The Prankster, Disguised as a Horrifying Abstract Concept

VALET, not butler, whatever, lol

Anyway it's unquestionably eye-rolling if he was a secret agent who then decided to quit and be a valet to a family that coincidentally happened to produce Batman later on

Like if he was the butler to someone top-ranking at MI6 or whatever he could absolutely have had clearance and spy-adjacent responsibilities, including having to go along on semi-dangerous missions, etc.

Plus as mentioned the WWII thing, but that no longer makes sense given the timeline

I haven't actually read any "Alfred as spy" stories but it is true that if you're a valet or personal assistant to someone high-ranking in the military that carries with it a certain level of responsibility and secrecy, having THAT be Alfred's backstory actually makes perfect sense to me

It's the kind of cruft that inevitably accumulates with superhero stories needing to keep coming up with story ideas for 80+ years. I agree it's better if he's "just a butler" but as far as it goes it's not a terrible element to add on

With the comedic tone and John Terlesky's widely-noted Bruce Campbell energy in the lead it feels a lot like a trial run for Hercules/Xena/those Raimi-produced 90s syndicated shows.

They just HAD to cram in a sexual assault scene though, huh.

Deathstalker II is indeed a vast improvement on the first one. I wouldn't quite say I'm a FAN of Jim Wynorski but he does tend to produce above-average schlock (at least in the 80s) and he knew not to take any of this nonsense seriously, unlike the first

A friend told me that years ago the organization he worked for would talk publicly about funding crises by saying something like “we’re not broke, we’ve been robbed” to get people to think about how the government and elected officials impact the economy.

I am, objectively, one of Patreon's biggest success stories and one of the biggest creators on the site. Yet with the *single* exception of introducing private RSS feeds for podcasts in, I think, 2019, *every single* change they've made has affected me negatively.

The more recent "Alfred is basically Jason Statham, he was in the SAS, he's BADASS" is very dumb but the espionage background has been around for a while

I always sort of assumed Alfred having a background as a spy in the John Steed mold was something they gave him in the 60s to ride the spy movie craze? Obviously that feels like putting a hat on a hat but Alfred as a Steed type is at least in line with his character and I don't mind it?

Detective Comics Vol 1 501 "The Man Who Killed Mlle. Marie!": Certain day, Bruce Wayne notices that Alfred Pennyworth and Lucius Fox become terribly upset after receiving letters from France each. Bruce finds the whole situatio...

OK so apparently the origin of Alfred as a spy is this issue, from 1981 (dc.fandom.com/wiki/Detecti...) where we learn he worked with the French resistance...which makes perfect sense to me given the timeline...

To me it's a primo example of how "LOL THIS IS INSANE HA HA" is not in and of itself a recommendation. Constantly upping the ante with nerd shit is not actually that hard. Telling a focused story is hard.

People are talking up Batman Ninja, and it's worth watching, but my problem with it is that it abandons its premise (Batman as Japanese historical epic) like halfway through and becomes a mech battle anime, a thing I'm not crazy about at the best of times

Nice Eschaton you got there. Be a shame if someone Immanentized it

Nice Eschaton you got there. Be a shame if someone Immanentized it

Beverly Crusher: I did fall asleep reading a particularly erotic chapter in my grandmother's journal.

Happy Halloween from Star Trek and the haunted horny candle that makes you have sex with the ghost who had sex with your grandmother

Oh so they got to you too

It's cool how everyone who thinks this way is completely broke and everyone who has the money to do this is like "Ha ha you should starve, you poors"

🌹one of our biggest fantasies is having enough money to just casually wipe out people's mutual aid needs, like oh you needed this much? here, take, it's nothing. how could you not wanta be able to do that?

I have a habit of drawing in blue pencil and then either drawing over it with other colours or inking in the computer, but some of my best stuff is in non-photo blue which: you will be shocked to learn: does not digitize well. Almost like that is the entire point

Sketch of a big pyramid in Las Vegas with a monorail and ominous statues out front. It is also, of course, a casino

Did you know Las Vegas is controlled by the Illuminati

He coughs a disappointed bray
To urge that we be on our way.   
The only other sound’s the sweep   
Of restless dunes o’er man’s display.

The moving hand of fate will treat
Both kings’ and beggars’ lives as cheap
So hurry now, for soon you sleep
So hurry now, for soon you sleep.

(2/2)

Whose land this is I do not know
The statue fell down long ago;
No one will mind me stopping here   
To watch the sand o’er ruins blow.

My camel friend must think it queer   
To rest with no oasis near   
And precious little shade these days   
Gives Ozymandias, I fear.

(1/2)

Two legs for the elven kings under the sky
Visage for the dwarf-lords in their halls of stone
Sneer for mortal men doomed to die
Despair for the mighty from his dark throne
Level sands of desert where the Kings of Kings lie

Watch out for Ea Nasir this Halloween!

Two images that I've pasted into one; the top is from the movie of the musical Oklahoma!, a guy dressed as a cowboy and riding a horse is singing, "Oh, what a beautiful morning," then the image below is a screenshot from Castlevania II: Simon's Quest with the text "to have a curse."

And that... Really showed the innocent children of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? I don't think the tone of this is, um... Forget it.

That Arson guy has said some extremely dubious shit tbh, I see him in my feed way too often. He's an AI defender

Your chilly sneer
Of cold command
Your trunkless legs
Upon the sand
Once awed the Persian, Turk,
And Damascene

A pedastal
Beside your smirk
Proclaims “Look up,
You lazy jerk!
Behold the mighty work
Of great
Jolene.”

went to paris and had my first madeleine,, i couldn't remember shit