one page at a time

••a mix of obsessive and random••they/them••old millennial•• 🌑🌫☁️☂️🌈

[dontyouknowemma-itsyou]

| Superboy and the Invisible Girl

[dontyouknowemma-itsyou]

| please hear me calling

[youremysputnik]

[junoalexanderr]

#need that

[elodieunderglass]

changes and trends in horror-genre films are linked to the anxieties of the culture in its time and place. Vampires are the manifestation of grappling with sexuality; aliens, of foreign influence. Horror from the Cold War is about apathy and annihilation; classic Japanese horror is characterised by “nature’s revenge”; psychological horror plays with anxieties that absorbed its audience, like pregnancy/abortion, mental illness, femininity. Some horror presses on the bruise of being trapped in a situation with upsetting tasks to complete, especially ones that compromise you as a person - reflecting the horrors and anxieties of capitalism etc etc etc. Cosmic horror is slightly out of fashion because our culture is more comfortable with, even wistful for, “the unknown.” Monster horror now has to be aware of itself, as a contingent of people now live in the freedom and comfort of saying “I would willingly, gladly, even preferentially fuck that monster.” But I don’t know much about films or genres: that ground has been covered by cleverer people.

I don’t actually like horror or movies. What interests me at the moment is how horror of the 2020s has an element of perception and paying attention.

Multiple movies in one year discussed monsters that killed you if you perceived them. There are monsters you can’t look at; monsters that kill you instantly if you get their attention. Monsters where you have to be silent, look down, hold still: pray that they pass over you. M Zombies have changed from a hand-waved virus that covers extras in splashy gore, to insidious spores. A disaster film is called Don’t Look Up, a horror film is called Nope. Even trashy nun horror sets up strange premises of keeping your eyes fixed on something as the devil GETS you.

No idea if this is anything. (I haven’t seen any of these things because, unfortunately, I hate them.) Someone who understands better than me could say something clever here, and I hope they do.

But the thing I’m thinking about is what this will look like to the future, as the Victorian sex vampires and Cold War anxieties look to us. I think they’ll have a little sympathy, but they probably won’t. You poor little prey animals, the kids will say, you were awfully afraid of facing up to things, weren’t you?

[canadianwheatpirates]

I'm like one hour from going to bed so my take is not going to be extensive but my guess is that the social anxiety this is reflecting is the surveillance state. And the fact that private companies (i.e. not just the state) are also doing a ton of surveillance. And even the fact that the way we often use social media -- less so Tumblr, which has some anonymity still -- is basically internalising that surveillance and performing for it at all times.

It seems like there are two modes going on here: "avoid being perceived by the horror" (Bird Box, A Quiet Place etc) and "perform correctly so that the horror can't get you" (your trashy nun example). Both of them arise from surveillance logics; one is "avoid being surveilled or it will Get you", the other is "you are being surveilled, perform correctly or it will Get you".

And with regard to the social elements it's all reflecting, I mean -- have you seen the state of things? It's extremely difficult to avoid being surveilled! A monster where you have to not look at it is fucking easy mode by comparison!

(Pretend I cited Michel Foucault and Erving Goffman; they're relevant but also it's bedtime.)

[elodieunderglass]

Ooh yes, and breaking it down like this made me think:

- fear of observation (surveillance state)

- fear of not performing correctly (purity culture and evangelical backlashes)

- fear of confronting existential threat (climate change)

[fozmeadows]

my contribution to this extremely salient and clever discussion is to say: I think we should call this subgenre panopticonsequence horror

[elodieunderglass]

! ! !

[thelovers-thedreamers-and-me]

I think there might be an additional element here- the fear of awareness, because if you observe something, you'll end up seeing something you don't want to. like, we live in a society where we have more access to information than ever before, and also where the supply chain of things we have no real choice but to use exploits so many people, damages so much environment, and generally relies on a wide variety of harms to get into our hands in a way we can afford. i live in a society where it's more or less generally accepted that slavery and child labour is bad, but I would say it would be a minor miracle if I haven't touched something today that used at least one of those, you know? and the thread goes beyond that in a lot of fun ways- like, who hasn't been a fan of an artist and then found out they were doing horrible things behind the scenes? hell, most people live in countries with governments that are doing awful things to people every day.

it's the narcissist cookbook's cognitive dissonance blues. it's chidi anagonye's almond milk. being aware of the state of the world is to be in some level of despair at both the situation and the fact that you kind of need to be complicit in it for anyone with half a conscience. and there's nothing any of us, as individuals or in most sizes of group people are able to amass, can really do about it because so much of this evil is baked into the way the world works at this point. everyone has a vague knowledge that the world around them can't exist without destroying people and planet, and you'll know a lot more than you ever wanted to about it if you do a few web searches, and then what? you'll stop wearing clothes, eating food, or using technology? you'll switch to ethical options that cost money you don't have and have a decent chance of maybe the closest link in the supply chain being less harmful but don't look all the way down? like, it's notable that in a lot of these movies, not looking at the thing doesn't make it go away- it just means it doesn't get YOU.

[anxietyproblem]

[savethegrishaverse]

Posts made by one of the conlangers of the show - Christian Thalmann! It's amazing to see the languages of the Grishaverse used to help us fight!

[nosebleedclub]

Tell me a soft memory

[lifeofbrybooks]

My oldest brother is 10 years older than me.

When I was in first grade, he took me shopping for new school clothes — which was huge because, as the youngest of six kids, I lived in hand-me-downs.

He bought me a little navy blue, polka dot dress with a Peter Pan collar and red alphabet buttons. But, on picture day, I lost one of the buttons on the playground. I had a total meltdown because my brother spent his own money to make sure I had this new dress and I ruined it. I was a mess, totally inconsolable.

My teacher was also the mom of one of my brother’s best friends. She told him, and he, my brother and the entire football team searched the playground after practice for my lost button. Which they actually found.

My brother sewed the button back on himself in the car all while trying to explain that he wouldn’t have been mad even if I did lose it.

It was just a button and a dress.

But I did have one of those little red alphabet buttons sewn into my wedding dress.

[hockeyheart]

that last line got me to tears, sobbing

[willgrahamscock]

I think staff doesn't realize that all they have to do to make this website profitable is stop changing the UI, leave tumblr as it used to be and ask people to donate to maintain the server it runs on. Ao3 gets double and triple their donation goals because we are dedicated to keep it alive and it would be the same with tumblr. The first step is to accept that we hate change and none of us are leaving. Let us reblog our little images and stop trying to turn this website into a cash grab. This website is full of little freaks with disorders, we are not profitable but we are loyal. Let us have one place where we feel at home.

[willgrahamscock]

[maybemacdc]

modern au crows

[afloweroutofstone]

I'm the "voting is good and everyone should do it" guy but I intend to direct basically all of my you-should-vote energy next year towards the reelection of the 18 progressives in congress who've stuck their necks out to call for an Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire. They've dedicated themselves to a basic standard of human decency, and for it they will be punished with an immense tidal wave of financial and political resources seeking to get them kicked out of office, to say nothing of the threats against their lives. Biden's on his own.

[kuvaton]

[saint-batrick]

environmental storytelling.

[phallicthimble]

[memewhore]

[khaleesiofalicante]

“Our lives begin to end the day we decide to become silent about things that matter.”

[entertainmentindustryupdates]

It is with profound disappointment that we report the industry CEOs have walked away from the bargaining table after refusing to counter our latest offer. (1/11)

We have negotiated with them in good faith, despite the fact that last week they presented an offer that was, shockingly, worth less than they proposed before the strike began.

These companies refuse to protect performers from being replaced by AI, they refuse to increase your wages to keep up with inflation, and they refuse to share a tiny portion of the immense revenue YOUR work generates for them.

We have made big, meaningful counters on our end, including completely transforming our revenue share proposal, which would cost the companies less than 57¢ per subscriber each year. They have rejected our proposals and refused to counter.

Instead they use bully tactics. Just tonight, they intentionally misrepresented to the press the cost of the above proposal – overstating it by 60%.

They have done the same with A.I., claiming to protect performer consent, but continuing to demand “consent” on the first day of employment for use of a performer’s digital replica for an entire cinematic universe (or any franchise project).

The companies are using the same failed strategy they tried to inflict on the WGA – putting out misleading information in an attempt to fool our members into abandoning our solidarity and putting pressure on our negotiators.

But, just like the writers, our members are smarter than that and will not be fooled.

We feel the pain these companies have inflicted on our members, our strike captains, IATSE, Teamsters and Basic Crafts union members, and everyone in this industry. We have sacrificed too much to capitulate to their stonewalling and greed.

We stand united and ready to negotiate today, tomorrow, and every day.

Our resolve is unwavering. Join us on picket lines and at solidarity events around the country and let your voices be heard.

One day longer. One day stronger. As long as it takes.

- Your TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee

[zoe-the-astromaniac]

Be careful of Asexuals y'all, I heard they aren't fucking around

[fairycosmos]

hope everyone in my phone is ok today. or surviving at least

[sleepy-bebby]

Badgers and coyotes hunt together. It's a thing. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service explains that “studies have shown that this unusual relationship is beneficial for both species. The coyote can chase down prey if it runs and the badger can dig after prey if it heads underground into its burrow systems.”

[mugwomps]

Hanging out with your bestie