Remember the 90s? Remember the 2000s? Remember anything before the endless present?
This week’s mood is brought to you by the prophet, Lilly Wachowski:
POME fave Sarah Mirk posted a zine called “Toxic Positivity, Social Media, and Coronavirus” this weekend that really hit us in the truth bone. It’s a short and refreshing read, talking openly about the pain of living through a time of widespread suffering and being forced to act as though everything is one (1) positive attitude away from being fine.
For a deeply satisfying, non-frivolous deep dive into nostalgia (or ancient history, for the youngs among us), check out Polygon’s interview with Greg Weisman, creator of the 90s animated series Gargoyles. They discuss the Gargoyles cinematic universe that was not to be, the show’s unique for the time narrative arc structure, and have a frank conversation about the many limitations of working for a giant corporation who have 100% ownership of everything you make for them:
One thing I’ve talked about with fans is that character of Lexington, one of the gargoyles, was gay. But of course in those days, we couldn’t say that. …It always felt a little cowardly to me to not have Lexington be out, but it’s not like I had the power to say “We’re doing this.” If I had insisted, I just would have gotten fired. If anything, knowing what I wanted to do, they would have gone out of their way to make it clear that Lexington was [comedically deep, butch voice] absolutely as heterosexual as he could possibly be.
Elsewhere in the nerd nostalgia world, The Cut ran a fun (though painfully straight) number called “Are You an Aragorn Girl or a Legolas Girl?” If you enjoy the diversion of categorizing yourself based on fictional crushes (and who doesn’t??), give a whirl, and then maybe treat yourself to the many social media expansions on the topic.
Bad Bunny was on the cover of Rolling Stone this week, and Suzy Exposito has the story of what he’s up to, which includes… Instagram Live pantomimes with his Toy Story toy collection!?
And finally, just a hint of sweetness for your Animal Crossing moment of the week.
