Author | Lightnews

Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · 1d

Karloff and Loy do their best with what they've got. The sets and costumes are fantastic, the cinematography is good, but it's a hard film to watch, being both horribly "Yellow Peril" racist, as well as having a badly written, virtually incoherent script. 4/4

Wide shot of Fu Manchu's throne room slash laboratory, from The Mask of Fu Manchu.

Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · 1d

There was no script - they'd get their pages for the day's shoot while they were in the makeup chair in the AM. Pages were often by different writers, who apparently didn't consult with each other. The plot veers around like a drunken marmoset, major elements are dropped or abruptly change. 3/4

Myrna Loy in a glamour publicity shot for The Mask of Fu Manchu.

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Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · 1d

Apparently Loy hated playing the daughter of Fu Manchu. Off set she and Karloff would hang out together and bitch about how awful the movie was. I don't know how she felt about the yellowface, but besides being a racist mess, The Mask of Fu Manchu is a narrative mess as well. 2/4

The Mask of Fu Manchu, 1932 - Boris Karloff as Fu Manchu stands behind a seated Myrna Loy as Fah Lo See, Fu's daughter.

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Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · 1d

This got me thinking about Myrna Loy, who, although she did go on to many great performances, I'll always think of her as Nora Charles. There was, however, in 1932, one real dog of a film that she was sorry she signed on for. 1/4

Movies Silently @moviessilently.bsky.social · 2d

Put Myrna Loy in better, non-vampire roles, Hollywood! (I do love these old captions)

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Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · 1d

I'm glad someone in Hollywood was paying attention.

Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · 1d

If you want a version of the actual Burke & Hare story, try Flesh and the Fiends (aka Mania). Donald Pleasance & George Rose as B&H, and Peter Cushing as Dr. Knox. It's also well worth a watch.

Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · 1d

It's based on a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson (he of Jekyll & Hyde and Treasure Island), which was inspired by Burke & Hare. I saw this for the 1st time just recently, and it's terrific, one of Karloff's (and Lewton's) best.

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Imani Gandy Corn 🎃 @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 29d

They’re gonna ferret out the last three Black women with government jobs and fire them

Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 29d

Is this supposed to be a threat? They did this exact thing while the government was open

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Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · 28d

I never got around to seeing any of the Conjuring movies. Having had personal experience of the Warrens, I wasn't up for watching movies that valorize a pair of lying, manipulative con artists. Seeing those scumbags portrayed as heroes would have set my teeth on edge.

skepchick.org/2025/09/the-...

The True Horror Behind “The Conjuring”

Way back before I was living under an actual authoritarian theocracy, I enjoyed making videos about, well, relatively inconsequential bullshit. For those who are new here, I do what I do today beca…

skepchick.org

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Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · Sep 18

Multiple polls and studies have shown this. When you present the policy facts w/o labels, most US Americans approve of these "leftist" policies. Dem leadership needs to get a clue, and stop listening to those who want them to become GOP Lite.

Teen Vogue @teenvogue.com · Sep 16

A new poll from Data for Progress found that “voters of all parties” are open to leftist policies, and that a majority of Democratic voters polled preferred democratic socialism to capitalism “when written definitions of each are read aloud to them.”

Read more: www.teenvogue.com/story/gen-z-...

Gen Z and Millennials Prefer Socialism To Capitalism, New Poll Says

“Young progressive voters are stepping into their full economic and political power."

www.teenvogue.com

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Brian Merchant @bcmerchant.bsky.social · Sep 17

Freelance illustration gigs drying up. Ad agencies using Midjourney instead of hiring human artists. Costume design turned over to AI wholesale. Good work vanishing.

These are the stories of working visual artists, who describe losing jobs, wages, and hope as their clients and bosses embrace AI.

Artists are losing work, wages, and hope as bosses and clients embrace AI

Visual artists, illustrators and graphic designers share their stories about how AI is being used to lower wages, degrade work and even replace it altogether, in this installment of AI Killed My Job.

www.bloodinthemachine.com

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Rosegarden54 @rosegarden54.bsky.social · Sep 13

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Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · Sep 12

qrp with something watery

NEEDLENECK: A naked child-sized water spirit with a necklace of hypodermic treads water glaring at the viewer. To the left of her, beneath the surface we can make out the shadowy underwater forms of the souls she has already captured. Needleneck was an NPC in the now defunct Evil Overlord Games' "Susurrus: Season of Tides." Digital painting by Duncan Eagleson © 2017

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Alex de Campi @alexdecampi.bsky.social · Aug 27

There are tons of graphic novels, academic papers, film and TV scripts, & prose novels/nonfiction on the LibGen list Anthropic used.

As settlement approaches, make it easy for the class action lawyers to contact you! Here’s how

Part 1: is your work in Libgen?

www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI

Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.

www.theatlantic.com

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Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · Aug 26

Remembering Betteridge's Law:

"Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word 'NO!'"

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...?

Can AIs suffer? Big tech and users grapple with one of most unsettling questions of our times

As first AI-led rights advocacy group is founded, industry is divided on whether models are, or can be, sentient

www.theguardian.com

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Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · Aug 20

Seems related that "below the fold" originally meant in the bottom half of a broadsheet-sized newspaper (which would be hidden when the paper was folded for the newsstand) and came to mean "below your screen - you have to scroll to see it." for web design.

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Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · Aug 20

The meaning of "lede" also seems to have morphed from the dictionary definition (the introductory portion of a news story) to something like "the most important point or aspect" of a story.

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Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · Aug 20

I was today years old when I learned that the spelling of "lede" (the introductory portion of a news story) was originally a way of distinguishing it from the "lead" of the lead type that was used in printing at the time.

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Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · Aug 19

Rovina Cai always does such great work. I particularly love the full wraparound version.

Rovina Cai @rovinacai.bsky.social · Aug 19

Jacket cover for the @evernightbooks.bsky.social edition of Bat Eater by Kylie Lee Baker.

Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · Aug 18

Some of my own pet peeves. Not a huge deal if you make one of these mistakes in a post or email, but if you're a pro writing for publication you really ought to know the difference.

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · Aug 18

Not to add to the discourse, but…

It’s ‘toe the line,’ not ‘tow the line.’
It’s ‘free rein,’ and not ‘free reign.’
It’s ‘eke out,’ not ‘eek out.’
It’s ‘sleight of hand,’ not ‘slight of hand.’
It's ‘Anchors aweigh,’ and not ‘Anchor's away!’

Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · Aug 17

Having read some of the early chapters of the initial version of this, I am so psyched for it!

(Also, check out Matthew's "Misfits of Magic," too. It's great fun.)

Matthew Dow Smith @matthewdowsmith.bsky.social · Jul 15

October 2025! My long time passion project finally hits shelves. This is the story that I became a comic book creator to tell! And it's the first in a series!

THE OCTOBER GIRL, Book One! From me and @madcavestudios.com's Maverick imprint!

Pre-order it now!

The October Girl Vol. 1

A moody, coming-of-age tale for fans of Miss Peregrine's Home for Pecular Children and Nimona, filled with fairies and ogres and magic galore.Autum...

www.simonandschuster.com

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Duncan Eagleson @duncaneagleson.bsky.social · Aug 17

Post a witch if you wish 🧙🏻‍♀️

"Crow Witch" - personal work. A young witch in a ragged black dress flies through the clouds, accompanied by a flock of crows. Digital painting by Duncan Eagleson ©2019

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Amadi Lovelace @amaditalks.bsky.social · Aug 14

This is not a massive decision or any kind of change. Costco has never carried mifepristone in its pharmacies. An anti-abortion group is taking credit for something that didn't happen, possibly to generate disingenuous left-wing ire against one of the few corporations that hasn't gone MAGA.

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skellyton bones jensen @heykellyjensen.bsky.social · Aug 14

“None Of These Books Are Obscene”: Judge Strikes Down Much of Florida’s Book Ban Bill

This is a big win for intellectual freedom and will have big implications in other ongoing lawsuits and future laws aiming to ban books.

bookriot.com/penguin-rand...

"None Of These Books Are Obscene": Judge Strikes Down Much of Florida's Book Ban Bill

In a major win for intellectual freedom, a judge rules against Florida law that led to removing hundreds of books from school libraries.

bookriot.com

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Elizabeth Bear @matociquala.bsky.social · Aug 14

Absolutely chuffed to announce that pre-orders for ANGEL MAKER are now open.

Details here: www.patreon.com/posts/136481...

The long-awaited full-length sequel to the cult classic KAREN MEMORY!

(Audible books are a little goofed up in the database right now, so hold off on those.)

Promo post for Angel Maker: A Karen Memory Adventure by Elizabeth Bear, showing the cover of the book surrounded by various plot and thematic elements. The cover shows a young white woman with a long gun, riding a buckskin horse with a stylized movie reel in the background.

The list of selling points includes:

heading for the (18)90s: living in the Wild Wild West

Thirsty lasso lesbians!

The Clockwork Man

My girlfriend is the smart one

I thought we sprayed for religious cults

trick riders & crack shots

This heroine runs toward the sound of gunfire

Goddesses of the Silver Screen (are kind of assholes, really)

JUSTICE ~dammit~

Cowgirl power

The horse that could not be broken

there must be safer ways to pay your dues

...and then the killings began...

and the launch date: 2 September 2025
Promo post for Angel Maker: A Karen Memory Adventure by Elizabeth Bear, showing the cover of the book surrounded by various plot and thematic elements. The cover shows a young white woman with a long gun, riding a buckskin horse with a stylized movie reel in the background.

The list of selling points includes:

heading for the (18)90s: living in the Wild Wild West

Thirsty lasso lesbians!

The Clockwork Man

My girlfriend is the smart one

I thought we sprayed for religious cults

trick riders & crack shots

This heroine runs toward the sound of gunfire

Goddesses of the Silver Screen (are kind of assholes, really)

JUSTICE ~dammit~

Cowgirl power

The horse that could not be broken

there must be safer ways to pay your dues

...and then the killings began...

and the launch date: 2 September 2025

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