity in her as to what they wanted from her. She knew what she wanted -children, but what did they want? She would have to ask Elvis. She would have to wait for him to get back from a two year deployment and boot camp besides.

Alone in her room at nights, surrounded by text books and mother’s diaries, Elaine wasn’t sure she could hold out that long. She had heard that when God planted a child in a woman’s womb it came out from between her legs. More and more she found herself blindly and ignorantly touching that little baby house, finding it weepy and throbbing, as if as heartsick as the rest of her at the waste of her young and empty body.

Once she tried to put a finger up there as she’d heard doctors did in labor. It pinched and stung and she pulled it out hurriedly, her heart pounding and cheeks hot.

That was another warning all the women had -that children hurt. Making them and bringing them forth. Elaine knew nothing about what went into making them, though she could see that growing them stretched and tore women’s skin to accommodate the new life. Still, like an arduous adventure or a perilous quest it all seemed rather glorious to her, thrilling even, to be growing something that would outlast you.

“Just a mother? You don’t want to be anything else?” her Humanities teacher asked her, senior year of high school. An idiotic question, as if being a mother meant she couldn’t be anything else while at it. But that Humanities class did teach Elaine one thing: men must always strive to build and create a legacy, forever pressed to leave some creation behind with their likeness imprinted on it.

Women can make such a thing in nine months and from it can come millions of copies, millions of descendants. Her lack of ambition to conquer Wall Street seemed to suddenly click sitting there listening to a man drone on about the lasting impact of crumbling ruins.

They’ll never manage what we can, she realized, they can’t create a living thing like we can, they can only shape stone and clay and call it wondrous, while we can fashion blood and bone and cartilage and birth a soul.

It made sense that through the centuries men would define motherhood as “just” that. It was too threatening a thing otherwise, and a millennium of the scorn had infected the women, too, until the miracle of children was cut down to size, to something a little less holy, a little less impressive, little more than drudgery. Why, darling, don’t you know you can go out and work for another man who is not your husband these days? You can push that man’s papers about and endure his groping, come home and endure it from another, too. Who has energy to be a mother after that?

Yes, Elaine would settle for being just a mama. If Elvis would just come back already and help her choose a daddy.

#sarge and lil mama #just a wife #elvis fanfiction #mine #elvis fanfic #elvis imagine #elvis x reader #elaine presley #Elvis blurb #the most wholesome breeding kink #you ever did see

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pagansphinx · 3 months

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Art Movements

Art movements, "schools", artist groups, and societies do not function in the same way as they once did. There were art movements in the earlier years of contemporary art but those too have gone the way of art history. In the late 20th to 21st centuries there are no art movements to speak of, due to globalization and the sheer volume and diversity of the art world. Even Conceptual Art, which endures to this day, is more of a term or category than a movement.

Some will argue that there are lots of contemporary art movements – Minimilism, Monochrome, and Participatory Art, to name a few. True, though I see these as a club with so many members that connection and cohesiveness are impossible to achieve. That isn't to say that's bad. Again, it's due to how large, diverse, and world-wide these movements are. Everyone doesn't know everyone as they did in Impressionism or Surrealism.

An example of Monochrome Art

Robert Ryman (American, 1930-2019 • Ledger • 1982 • Enamelac paint on fibreglass, aluminium and wood • Tate Modern

l'm nostalgic about the art created before the 1950s. I like some of work done in the earlier movements of contemporary art — pop art is fun. The Fluxus Movement produced some cool stuff –à la Yoko Ono. Word Art is not my favorite, though it is unlike me to dismiss it as bad art because I've not seen much of it.

An example of Word Art

Barbara Kruger (American, b. 1945) • Untitled (Your body is a battleground) • 1989 • photographic silkscreen on vinyl

An example of Participatory Art

I "participated" in this artwork – Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.). It was colorful, interesting, and fun but also very sad. I believe it was at The Whitney in New York. It's a pile of candy in confetti colored wrappings (In other installations the colors vary). It can exist in more than one location at the same time, starting with a specific weight 175 pounds (79 kg). Participants are encouraged to take one candy and the quantity diminishes. The artist, Félix González-Torres was a gay man whose partner, Ross Laycock, died of complications of HIV/AIDS in 1991. One art critic's interpretation of the art work was "the diminishment recalls how he (the artist's partner) wasted away before dying." Félix González-Torres himself died in 1996 of HIV.

Félix González-Torres (Cuban-American, 1957-1996) • Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) • 1991

What is your favorite contemporary art movement or individual artist? Please comment. You don't have to be an expert, you just have to know what you like. I'd love to hear from you!

#art #art history #art movements #contemporary art #21st century art #word art #conceptual art #monochrome art #felix-gonzales torres #barbara kruger #robert ryman #participatory art #contemporary art movements #20th century art movements #hiv/aids #queer artist #woman artist #pagan sphinx art blog #writings about art

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literaticat · 1 year

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Hello. Just wondering what you think of the current "Roald Dahl re-write" controversy.

Hahaha I have a lot of feelings. Some of them you probably won't like? IDK.

First of all, lemme just say, Roald D was an anti-Semitic asshole, a notoriously difficult and bad man, his books are mean-spirited and rankle me, I really don't give a fig about him or his books or his legacy, and I'd never give them to a child.

(I wouldn't stop a child from reading one if they wanted to, either! I wouldn't BAN them! It's fine with me that they EXIST and are readily available for anyone who wants to read them! I just personally would not spend my money to present a child with a copy of one of his books, I think there are better things to read that I'd rather gift.)

So if you were under a rock and you didn't hear this latest "outrage", evidently the Roald Dahl estate + the UK publisher decided to do an update to a bunch of his books removing some of the particularly egregious language around things like minorities, fat people, etc. Some of the coverage of this makes it sound like they removed vast swathes of text, essentially rewriting the books. Which would obviously be insane if true. But it's not true. The changes are, as the estate put it, "small and carefully considered." There might be hundreds in total, but if they are tweaks to words across dozens of books - that's really not very many?

Anyway lots of authors are decrying it as CENSORSHIP!!!!! In my opinion... that is a little dramatic. First of all - censorship would be if they redacted the language without the permission of the rights holder. That is not the case. The rights holder is very much on board here - presumably because they know that the language is old-fashioned at best and OFFENSIVE at worst, and they just signed a many-million dollar contract with Netflix! And I'm sure they would like people to NOT boycott those Netflix projects and continue to buy the books!

It would also be censorship if somebody rounded up all old copies and destroyed them, preventing people from ever experiencing the text as originally published. But that's not happening. There are literally MILLIONS of copies of these books in print. They are SO available we could all build houses out of them. Nobody is taking anything away here.

Additionally -- this happens ALL THE TIME. All! The! Time!!!! Mind you -- MOST books just go out of print and are forgotten. But books that are lucky enough to stay in print for decades are often updated / tweaked to reflect changing cultural mores, etc.

For examples: In the 1930's, Nancy Drew was 16 years old and carried a gun. In the 1950's, they realized that was not going over well anymore, so they changed all her stories to make her 18 with no gun.

In the 1970's, Margaret of ARE YOU THERE GOD fame wore a "sanitary belt" for her period. I read these books in the early 80's and was like "wtf???" -- well, in the late 80s, they changed it to pads.

Oh, and also, in early editions of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, the Oompa-Loompas were Black pygmies from a tribe in Africa! They changed them to orange fantasy creatures later, because guess what, people were weirded out about it.

While it's true that Roald D himself made/approved that change (presumably because somebody back in the day told him, "yo, you are going to get a LOT of money from Hollywood if you make this change" and he realized it was true) -- he's dead. If he were alive, he'd probably have the same convo, and people would say "yo, Netflix is giving you millions of dollars, apologize for the hatred you spewed and change some words or your deal is toast." -- And he'd have done it, just like he did the first time. Since he's dead, his heirs made that decision. Which they are fully allowed to do.

Most of the time, literary executors of author's estates are trying to do the most lucrative things for that estate; they have a fiduciary responsibility to do so. That being said - if you feel strongly that after your death your books must be frozen in amber and never changed a bit, never sold to Hollywood / adapted for stage or TV or film, never sold into foreign countries where words change in translation all the time -- then let your heirs / executors know that explicitly, they DO NOT have permission to agree to any of this. And the books will likely just go out of print, and sink into oblivion.

ETA: Are these changes really being done because of concern for children's "delicate" brains, or "cancel culture gone mad"? ... OR, is it a somewhat cynical cash-grab to ensure that a multi-million dollar Netflix deal doesn't go down the tubes? Probably the latter!

But also, that isn't censorship. Creators and their estates are allowed to grab cash if it is offered, and can change or not change things as they will. They are the rights holders.

ETA ETA: I also should have mentioned a similar case from a couple years back: In 2021, the Seuss estate elected to *stop* publishing certain titles that contained racial and ethnic stereotypes. (And also - those particular books were among his least popular and they were not losing anything by making that decision, they make a billion dollars off his other books, and actually that news made his books SKYROCKET in sales, but whatever). It would not surprise me AT ALL if this hand-wringing news actually causes a big spike in Dahl sales.

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theharpermovieblog · 7 months

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#HARPERSMOVIECOLLECTION

2023

www.tumblr.com/theharpermovieblog

🎃HALLOWEEN LIST 2023🎃

I watched The Revenge Of Frankenstein (1958)

We're headed back to Britain' Hammer Horror Studio for the second time on this year's list.

Dr. Frankenstein escapes the guillotine and finds himself hiding as a doctor in a new location, only to be discovered by a young scientist looking to continue Frankenstein's research.

Hammer made several Frankenstein films, a lot of which are fantastic and fun. What makes them so great is Peter Cushing's portrayal of Doctor Frankenstein as a man of evil and cruel intention. An obsessed mad scientist of dwindling conscience.

Cushing is fantastic in this role, and I'd say it's his best character and his best work. His looks of disdain and madness trickle through his proper British exterior, revealing a deeper and more complex character than most other versions of the infamous doctor manage with such subtlety.

Director Terence Fisher is behind some of Hammer's greatest films, including their original Dracula and Frankenstein films. His films are definitive of the Hammer genre and classics of horror filmmaking. His style is forever embedded in my mind and he is an incredibly influential director, if you ask me.

This movie is a colorful treat of gruesome activities and spooky atmosphere. Along with a solid script, which stays true to the character of Dr. Frankenstein, It has everything you'd expect from a gothic horror about grave robbers and reanimated corpses. Tesla coils and flickers of candlelight. Eyes and hands displayed in suspended animation. Secret work in late night laboratories, as Frankenstein attempts to put the brain of a crippled man into a fresh body.

It's a gorgeous, engaging and fun gothic movie that reminds us that Hammer was making some of the very best horror of the 1950's.

#the revenge of frankenstein

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neechees · 5 months

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since miisagi has been a bit of a topic here lately, i'm curious about your perspective on a narrative they've been posting about lately. they've recently been reblogging/posting posts calling it ignorant for people to say israeli people should just move out of the country, because most people who participate in colonialism are disenfranchised by their original countries (used america and australia as examples) and we need to have some amount of sympathy for that. what are your thoughts on this concept? it seemed like bullshit to me at a first glance, but i figured since i'm a white descendant i should probably ask like an Actual native person for their thoughts

I'm gunna start of answering this by showing a screenshot from web-archive of vaer blog & a "before you follow list" on that blog in 2018 (& this is AFTER vae started calling vaemselves "Ojibwe"). Look at the second last bulletpoint under the "Do not follow if you are a ____" heading.

Lol. Vae have been posting some "both sides" bullshit according to my beloved Palestinian mootie, so I think it's pretty safe to say that this person is a zionist. Normally, I'd say that 2017 is quite a while ago and is a long enough time for a person to have changed, but if this person is STILL using some z*onist talking points, again I'm inclined to believe vaer position is relatively unchanged.

Now, I'm not Palestinian so I'm not going to try to tell Palestinians how to decolonize or how they should feel about settlers on THEIR land. Unlike some other people. But I think it bears reminding that this is literally what Isntreal's zionism uses as a justification for its colonial existence, and as a justification for Palestinian genocide. Isr*el has also done things such as carrying out bombings against the Iraqi Jewish population in order to encourage them to move to Isr*el in 1950-1, which worked, so it becomes this loop of "its dangerous for you there, come move here!". (And I don't mean to say that certain groups, or in this case that I provided, Jewish people, are not discriminated against to the point of fearing for their own safety as it is already, that much is true: but rather its that this colonial State will weaponize that fact and then help commit atrocities against the population it claims to want to protect in order to reinforce genocide & colonization.)

People often use the "imagine if someone went into your house and said 'this is mine now' and just kicked you out" to try help people understand how fucked up the colonization of Turtle Island was & how stupid it is that people still celebrate people like Columbus. In a lot of cases, that analogy is quite literally what is happening in Palestine. Palestinians are quite literally being kicked out of their actual houses to make way for settlers.

So vaer literally just parroting colonial talking points, and given the screenshot above I am not inclined to give vaem the benefit of doubt. If anything this kind of shows me vae have DEFINITELY spent a good chunk of vaer life as a White person because the irony of defending the existence and settlement of one colonial, genocidal state (Isntreal) but not another (the "Americas"), despite the fact that the EXACT same tactics for genocide & colonization have been used in both, while claiming to be "Indigenous" to the latter and talking about Indigenous rights & issues that vae may not even have had to live through is just. Too much. The richness of calling OTHER people "ignorant" is red velvet rich.

#and i didnt know this until i looked at these old screenshots.#anonymous

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jackiebrackettt · 1 year

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Figuring Out What RV Bus Kian Would've Lived in in Galloway

okay so first of all: kian canonically lived in an RV bus when he was growing up in Galloway and i have a recently discovered special interest in RVs and decided to figure out what this thing would look like. yippee ^_^

I have 3 main options (all Flxible -> more details on that later) the 1949 (originally a bus converted into a motorhome later on -> also a little earlier than timeline suggests) the 1955 (later than i'd like but this was the same year they started making RV buses (apparently)) and the 1956 (same as 1955 just throwing it in for some floor plan variety)

(1949 Flxible Clipper: click here for more pictures)

(1955 Flxible VL100 bus: click here for more pictures)

(1956 Flxible "Vistaliner": click here for more pictures)

i was trying to aim for around 1951 but around this time anyway a lot of RVs were custom built so wrt floor plan you can kinda just mix it up. i imagine kian's bedroom would've been one of the couches with a curtain around it for privacy shrug. kian's parents would've had the bed(/beds in some models although i imagine it'd be one bed in theirs) up the back

(just giving you the pictures straight up -> keep reading for background info + how I came to this conclusion)

(spent a lot of time on this so if you think it's interesting -> reblogs appreciated!)

establishing our timeline: kian was born in 1951 (33yrs old in 1984 -> the bitb was set) LETS SAY: if his parents were around 20 when he was born then they would've been born 1931. if they moved out together at 18, they would've been looking for RVs around 1949

now around this time due to roads not being great at supporting heavier vehicles (and people who weren't super super rich wanting a car as well as an RV) most people were after RV trailers instead of RV buses -> i believe that kian's parents originally had a car + trailer set up (examples later on) and then sometime around kian was born (1951) they sold their car + trailer to get an RV bus so they'd have enough room to raise a kid (<- this is all headcanon based on the logistics of RV history)

they definitely did not ever own a house because RVs were generally mostly bought by rich ppl (especially if they were RV buses) or poor ppl who bought one instead of a house (common during the depression -> prob where they got the idea). i imagine they originally continued travelling for a bit after kian was born/with the new RV and then settled down in galloway so he could make friends etc etc

it's difficult to search up the original prices for these things so i'm not sure what the comparison on prices between custom RV bus and House in Galloway would've been. which is why i'm saying they kept travelling for a bit just to like.. be on the safe side rather than assume they got an RV bus because it was cheaper than a house

the thing that's made this kind of difficult is RV buses didn't reallyyy exist around early 1950s -> they came into popularity around late 50s. however, there were a lot of people who would custom order/custom build RVs based off of bus/truck chassis. so took me a bit but i narrowed us down to the brand Flxible (info + 1949 bus pictures) (more info) (more info 2 -> custom coach corporation)

Flxible is still a little late for my personal understanding (1955 versus 1950/51) buuut it was a popular bus brand even before selling RVs so it's likely Kian's parents could've used a Flxible bus chassis/shell and had a motorhome custom built onto it (like the 1949 model above for eg). this also means they might not have a brand new bus so here's a list of flxible buses over time so you can pick one out urself if you really want to. starliners are probably too old though

Special Bit Of Info: if you headcanon one of kian's parents to be a mechanic (i guess.. his dad in this kinda era) that makes this whole thing much more simpler bc he could've just built one himself. actually admittedly i'm not sure whether that would've been more/less/equally expensive as custom ordering one.. but whatever

Likely Kian's Parents' RV Trailer + Car Set Up:

i dearly wish i could get better quality informative pics than this/any sort of date on them.. $375 back then (1949..?) is roughly $4,595 according to some converter thing i looked up. i didn't look Too much into these because they weren't as important as the galloway RV bus but Trotwood was active in the late 1940s (<- info + source of pictures)

the 1949 Thomson Avon is another potential trailer?

however if you'd like to look at other 1940s RV trailers go here. as i said, i haven't looked through them all. please be aware that not every RV on here has pictures From the 1940s as they often span a couple of decades

What I Imagine Kian's Parents' RV Trailer + Car Set Up To Be In My Heart:

a chinook on a truck chassis (<- info + source of pictures)

i genuinely can't read this</3 so the exact layout is a little confusing to me but it seems to have the basics. but literally when i was thinking "oh they'd have had a trailer + car set up first" this rough design was what my brain gave me before i even started looking. unfortunately -> way too late for them. the earliest picture with this model that i can find is 1963 (above link)

anyway! this was a lot of fun :] i'm aware not many people might be interested enough to read through the whole thing but if you did -> thank you! i hope you enjoyed!

extra little fact: they stopped the production of RVs commercially during WWII and afterwards there was a bit of an RV boom -> kian's parents were too young to be in the war but this boom likely was what inspired them to go for an RV themselves

#jrwi bitb #jrwi blood in the bayou #kian stone #i'm aware i'm probably the only person actually interested in this/accuracy in general but regardless #-> wanted to share my findings :]#brackett.rv.posting.

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religion-is-a-mental-illness · 8 months

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Gender Clinic SHUT DOWN: Journalist Breaks Down Investigation

Francis Foster: It's also the element of, how many of these kids who are going through this process... they're just gay, They're just gay kids.

I mean, because the show has got quite big now, the people who come up to me, I get quite a lot of gay men and gay women wanting to talk to me about this. And I remember talking to this gay lady - makes me sound like I'm from the 1950s when I say that but - a few weeks ago, and we were talking about this and she approached me and we were having a nice conversation, and she just looked at me and she went, "thank God that I'm in my late 20s because if this had been around when I was 12, I would have transitioned, and I would have screamed the house down until, you know, there was medical intervention. because that's how upset I was at the fact that I was gay or I am gay."

Hannah Barnes: I think this is the part of the story which people, particularly in, you know, liberal metropolitan cities find the hardest to accept. And certainly that's like the reaction that I've had to the work, like, it just can't be true, you know. And clinicians themselves, they would get young people coming in and using these vile homophobic slurs that we had at school in the - I think we're probably a similar age - you know, the 80s and 90s. And hearing that I kind of, I thought we were done with that. I thought it just wasn't a thing anymore to, for people to think it's not okay to be gay. But it is, and it's not me saying that.

Every clinician I spoke to said that so many of those young people were same-sex attracted, even those that spoke really favorably about the work at GIDS, and particularly the girls and actually, when those clinicians who were gay themselves raise those concerns, they say they were accused of being too close to the work, that they were seeing something that wasn't there. And what they've turned around and they say, look at the data. It's really rubbish, we don't have much of it, but what we do have absolutely bears that out.

So, GIDS's data for every single young person that was referred to them in 2012, of the ones they have data for, which is the sort of the older ones, they didn't ask the very young kids, what was it, 90 percent of the girls identified as either same-sex attracted or bisexual. And eighty percent of the boys. And then in slightly more recent stats, those come down to about 70 and 60 respectively, but they're still incredibly high.

So they're saying, we weren't seeing something that wasn't there. And I've spoken to young people themselves, there's a there's a case in the book, Harriet, who said "I was a lesbian, and it was so obvious. I went into my GIDS assessment and I talked about the first relationship that I'd had with a girl, and I felt really ashamed about it because she wouldn't talk to me in public, and I've never been attracted to a boy." And all that was ignored.

So it's not... the data, the personal experiences, the experiences of the clinicians... it's there. And I have to stress that of the people I spoke to for the book, not all of whom are named or quoted but, collectively, they've worked with thousands of young people directly, sitting in a room like we are now, face to face. I don't think it's credible to pretend that the overwhelming number of people who might be affected by this are[n't] gay, bisexual, lesbian. And that's always been the case.

So, every study we have in this field is quite rubbish, but all of them highlighted that. And when Domenico De Chelly opened GIDS back in 89, he always made that point. That of any group of kids, some would grow up to be trans, but they would be the minority. The majority wouldn't, and the majority of them would be gay.

And somehow this gets lost over the years, even though it was in the clinical presentations. And even though their own data showed them that.

"Gender affirming care" is gay conversion therapy.

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ufonaut · 10 months

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i would love to see you flex your comic autism. pls. i love learning. a list of ten TRUE OBSCURE dc facts about the jsa or a specific favored character. pls seeing you blog makes me want to dive deeper into my own obsession about dc.

this is sweet, thank you :') my whole thing started because i saw somebody being like "the jsa huac trial is a direct parallel to the cca disbanding most of the industry???" like it was the greatest revelation of our collective lifetime and it's just plain ridiculous to me because if you've got even the faintest passing familiarity with any form of media then you've heard of the hollywood blacklist and mccarthyism and you know twenty-something year olds paul levitz & gerry conway didn't personally come up with the concept for the hell of it in the late 70s!

fact of the matter is that all-american comics and national comics both operated under an in-house code not dissimilar to the one imposed by the comics code authority, and the vast majority of their superhero comics could've been approved by the cca with frankly very few changes. you have to note that western, horror, and crime comics -- the worst offenders according to the cca -- became the biggest hits of the 1950s while fredric wertham's 'seduction of the innocent' was published in '54, and the jsa had already taken it's last bow in '51. what killed the superhero back then was a simple matter of shifting trends, the war was over and 90% of superheroes were based entirely around helping the war effort -- audiences wanted to forget the wartime years, and genre comics made it big for a good ten years. this isn't to say that the cca didn't deal a near-fatal blow to the industry, it certainly did, as had the kefauver hearings in 1950 but superheroes (=/= comics) were very much already on the way out by then.

so, it's in that context, that the jsa's huac troubles are quite directly & literally referencing the real life house un-american activities committee because the timeline coincides perfectly with the end of the jsa's golden age adventures. it's all part of the same era of censorship and paranoia, of course, but even the most in-depth exploration of the jsa's huac hearing in the golden age 1993 sees it as synonymous with the hollywood blacklist and follows the same line of thinking about the public having already outgrown the wartime superheroes. you can read more on the cca in various full length articles i've posted here, here, and here.

as for obscure facts, i think there's nothing half as delightful as finding out stuff for yourself so i'd like to recommend you all four volumes of roy thomas' all-star companion and any & all issues of alter ego and back issue that seem interesting to you -- all widely available wherever you read comics, or i can link you to anything specific if you'd like to dm me, there's also a lot of articles on my blog in the tags for these books/mags. it's important to me that here at ufonaut dot edu we don't perpetuate the classic fandom attitude of 'this is the right/true thing because [x person] told me it is', i want to share the joy of actually reading & learning this history!

i will however tell you that one of my absolute fav obscure facts is mart nodell basing his original sketch of alan scott's green lantern costume on douglas fairbanks as the black pirate

(alter ego #5)

#anon #asks #jsa #justice society of america #alan scott

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kylesvariouslistsandstuff · 8 months

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Chickens/Spirit of Blue Sky

Well look at that, a full trailer for CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET is finally here.

youtube

CHICKEN RUN is a long-time favorite of mine. I caught it in theaters back in the summer of 2000, at the age of 7. I must've watched the VHS copy I had multiple times. I even had, of all things, a CHICKEN RUN lunchbox depicting Rocky the rooster in the sky on his tricycle. To say I loved this movie is understatement, and to this day? It still *slaps*...

When I learned that CHICKEN RUN was getting a sequel way back in... I want to say late 2017? Early 2018? I was definitely curious and cautious. I was later dismayed to hear that Ginger's voice actress Julia Sawalha wasn't returning because apparently she was told that she was too old. She's going to be 55 in a few days... But her replacement, Thandiwe Newton, is 50. Soon to be 51... That's some nonsense that I'll never understand to this day.

That being said, a new CHICKEN RUN was cause for celebration anyhow. After some character posters and small clips and reveals, we finally have an idea of what this movie is going to be like. I'm definitely surprised that Mrs. Tweedy is back, instead of putting the chooks up against a new menace, and it appears to be retreading similar factory-farming perils and escaping a dinner plate fate stuff. This time, as the trailer and poster emphasize, with the mechanics reversed: A break-in movie rather than an escape, we went from THE GREAT ESCAPE and STALAG 17 homages to James Bond and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE. "Chicken: Impossible"?

It actually makes a lot of sense. CHICKEN RUN is clearly set in middle-postwar England, a dreary midcentury setting that many peg at the late 1950s judging by the old tech and such, but it's actually set in - at the earliest - November 1961. How's that? Well, I am nerdy about certain things, and I know that the song Rocky is listening to in that scene where he pedals by the Mrs. Tweedy's Chicken Pies billboard came out in November 1961. That song, Dion's 'The Wanderer', was a #10 hit in the UK. So, CHICKEN RUN is set either in late 1961 or sometime in 1962. I'd imagine it doesn't go farther than that, at least not to the days The Beatles had finally made a splash. (Their first official single, 'Love Me Do', released in October 1962.) It's a small detail, I get it. I'm sure the filmmakers behind the original didn't think about it as much as I do, they probably thought "Oh, a '50s song, let's have him be listening to that!" Or maybe they did overthink it, too!

So... CHICKEN RUN 2 going for a mid-1960s James Bond spy movie vibe, completely with a very '60s spy movie-looking evil lair-like place, checks out. Either way, I'm game to see it. It'll hit different seeing it on a small screen, but that's just how it all goes, doesn't it? Aardman's previous feature, FARMAGEDDON: A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE (which was very similar to CHICKEN RUN), played theatrically in the UK a few months before COVID hit. Here in the states, it hit Netflix on Valentine's Day 2020, just a little before the outbreak. Even in a world where COVID never happened, it probably still wouldn't have had a chance at hitting theaters. (Though the weirdest thing is, Lionsgate at one point was going to release it theatrically, like they had done w/ the first SHAUN THE SHEEP movie. If you saw EARLY MAN in theaters in February 2018, like I did, you saw a FARMAGEDDON teaser before it. It had no release date, but still...)

Anyways, heck yeah CHICKEN RUN 2!

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Other cool news this week, Annapurna Animation has upped their game. Big time. After saving the scrapped Blue Sky Studios swan song NIMONA, with much of the same crew back to complete it, they have expanded and not only kept some key people from NIMONA (like director Nick Bruno and producer Julie Zackary), but also some former Blue Sky veterans... Like none other than Chris Wedge himself! Director BUNNY, ICE AGE, ROBOTS, ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN, EPIC! The last thing he directed was a live-action movie with some VFX creatures for Paramount, called MONSTER TRUCKS... He'll be back to direct a new animated feature called FOO. It's been ten years since he directed/finished an all-animated movie, so I'm very pumped about this.

Nick Bruno has an original movie in the works there, along with more projects, so that's great. I wonder what his NIMONA and SPIES IN DISGUISE directing partner Troy Quane will be up to, then. Annapurna is also making an animated feature out of a game they released, STRAY, a tale of a stray (what else?) cat in a techy future. And that game came out rather recently, too, so it's cool to see the movie taking off this quickly. Coincidentally, Blue Sky at one point was considering adapting the creature creator game SPORE into a movie... I've never played the game, but I'm a sucker for weirdo futuristic stories and settings. NIMONA's take on a futuristic world was really cool, so Annapurna has this game down pat.

So let's see... Wedge, Bruno, Zackary... In addition to more Blue Sky alumni like Erica Pulcini, Robert Baird, and Andrew Millstein... Yeah, the spirit of Blue Sky Studios lives on at Annapurna Animation, and I think that's very nice. Annapurna took over and completed what was to be a Blue Sky feature film, and they have now landed some of the studio's key people. There's something kind of sweet about that, honestly... I wonder if this means certain canceled Blue Sky projects, such as the musical FOSTER, could live to see another day... Disney heads, namely Bob Chapek, made such an obtuse decision shuttering Blue Sky, so it's fantastic to see that NIMONA was saved by Annapurna and some of their existence as well...

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