Enthusiastic Recommendations - Tumblr Posts
- The Animation Workshop’s “The Backwater Gospel”, 2011 (Directed by Bo Mathorne)
First off, lmfao at these replies
Second off,
I found the source! And it’s actually pretty interesting in full context!
Directed by a man named Václav Mergl, The Crabs (original title: Krabi) is apparently a 1976 short film allegory about the spiral-to-self-destruction risk of advancing weaponry.
The crabs are actually self-replicating machines created by the scientist, programmed to seek out metal, devour it, and then use it to construct more complicated and aggressive versions of themselves. This becomes a representation of both the nature of the arms race (extremely relevant to the time period when this was released) and species’ evolution by survival of the fittest.
I would highly recommend checking it out, the entire short is only about 11 minutes long and pretty charming :)
“She was wronged.
They only tried to love her and honor her here.
She will be vilified once her name is learned, but it was her sisters who broke her up and threw her down.
Gods above, it makes me want to cry just thinking about it.
How long she must have lain there under the sand. Hurting and lonely and angry and not knowing what she did wrong.
I don’t Know how to pray to her, I would if I could.
You deserved better. This was not your fault.”
Media Musin’ Monday, #7:
Screw You, Nickalodeon: Making Fiends Deserved Better
I have no idea how anyone could seriously believe that the entertainment industrial complex™ even tries anymore to hold the illusion of a just or meritocratic realm. No holds barred, I have my issues with about every company still clinging like barnacles to the tragic, sinking ship that cable TV has become, but if you want me to point to a network that’s given me an entire skeleton of bones to pick by this point, and I’m underlining Nickelodeon in red at the top of my list.
It’s not because they host some bad shows, no. It’s not a sour grapes reaction to the untimely end of some of my favorite shows either, and though the entire rotten apple situation with creators like Dan Schneider and Butch Hartman certainly added to barrel’s spoilage, I would still feel every bit of my disdain for Nick’s tv group for the one cardinal sin they have committed again and again and again to ad nauseum- their ongoing phase of running a talent slaughterhouse.
It sounds hyperbolic, but I’d call it a fair observation: Spongebob is widely aknowledged as legitimately both the best and the worst thing to happen to this corner of kid’s media, hands down, but I don’t blame the little yellow guy one bit. He’s only another victim to the mess, and as much as I would love to go on a whole dossier spiel of the history of Nickalodeon from the 90s “golden age” to a full list of the dozens of shows and creators their execs have royally fucked over in the name of chasing the ratings dragon… for one, that’s been done a hundred times by other people at this point, and much better than I could. For two, that would take all freaking day. Just off the top of any cartoon savvy person’s head you’d vaguely recall the assassination of Legend of Korra, El Tigre, or Invader Zim, but that can is filled with so many “blink and you’ll miss it” smaller shows that were barely given two steps out of the starting gate, it pads down an entire TVTropes article on the subject. Dozens of them, shows that Nick all but basically set up for failure before quietly shipping them to the peaceful farm upstate- by which I mean shuffled off to inconsistent time blocks and lower priority channels so they could burn out their final approved episodes in hospice. Nicktoons alone garnered a hell of a reputation for exactly what I’m talking about, but that’s show biz, or… something.
Their worst and probably most audacious offense of all? Let me tell you about the fate of the charming world of a little girl who made fiends.
There’s no better place to talk about the end than the beginning.
Making Fiends, I mean, the original Making Fiends was a series of flash-animated shorts among a handful of other early 2000s web cartoons made by Amy Winfrey.
✨ Just, in case you didn’t recognize or feel something for that name, Amy Winfrey is one of the utter beasts of cartoons in general, not purely kids’ media. Songwriter, directing, animation, screenwriting, voice acting… you name a part of the process, and she’s probably dipped her toe in there at some point. Professionally, she broke into the industry contributing work to earliest season of South Park, and while she personally is most known for and associated with Making Fiends, the likely most prominent body of work she’s been a part of would be Bojack Horseman, wherein she’s credited as a director for many of its strongest episodes, including (but not limited to):
- “Free Churro”
- “The Telescope”
- "Sunk Cost and All That"
- “The View from Halfway Down”
- Amy Winfrey and her spouse (Peter Merryman) making a cameo appearance in the BJH episode “sunk cost and all that”
And even before all of that, she’s been at this animation stuff since the 90s and it shows in a loaded up portfolio of accolades and projects, both professional and personal.
The relevance of this information is to help put in some perspective to just how rotten of a deal she comparatively got with Nickelodeon, when one of those passion creations got a chance to join the network’s airing list.
But to sum up the idea of the web series proper, it independently released 24 short episodes in total, each centered around the antics of two girls engaged in both a completely one sided friendship and nemesis-ship. The show’s namesake refers to the single action the evil little Vendetta is most known for- creating a variety of servant monsters, many of which she uses to secure her rule over the port town of Clamburg, and all its inhabitants. Charlotte, on the other hand, is the quintessential “children’s show” character: near inhumanly kind, cheerful, and naive. So much so that she’s oblivious to her “best friend’s” near daily attempts to murder her, or the fact that she, you know, despises her.
In 2006, Nickelodeon took an interest in Winfrey’s toon and the prospect of adapting it into a TV series, reportedly because a daughter of a studio employee was a huge fan.
And fun fact btw, this was actually the first time that Nick did this approach of turning an indie web animation into one of their shows, but it certainly wasn’t the last if you remember this was also the origin of Breadwinners.
And as far as the audience was concerned, it was quite the successful transition! The TV version pretty much kept all of the major beats and vibes of the original, with polished animation, the same voice actors, and some stylistic upgrades to the art/environmental designs. For a brief time, it was the highest rated thing on its release channel too. Someone I don’t quite recall the name of once endearingly referred to the show as “baby’s first grimdark” and I adore how fitting of a summary that is. It sports a charmingly unique art style, memorable soundtrack, and I can swear to y’all, the humor aged like a fine wine.
“Why don’t you pretend to be dead?”
“:) ok!”
*slam*
(Also, sidenote, the entire series is still up on your tube, in HD, completely free to watch!)
So, if it’s such a neat little show, then why on earth does barely a soul seem to remember it existing? And even fewer scare who recall knowing about the show during its 2008 release?
Because Nickelodeon Studios, without hyperbole, set this show up for failure at every single turn before it even got a fighting chance.
People know of some shows that Nick treated like garbage, but this one they treated like absolute shit for reasons I can’t fathom.
Making Fiends, for one, never actually saw the light of day on the main network channel, as per the original plans. It was actually instead delegated over to Nick’s sister channel, Nicktoons, by a last minute decision.
Nicktoons, fyi, was not carried by most cable packages. I obviously lived on it as a kid, and it was functionally to Nick what I remember Boomerang being to Carton Network- the cable block where reruns of much older but loved shows were shoveled off to once they finished their days on the main channel.
Second, it was quietly premiered with barely a couple farts of advertising, too. I remember maybe seeing one preview as a kid, on Nicktoons.
And I guess, not keeping either of these in mind, Nick then abruptly pulled the plug on the whole thing, citing the tried and true “low ratings” explanation and leaving it at that.
Not counting years of post-cancelation reruns, the show actively ran from October 4, 2008, to November 1, 2008.
That is roughly a month between premiere and the end production date.
One season. Six entire episodes.
Seven whole additional completed scripts abandoned on the table.
Yeah.
I’m a touch salty about it still.
And with the shutting down of the Nicktoons network social media in 2018, any additional acknowledgment of the show from Nickelodoen themselves has kind of vanished to my knowledge. Like, it’s almost no wonder you already had to be part of the cult following to know about it, when Nick has been quiet about the calf they sent to auction since. Worst part is, they still hogged the rights to the show instead of idk, wild idea, giving it back over to Winfrey. I can only imagine people get away with entire reuploads of the series under the otherwise very IP protective Nick’s nose as another display of how low and bastardly those execs really view Making Fiends.
And that sucks! Wow! But I guess in a “be happy it happened, not sad it ended” way, I’m kind of glad for the fact that we can still enjoy and pass around the show that we did get to experience at all, rather than see it fade into true lost media territory.
Even today, about 16 whole years later, I know for a fact there are still plenty of other fans that remember and cherish the splash this tiny show made in that big, brutal pond. So, in that manner, you can’t truly call Making Fiends dead and gone.
A bittersweet story to think about, and only one of many down a long list, but ultimately one I’m happy to be able to tell at all.
Even if all the while still raising a giant middle finger to the network for the ending.
Woopsie, I Put Too Much Effort Into A Character Song Playlist (Zib)
Just showing off some contextual brain worms. Feel free to toy with it as hyperfix fuel, art/fic ideas, a discussion starter, or just to know what’s been rattling around in my ears lately. Addition suggestions welcome. No particular order to arrangement.
Breakdown/Preview below:
Outer Science, English Ver. [Kuraiinu]
Song artist: Jin (covered by Kuraiinu, English lyrics by Kuraiinu)
Fact of fun: The story told in the original song is part of a whole rabbit hole of a work, the Kagerou Project. Outer Science is specifically about one very bad ending out of a huge branch of connected timelines and possible “routes”.
Sorter’s note: This badass track is a huge favorite of mine both with and without even considering this character list, but holy shit did I find it appropriate for this purpose- from the action, the vibes, and especially for it to center around another villain as utterly maniacal as the star of the list. In my little headspace I love to imagine it mostly addressed from Zib’s perspective toward our main timeline’s Dib.
Sample lyrics:
[Does it matter when you, will soon awaken anew
That I’m reveling in every suffering just like a demon?
“Ahh why! No! Why!” you howl and cry
“I never wanted this” you lie..!
Look into my own eyes, there lies your fate and demise
And I know there another fated eloquent master awaits]
[Ahh, not enough, I can’t evade the desire
To eat up their darkened hearts upon the pyre
Taking ahold of every one of their lives
I’m buried in their eyes
Ahh, it’s also in you, deep down inside
The power bigger than them all, Combining Eyes..?
Yes, within this sad tragedy
You are the “queen”]
[How pitiful to live and die
Time and again you all defy
Though it will end the same, you keep resetting the game
Remiss and pain all aflame
Crying, howling, ever writhing]
Broadcast Illusion
Song artist: GHOST & Pals
Fact of fun: This is effectively a remake of one of GHOST’s earlier works, “Colorbars” and was the last song released as part of their Communications project before the series cancellation.
Sorter’s note: With the instrumental stylizations and dark themes of this piece outright, I hope my associations with the favored freak become self evident.
Sample lyrics:
[We’ll wake up in a singular reality
The death of a nation
A toxic reaction
So scream and shout, make a whole lotta noise
Don’t be afraid, let the night run out
Well, after all, it’s a television show
A telecast promoting vertigo]
[A moment in time to reconcile
Came a little too late, and now it’s gone
A moment in history
Produced by the broken and thrown away
And I’m already here
For you to see, for you to see, to see you
I’ve always been here]
Goodbye Moonmen
Song artist: Ryan Elder (Cover by Shadyvox)
Fact of fun: It’s generally accepted that this song was composed in a way to parody/tribute the musical style of David Bowie
Sorter’s note: I felt this one fitted Zib to the point of comedy. The original context of the song was literally about a universe-wide genocide with xenophobic motivations. To me this might as well have been going through his head in canon had he gotten his way.
Sample Lyrics:
[The worlds can be one together
Cosmos without hatred
Stars like diamonds in your eyes
The ground can be space, space, space, space, space
With feet marchin' towards a peaceful sky
All the moonmen want things their way
But we make sure they see the sun
Goodbye, moonmen
You say goodbye, moonmen
Goodbye, moonmen
Goodbye, moonmen
Oh, goodbye]
Final Transmission (Remix)
Song artist: Remixed by The Living Tombstone
Fact of fun: The original version was by Temporal Walker & Voodoopony
Sorter’s note: Delicious Title. Pretty darn catchy on its own. Trippy AND sad when you think about it for too long.
Sample Lyrics:
[He feels it in his stomach and in his bones
The weight is lifted now, he's never going home
Drifting in silence, now he's all alone
Difference is that now, there's no need to atone
Spaceman, that's what they said he was
Head up in the clouds, he never put up a fuss…]
[Eyelids getting heavy, sleep it off now kid
Everyone now knows exactly what you did
Go on, finish up the fuse that you lit
It doesn't matter now, cause we'll see you in a bit
Tapestry of nightlights above and below
Sanity coiled tight, the Earth he'll out grow
Amnesty a slight, too late to forego
Vanity benight, all to do now is let go]
Control
Song artist: Halsey (pitch edit presumably by Lunarex)
Sample Lyrics:
[I paced around for hours on empty
I jumped at the slightest of sounds
And I couldn't stand the person inside me
I turned all the mirrors around
I'm bigger than my body
I'm colder than this home
I'm meaner than my demons
I'm bigger than these bones
And all the kids cried out, "Please stop, you're scaring me"
I can't help this awful energy
God damn right, you should be scared of me
Who is in control?
I'm well acquainted with villains that live in my head
They beg me to write them so they'll never die when I'm dead]
Bacterial Contamination [Bookiezz]
Song artist: Kanimiso-P (covered by Bookiezz)
Fact of fun: The original music video with Hatsune Miku is super famous for good reason, and it’s actually a terrifying piece of art. The song by itself carries a really sad story involving themes of alienation, the vicious cycle of bullying, and possibly suicide, depending on how you interpret its ambiguous ending. There’s also a lot of body horror in the fashion of arthropod imagery, and that’s neat. This pick happens to be my favorite version of it, something about the part with the laughter still gives me actual chills.
Sorter’s note: I’m keeping it a secret for now what segment of the song I’m referring to but I actually started working on storyboarding for a brief animation of Zib to an audio snippet earlier this month.
Sample lyrics (approx. translated):
[Bacterial Contamination
You're not worth believing in my mind
Recently my "common sense" has corroded
I can't even hold my purity
The contamination is spreading
You’ll want to become stronger
Even if I barely survive
It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts]
[My contamination has healed
I’ve been starting to feel much better
All because I transmitted it to her
Aha Aha Aha AHAHAHA…
Bacterial Contamination
Everyone's infected wounds keep bleeding
Killing themselves from contamination
They can't even die with grace now
The contamination has spread
None of you are here; you're dead in my mind
I'm eventually alone
It hurts (x13)]
The Distortionist -
Song Artist: GHOST & Pals
Sorter’s note: Oh hey look, a ditty specifically about gaslighty, abusive assholes for the self loathing bug bastard that started his own cult.
Sample Lyrics:
[Surely you can see the problem
I don't wanna lose my own reflection
A deplorable perception of me
Was none other than an image of you
You're making a wreck of broken glass and leaving me a fuckin' mess!
Bending light in a way that shows exactly how the story goes]
[In all this madness, it's madness
Oh-ho, it's sickening, it's sickening
You know it's unfair, it's unfair
How you distorted my reflection
You know it's too late…
You're lost in a world of funhouse mirrors, twisted for eternity
Bending light in a way that shows refraction of hypocrisy
Whimsical, dear, your lies are clear, now, who the hell would've ever guessed?
Play my games and abide my ways, there's no way you can compensate]
CORROSION
Song Artist: R.I.P.
Sorter’s note: I’m just gonna let “I've lived in fear my whole life; I'll give you a taste, you can't change my mind” speak for itself. This is one of the more tragedy flavored ones.
Sample Lyrics:
[Don't you know? I'm truly evil, and
Everybody 'round me's dropping dead!
Overflowing, oddly gleeful, and
You're all blue and cold, yet painted red!
Undergone drastic changes
Oh, it's the only thing that's left for me
All along I've known it's wrong
But I can't fix what I am
It's all I know
Low and behold!
I'm truly evil, and
You're a person standing in my way!
Have I shown I can be lethal
I'll leave them all to rot and to decay
Hold on tight, it will be painful
Oh, it's more than your weak mind can conceive
You're all blind, I'll take what's mine
Oh, I wish I could restrain
It's all I can be]
Wake Up!
Song Artist: Oomph!
Fact of fun: The German version of this song goes really hard too.
Sorter’s note: This one was selected more to reflect the broader nature of the Zimvoid and the hierarchy itself.
Sample Lyrics:
[Got no time for waiting
Got no time to waste
Everywhere machines here
Set a deadly pace
Got no time for questions
You have work to do
Got no time to stand now
If you stop, you lose]
[Your life is seeping through your fingers like sand
And time, it flies like the wind
You run in circles and you're losing your mind
But all you want is to win
Just breathe in
Then breathe out
Wake up! Now you're stuck in this game
And even if you run, the score is the same
Wake up! Now you're stuck in this game
You're just stuck in this game]
Confrontation
Song Artist: Frank Wildhorn, Et al.
Fact of fun: yeah yeah it’s from that Jekyll and Hyde Musical. The one people been making animatics of forever and they had every right to be because it’s still good decades later.
Sorter’s note: A little red meat for some of you who like to toy with the two minds, one body idea/headcanon, or your cute little corruption arc narratives.
Sample Lyrics:
[This is not a dream, my friend
And it will never end!
This one is the nightmare that goes on!
Hyde is here to stay,
No matter what you may pretend,
And He'll flourish, long after you're gone!
Soon you will die, and my memory will hide you!
You cannot choose but to lose control.
You can't control me! I live deep inside you!
Each day you'll feel me devour your soul!]
Amygdala’s Ragdoll -
Song Artist: GHOST & Pals
Fact of fun: For some reason the chorus of this caught on as a little animation trend once. Think they dubbed it the Trypophobia Meme. If I do actually ever do something with it myself, I know I’m not calling it that.
Sample Lyrics:
[Today something changed
I figured it’s true
The frontal lobe placed me behind my own strings
‘Cus I defy the way the game works
I’ll say it again, I’m only getting worse]
[Say we take what had been torn apart
Say we mend any patchwork discord
Turning eyes to the trypo-puppeteer
Waiting for the world to burn
So, One two three, and we’ll tie the tourniquet
Larvae eating away at everything
Word goes ‘round, I’m the trypo-puppeteer
Laugh along, I’m spreading holes
Now I know this has always been my fault
and I can’t inhale anymore]
Honorable Mentions:
• C e n t i p e d e by GHOST & Pals, omitted for personal and practical reasons.
• Honey I’m Home, another GHOST hit, omitted because most of my Zib association with that goes along with my personal “darker harvest” theory/headcannon
That sky, that song. Those friendly, skinless faces and their generous yarns. It makes me just alright somehow.
It’s such a stupendous atmosphere. An infinite pause to let the world pass aside and bask in this vibe. Weightless, and without worry.
It feels like summer nights on the back porch. It feels like staring out the car window contently and dozing off as a kid. It feels like this.
I just want to become lost in it.
Warnings and pleas which a kinder heart, or a less rapacious mind, may have considered.
My blood feels dull and heavy
There should be more here
Had all these plans for this place
I used to burn once upon a time
My veins miss the old poison
Strength enough only to drag my feet
Rattling chains, only my own Houses to Haunt
Held by the lungs and pulled
Bleeding time from a wound that won’t close
Hellish what I have to do
A charming tale about family, homemaking, and creation. Experience the matriarch’s realm for yourself here, alongside other cursed grounds.
lethargy hill, kitty horrorshow
from haunted cities volume 4 (2020)
13 essential films for the Burtonphiles and Selick-ites out there.
Yee. Unconventional list as this isn't just short content here, but I love me some Selickesque-Burton whatever stuff and I wanted to feature it exclusively somewhere.
Family = Kids can watch it.
Adult = Kids can’t watch it but teenagers can. Contains swearing and adult situations
Horror = Classic horror/thriller with some good scares and creepy imagery.
Goth = Less horror and more on the macabre or suspense side of things.
Surreal = Weird stuff that crosses into the other genres.
Comedy = Funny stuff w. maybe some cuteness too.
Drama = Horror and monsters used to make you sad or tell a gripping story.
GORE = Take this as your Trigger Warning. Films with this label are gorey and not for the faint of heart in that department.
MATURE = Not for kids; contains disturbing subject matter such as abuse or sexual encounters.
Moon Girl | Family
A solo film Henry Selick made with Laika before he began production on Coraline. The CG is give or take but it's an adorable story if nothing else.
Face Like a Frog | Family/Surreal
Sesame Street animator Sally Cruikshank's iconically surreal short film featuring a musical interlude by the one and only Danny Elfman.
Frankenweenie | Family/Horror
Tim Burton's 30-min live action feature which got him kicked from Disney.
Hansel and Gretel | Family/Horror
One of Tim's contributions to Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre, this one being an adaptation of Hansel and Gretel that of course Burton used to make some creepy imagery.
Vincent | Family/Goth
Tim Burton's first breakout film at Disney, featuring the voice and made in loving tribute to the late, great Vincent Price.
The Stalk of the Celery Monster | Horror/Comedy
What remains of this film is what you got. It was to be one of Tim Burton's short 'interlude' shorts he made while at Disney.
Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp | Family
Also made for Shelley Duvall's show, though this Burton-directed outing is a bit more in line with a fairytale adaptation. A bit.
The Sandman | Family/Horror
Paul Berry, the lead animator behind Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach shows us why he was picked for such projects with this early horror short of his.
Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions | Surreal
The 'pilot' episode for an MTV series that Henry Selick never ended up pursuing. Yet, it features all of his staples of multiple techniques at once.
The Devil Went Down to Georgia | Goth/Comedy
Paul Berry directed another fantastic gothic short, this one being the music video to Primus' take on "The Devil Went Down to Georgia".
Family Dog | Comedy/Adult
One of many late 90s attempts to reach Simpsons-level acclaim - this tv show had a handful of writers involved but the designs of the characters were Tim Burton's.
Party at Ground Zero | Surreal
Selick's first time directing a music video for the band Wishbone, for their black-comedy romp "Party at Ground Zero".
Demiurge Emesis | Goth/Surreal
Voltaire brings us a grim little stop-motion diddy about the will of the artist to aspire against it's peers, narrated by good ole Danny Elfman.
Happy Hauntings
H.P. Lovecraft quotes out of context which tear my body open and viciously rend my heart or stomach into shattered pieces at the amount of emotional weight charged behind them (also you should seriously read them in context too)
thinking about david firth's health reminder again
So glad my queue is still running on because I bought Dredge only like less than 72 hours ago, and I’ve already mowed through both endings, all the side quests, and nearly the whole world encyclopedia. This goddamn game has grabbed me by the sphenoid, wriggled its vivacious little tendrils through my brain, and pulled me under. There is no damn sign of escape or breath any moment soon, but I can’t say it isn’t a fun ride.
@cackled0g *finishes snorting all of the new content*
Key points
• the new monster is so incredibly smoochable what a handsome lad
Just MWAH
• (bangs into glacier) ah fuck (another bang) Get it together oh my- (hits waterspout) godDAMNIT
• FUCK that colossal squid aberrant 🖕
• I swear to god sometimes I feel like the traveling lady is the actual main character and I’m just the fish selling npc. What magic powers did she sell someone’s soul for?
• heeehee, creb :y
• I have like $6000 and nothing to spend it on
• When does the narwhal appear? 👀 !📷
:( There isn’t any narwhal, is there?
So glad my queue is still running on because I bought Dredge only like less than 72 hours ago, and I’ve already mowed through both endings, all the side quests, and nearly the whole world encyclopedia. This goddamn game has grabbed me by the sphenoid, wriggled its vivacious little tendrils through my brain, and pulled me under. There is no damn sign of escape or breath any moment soon, but I can’t say it isn’t a fun ride.
Definitely lol with you there. It’s actually bizarre to me when people do walk away with that impression, because the tone of jthm is actually… pretty cynical about the rate of media literacy among people. It DOES actually do a bare minimum amount of explicit pointers and even quite a bit of hand holding specifically for these edgelord types. Johnny literally meets a copycat killer and biggest fan of his and it fills him with nothing but rage and unfathomable disgust.
He constantly condemns all he is and only views his violence as a meaningful solution to society’s problems to the degree that (spoiler?) literal eldritch forces have manipulated him into delusionally believing so, for their own ends. He’s not the most reliable narrator alone, but he is pointed out constantly by his hallucinations AND sane humans for his incoherent hypocrisy in the comics. For all his complete immunity to consequences to his actions, he’s still a miserable, isolated person increasingly warped from the individual he used to be. He pretends he subscribes to a set of justifiable standards and rules to weed out the “worthy victims” from the innocent, and then again, and again, his fits of vitriolic bloodlust are portrayed with all of the senselessness and arbitrary cruelty that they deserve to be viewed through. When challenged on this front, he doesn’t ultimately have any explanation beyond excuses, excuses, constant excuses that he knows are such deep down… when he is lucid enough to actually introspect. He’s a “maniac” by the literal title of the series.
If anything, JTHM could be the ultimate beginner-level literacy test for a reader’s most basic common sense ability to understand the difference between “protagonist” and “role model”.
Between “things that happen/story themes” and “lessons the author is trying to impart on you”.
Between the voice of an unreliable, imperfect main character and the voice of a hero’s objective wisdom.
Between the narrative deconstruction of a flawed character and when an irredeemable monster is being woobified.
My favorite sardonic, back-handed slap in the face on that front was particularly this panel
[STUPID PEOPLE: I would ask you to keep in mind that this should not be a source of moral guidance (that would be movies) Put away the knives and never allow yourself to forget: you are stupid - JCV]
JTHM/IFS feels like a media literacy and/or personal maturity litmus test. The comic's characters and events are presented with such a combination of absurdity and neutrality...that it opens a lot of room for misinterpretation, depending on where you're at in life. A lot of media actively handholds you towards feeling [X] or [Y] about a character, but Jhonen Vasquez just...doesn't do that [very respectable], and allows the audience to draw their own conclusions. I've seen a fascinating amount of people walk away from JTHM being unquestioningly reverent of Johnny as a character, which like, lol...but in a weird way I kinda like that? Basically, every copy of JTHM is personalized.
Off my chest but I hate that Cthulhu is the flagship lovecraftian figure I hate that all eldritch horror icons get to be compared to Cthulhu in our timeline now that it’s all called the “Cthulhu Mythos” and what for???
I got into HP for the short stories, but I did eventually get around to the bulkier, connected stuff, and honestly? “Call of Cthulhu” is one of the weakest and underwhelming examples of the guy’s work that I’ve gotten through. THIS is the monster that in huge part made Lovecraft a pop culture name? THIS story?
Like sorry not sorry but Cthulhu is a little bitch boy stuck in timeout. Yes yes, I admit he’s pretty cool in a vacuum and I guess the “that is not dead which can eternal lie” quote does go pretty damn hard. But put into context it’s just…. Eh… like, I’m not going to even touch the overflowing can of worms that is the racist overtones since it’s already-taken low hanging fruit at this point. I honestly just found CoC boring and anticlimactic because I made the mistake of chomping through so many of huge other monster stories first. Once you’ve inoculated yourself into the stakes of At the Mountains of Madness or gotten in the know on Innsmouth or Yog-Sothoth, you feel like squidboi doesn’t really throw much punch even for the amount of suspense that he does build up to. He’s the first and only otherworldly deity so far I’ve even read to be defeated and shooed back by mere mortal men- mortal men, ones that didn’t even know wtf they were doing or facing, mind you.
I have less than nothing against people who enjoy the story and Cthulhu, but I just want to know… why? More specifically why this one got so famous and influential for a whole genre of horror. Cthulhu is just not really even scary to me. Ephraim Waite is scary. Shoggoths are fucking terrifying. The lore of Elder Things are everything I never knew I wanted in eldritch horror, and their story was genuinely compelling. The Deep Ones I thought I got their gist and wasn’t so interested in before reading, and they actually pulled me in past expectation. Cthulhu’s like…. A “safe” to “euclid” class scp at worst. The Innsmouth plot is the real setting for the theme of serious danger that is plotting and bubbling just beneath the uncanny surface.
I’m not telling anyone to not read Call of Cthulhu, but if you already have and you didn’t really get the appeal and hype for Lovecraft, Don’t be afraid to try explore down a different branch of the Mythos. You might be surprised. If you did read and enjoy CoC, make sure you check out the other stories because in my opinion it’s pretty uphill from there.
Tenement - Kitty Horrorshow, Haunted Cities Vol. 4
one of my favourite games of all time. be sure to check the readme that comes with the files, you'll need it
I so adore this one. Not my favorite from Lovecraft but absolutely within the top 5. Wayne June never misses, and this is no exception
What the what? Geez, I know it’s dark, but come on, YouTube. well, thanks for letting me know because I literally wouldn’t have noticed otherwise. While that’s a bit of a bummer (I LOVE the accompanying visual novel and sountrack format of that vid), I was still able to find another link to Wayne June’s narration of the text! Hopefully this one won’t give you such trouble since I didn’t see any age restriction on it.
 https://youtu.be/HM40Yw-3vH4?si=S5Lou8NjVLAq4ri3
I so adore this one. Not my favorite from Lovecraft but absolutely within the top 5. Wayne June never misses, and this is no exception
finally after 9 weeks of on and off work. hate monologue animatic. collapses
heres some of my concept sketches for this version of am!
