philippos42

Angelfire

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:53:38 GMT

I just found out that Angelfire has, this year, disappeared.

I went looking for my old page to look something up, and Angelfire is gone. I found what looked like a login portal, but it doesn't work.

:(

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noting some stuff before I fall asleep

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 06:28:48 GMT

Tasha Teranova is an old friend

They're the only two people in the world who speak this way: a mix of half-remembered school Greek, some technical words in Russian, and elements of the language of their one-time captors & the languages of their fellow prisoners in distant outer space.

"OK, Diana, we're not going to agree."

"No, don't switch into Russian! I'm thinking in Greek!"

"Kremlin sent missiles into the capital city, Tasha."
"What? Into Constantinople? No, into Kiev, you mean."

"People have their pride. For conquerors, maybe especially for Russians, it can be hard to see past your own pride to understand other peoples' pride. Who is prouder than an Amazon? My order is thousands of years old! But there are tribes that have a few hundred persons, living in a forest with no local sources of stone nor metal, who still have pride in the little they have, in their little wooden handicrafts, their little wood & thatch homes. Give a people a flag and a border, Tasha, and they'll fight for that. And you have to learn to understand that, and learn to respect it."

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I'm giving up on Steve

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 03:17:19 GMT

So I'd been thinking about writing Wonder Woman again, and actually considering how I could try to make Steve Trevor fit as Diana's boyfriend in a way I'd be happy with. And I realized I was actually thinking about starting with them together, giving up on that, and breaking them up. He can date Etta or something.

Well, I've seen more of Tom King's take on Wonder Woman. Apparently Steve is now a U.S. Army colonel, and in a relationship with Diana, but taking orders from the mass-murdering civilian introduced last issue? It left a bad taste in my brain. I don't think military commander Steve works as Diana's boyfriend.

So that soured me on Steve more. There is an argument for trying to write Steve better, so as not to have it look like...that. But maybe it's better to just detach her from the US military altogether.

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Feminisms that don't seem feminist enough in Wonder Woman

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 02:51:11 GMT

Had a thought a couple of days ago that I haven't actually typed out and published. Oh, yeah, I have a dreamwidth!

I used to think that the violent or dismissive ways writers (specifically male writers) treated the Amazons in Wonder Woman was a kind of male horror at strong independent women who were completely independent of men. I can understand that. But what I'm seeing from Tom King now made something click for me.

Years ago, I remember reading someone, maybe on the DC message boards, maybe in an email group, saying that Wondy creator William Moulton Marston "wasn't a feminist, but a female supremacist." And that seemed strange to me. Of course there are different kinds of feminism, but surely female supremacism counts as one of them?

What clicked for me two days ago is this: Some people genuinely think feminism isn't about female strength, but about female weakness and especially victimhood. They frame it as part of the "woke victimhood complex" or somesuch. So if they try to inject what they think "feminism" means into Wonder Woman, it means showing women being abused and degraded. Just showing a female empowerment fantasy wouldn't be "feminist" enough for them. So of course (they think) the Amazons have to be generally weak, hunted, abused, mostly dead, under threat, or the like. And this trope shows up a lot in Wondy stories over the last few decades!

You know whom this resembles? J. K. Rowling. Not that Jo Rowling is a feminist by her own lights nor by most definitions; but she now claims to speak for women while framing that entirely in fear of men--and fear of women who used to be men.

For women like JoRo, to be a woman is to be mostly ugly & undesirable, never as good as a man; this is entirely opposite the thematic space Marston set up for Wonder Woman, where women can be fat, thin, serious, comical, heroic, villainous, but always centered & always awesome. It seems in some ways a difference between an extreme form of female heterosexuality & an extreme form of male heterosexuality; but it's more precisely a difference between seeing womanhood as hateful, & seeing it as beautiful (to the point of idealization & romanticization).

Anyway, I'm basically on Dr. Marston's side here. The point of characters like Wonder Woman, She-Hulk, Vampirella, and so on is a kind of power fantasy. The fantastic elements can be toned down, as in the mod early-1970's Wonder Woman, or taken to absurd heights, as in the earlier Wondy stories. But the point isn't to make young female readers feel bad & weak; it's to imagine having fantastical power, the same as characters like Spider-Man & Superman allow for young boys. Is that healthy, for either sex? Not entirely. It's literary junk food. But it's wildly irresponsible to replace it with messaging that even a 3000-year-old sorceress queen is nothing compared to the male scions of the present patriarchy--which feels like what some DC writers think.

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swerdzez

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 03:22:59 GMT

So I saw someone commenting on the new Supergirl series and that cover with the sword.

I'm not actually that bothered by superhero characters that don't generally carry swords/spears having the odd cover with a dramatic sword/spear pose. So, you know, whatever my issues with Tom King, that kind of thing is probably fine.

That said,

• Modern-day superhero characters who should carry swords or spears:
Katana
Sir Justin (Shining Knight classic)
Ystin (Shining Knight modern)
Swordsman
Swordswoman
Black Knight (Dane Whitman)
the Dora Milaje
Deadpool
um...Gamora?

• Characters who can sometimes carry swords or spears:
Hippolyta
Artemis Requiem (bow preferred)
random background Amazons
Colleen Wing
Kitty Pryde (as instant ninja)
Hulkling (as King of Space)
Nightcrawler (épée or similar)

• Characters who really don't need to be carrying swords or spears:
characters who have another piece for the dominant hand (lariat, net, gun, throwable shield, etc.)
characters who are already super tough without (the Thing, Hulk, etc.)
basically most modern-day superheroes

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Mome Brontë

Wed, 17 Feb 2021 04:25:52 GMT

An exchange which should logically not appear in Wild West Wonder Woman:

"Look at you! Mome Brontë, out on her own, withering away!"
"Er, what did you call her? 'Mome'?"
"Short for 'from home,' meaning she's lost her way. She's very mome, far from home."
"Oh. Oh! I thought it was like, feminine of 'Pope.'"

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This name surprised me.

Mon, 04 Jan 2021 00:36:16 GMT

I've had this recurring idea of a story involving an Amazon named Venelia, which was a name Bill Loebs used in "The Contest". So when I saw this (I haven't been keeping up with the movies) I was thrown.

Uh-oh. She's blonde.

Also apparently killed off in the Justice League movie? Did they kill a lot of Amazons? Because that makes me less likely to pay for that movie.

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Dee like Dee Snider

Sat, 03 Oct 2020 06:46:34 GMT

Had an idea for a moderately serious Batman fic about how a present-day version of Bruce sees the 2020 riots. (I never write fic.) Then thought I might change the names to be legally distinct.

Then...

'His name is Dee Fledermaus and no one knows he is "die Fledermaus."'

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Cody's Showdy on anti-homeless propaganda

Thu, 03 Sep 2020 04:37:23 GMT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i08F-Iy3zXI

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Parallels

Thu, 27 Aug 2020 23:41:03 GMT

To translate between Great Britain and the USA:
African Americans are Lowland Scots
American Indians are Highland Scots
White Americans are the English

Wait, what are Mex--

the Irish.

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Sun, 26 Jul 2020 21:11:26 GMT

Olivia De Havilland was still alive?!!!

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Wed, 24 Jun 2020 10:25:16 GMT

Well. It's my birthday, and it's dawn, & I've been sitting at the computer all night but apparently getting nothing done.

I'm going to bed.

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Sun, 21 Jun 2020 09:46:39 GMT

Well, I put it off for months, but I have access to my old LJ account again. I think.

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[copied from Twitter] WELP!

Sun, 21 Jun 2020 09:02:09 GMT

Learned the last 2 days that my home county, wait, my hometown, wait, the country seat, wait, the county seat AND my hometown,

THE RETIREMENT COMMUNITY WHERE MA HELPS TAKE CARE OF HER BEST FRIEND'S MOTHER,

are seeing more growth in COVID cases than much of the country is now.

My hometown, while still very white, has one of the largest concentrations of black people in this part of the state. The KKK never cleaned it out.

I'm imagining now doofuses in little white bedroom communities & farm villages saying that "the city" is where the COVID is.

Y'all work & shop here, y'know!

And it wasn't people in "the city" who might be gay, black, foreign, or (gasp) live in apartments who spread this. It was rich international travelers, & a government that covered it up.

I have a neighbor with MS who has to stay home until this passes or she may die.

And I see people going around without masks all the time.

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Is it Holy Week?

Tue, 07 Apr 2020 03:30:06 GMT

Ma told me she went to a small church service Sunday with about a dozen people. They had communion in little separate cups & stuff.

She seems to be OK so far.

The pain in my throat is mostly gone, but I started coughing a little Monday evening, not sure why. I want to get food, & I'm out of caffeine.

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Thu, 02 Apr 2020 08:52:32 GMT

Feeling better. Still scared.

Welcome to April, things are about to get worse.

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Tue, 31 Mar 2020 07:40:28 GMT

Well, I went and got food.

I've had mild ambiguous lung crud for days, so I kept putting it off. But I finally went.
I planned to keep my Head Gator over my nose & mouth, but I ended up mostly letting it drop.

No rubbing alcohol in stores. So I got bleach; I can do a lot with bleach water.

Later I was feeling guilty. What if I made someone ill?

I hate this.

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A snippet

Thu, 16 Jan 2020 10:19:37 GMT

"Do you want to see into the future?"
"Nope."
"Oh? No?"
"I don't need that burden."

- — -

"They say the Warchild has a looking-glass in which she can see across time. She has seen into the future, and perhaps that is one more reason she is quite mad."

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THE WONDER WOMAN CAR

Sat, 28 Dec 2019 22:54:05 GMT

OK, I think maybe I've been behind this car once before, or at least another car with Wondy stuff on it.

But yesterday, I was out with Ma, who needs to practice driving again (but actually she's doing pretty well) & we pulled into the Aldi parking lot opposite this...

sort of red...

car with an excessive number of Wonder Woman symbols. There were golden Wonder Woman "WW over a circle" kind of symbols on the paint. There were silver translucent double-W's on the headlight covers, which Ma noticed before I did. Because I'm me, I got out & walked around it, though I didn't actually count them. It was amazing. There was a starry golden silhouette of Wondy (about the size of a human hand I guess) on one side, another Wondy image on the other side, a Wondy hanging from the rearview mirror, a Wonder Woman banner (with, I think, the logo from the Heinboot?) over the back window.

I got around it, & its owner was coming out to the car. "I like Wonder Woman, OK?" she said in what may have been an NYC accent. I said nothing to imply that I was a Wondy fan. I didn't know what to say.

It was gaudy, it was overkill, it was kind of cute, actually. It was amazing.

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Wonder Woman 1984

Mon, 09 Dec 2019 11:20:30 GMT

OK, I have seen the Wonder Woman 1984 trailer now, twice; and I do not know which Cheetah that is (but I assume it is a Cheetah because of a promo image someone linked on scans_daily) nor how they brought back Steve.

Ah, the music of my youth! New Order, I think?

Did they come up with a 1980's version of the Screaming Chicken armor?

Oh, apparently Mr. Blond 1980's Executive Bad Man is "Maxwell Lord." Well, I observe that comic-book Max has chestnut hair & is a bit leaner. I say it's another dude.

That's right, Wondy's gonna fight Trump.

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Looks

Sat, 16 Nov 2019 08:21:43 GMT

For a long time I thought I was kind of ugly.

A couple of days I was talking to my shrink & she said the physical stuff I beat myself up over is a) fixable & b) stuff people largely don't care about.

Now I'm realizing that for my age, I'm actually pretty lucky in the looks department. I often read as younger than I am. I still have pretty thick, non-grey hair, except for some of my beard. I'm actually good-looking? This might have been nice to know before.

I mean, I'm still a mentally ill doofus, but OK.

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in a night so still...

Fri, 15 Nov 2019 09:18:05 GMT

So I'd had Fleetwood Mac on the brain? I'd watched a few videos on YouTube last night; thought of but didn't track down "Big Love." I walked into Walmart tonight & "Big Love" was playing.

I reached back to grab a package of egg rolls that were in between the pork & the vegetable, assuming they were chicken. Realized in the parking lot that they were shrimp.

Oh. Well, I guess I can eat seafood for once.

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If you don't love me now...

Thu, 14 Nov 2019 05:20:04 GMT

Sitting here listening to Fleetwood Mac & feeling gloomy.

What if I got this written in some form, & tried submitting "Wild West Wonder Woman" to DC? I expect it'd be rejected. And then I'd feel down, even though I expected rejection.

And then, could I take it, file off the bits that are their trademarks, & do it as its own thing? Well, even if there's a lot new in the treatment as it would look right now, it makes sense to me as existing in the past of a version of Diana. And the fountain of youth aspect of Paradise Island is a thing, but I guess doesn't have to be; it's not the main point of the concept, just something I inherited.

And then I realized--I could attach a form of this to another concept I already have. I've had a few different "not quite Wonder Woman" takes that exist as rough sketches in my head, including A___ C________, which has been stalled for ages because I never pinned down what to do with the character's power set if she doesn't quite have Wondy powers. I could tweak this and put it in that universe, or my "daughter of a fey queen (& the fey queen looks like Cassandra Wilson)" concept, or the "superheroine from a tropical island" concept. It wouldn't be the same, but it could be mine.

Hrmm.

I really need to pick one of these and write a story with it.

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Tunner

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 04:45:31 GMT

I think it was Friday I was trying to come up with a suitably unique and silly-sounding Anglo-American man's name, & landed on "Gaines Tunner." Woke up the next day realizing it sounded like "Gains a ton." Not my intention. So, yeah, big guy will probably be a Thomas.

But if I wanted a whimsical name for a ridiculously fat man, maybe that would work.

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The blonde girl back home

Mon, 04 Nov 2019 02:41:52 GMT

Well, I don't know to what degree this matters.

A couple days ago I cooked up in my head the general flow of a story where my "Wild West Wonder Woman" lead gets back together (more or less) with her ex who stayed back in Amazon-land. It was cute, it was romantic, it was safe for all-ages (in many countries)!

And then I started coming up with alternatives, and maybe the ex isn't going to play that exact role, or she's going to have competition. I say competition, but let's be honest, it's looking like it might be a messy ad hoc polycule, and that's, y'know, less tidy.

Still, the idea of someone our hero(ine) spent some unspecified number of decades with before she went on a mission to Patriarch's World & became "Sheriff Apostle" is still there. I think, now, I know where our girl has come from (mostly) even if I don't have any firm plans on where she's going. "The blonde girl back home" is a thing, now, pretty firm, I think. Oh, who knows, it's been like three days since I cooked her up!

But, yeah, one thing. When I was visualizing this character, she was a kind of soft, yellow-haired white woman, a bit shorter than--

--OK, look, the lead's name is Circassia, and she's "Circassia Apostle" for long, because she is "one sent out." I may eventually change that, but this was too much dodging her name in one post--

--a bit shorter than Circassia. But "the blonde girl back home" is arguably an echo of Mala from Diana's story. Mala is mostly a Golden Age character; she's Diana's friend who, I think, ran Reformation Island for a while. Versions of her pop up in the background here & there. I really like Mala. Another version of her is explicitly Di's ex, in the Morrison "Earth One" version.

Maybe I should show some variation. I think it's time I created a Dark-Skinned Redhead. Or something.

I don't know. Also this character doesn't even appear for several episodes of the story, & I haven't a clue what her name is yet.

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