#10/10 Mr Gaiman well done

[inthefaceofadaffodil]

“That’s the point. No nightingales.”

“I forgive you.”

[intenseperpetualbrainrot]

Top ten relationships I want to see (more of) in season 3:

10. AH I DID THIS LIST 1 TO 10 BUT THE BENTLEY AND ANYTHING. I LOVE WHEN THE BENTLEY MOVES BREATHES LIVES SPEAKS. Who's the real God, the Bentley or The Real God because I'd wager the Bentley.

9. Muriel and Aziraphale. A less wanted one than others, but still up there. It's very indulgent from Aziraphale and awestruck from Muriel.

8. Crowley and plants. Grow better is such a quote. Let Az give him a plant please Mr Gaiman.

7. Crowley and children. Not a high priority more because I think I can get scraps regardless. But he's so sweet with them and it's very cute.

6. Bee and Gabriel. They're sweet together but also Gabriel's grim and Bee is lovely. But also they're sweet together.

5. Aziraphale and Michael. CALL ME CRAZY but I don't want a ❤️😍🤗 relationship I want to see them interact. They give high society talk - "Well, if it would trouble you so much, I know you don't have as much power as you once did," - double edged compliments.

4. Aziraphale and Uriel. ONCE MORE CALL ME INSANE. Their relationship reads to me like a coworker you get on with slightly. They exchange several wide eye glances like "get a load of this guy" about EVERYONE.

3. God and everyone. Let Her be like what the fuck is going on with these randos? What do you mean they're worshipping me? I make humans over 6 milennia ago and they're still thinking bout me? Obsessed behaviour idk

2. Muriel and Crowley. This makes sense, you might think, hmm is Aziracrow next? No. No it is not.

1. Anathema and Crowley. I don't care how it's done. Let me have my lesbian witch bitch squad or I'm calling homophobia on everyone involved in this project.

BONUS: The Metatron and not being a twat.

[bullfrawgs]

Steven Universe Update, Season 4 Episodes 1-7:

Kindergarten Kid: A nice little Wile Coyote and the Roadrunner reference. Plays a little meaner than those shorts do because the roadrunner shorts never try to humanize the Coyote but Peridot has been getting nothing but humanization since mid season 2.

Know Your Fusion: I've been thinking for a while that the narrative value of fusion has been getting ignored by the show, so it's good to be proven wrong. I feel like fusion as a personification of a relationship dynamic best comes out in Stevonnie, Garnet, and well now Smokey Quartz (hot take, that's still a stupid name), but it's used to really good effect. Idk if Garnet+Pearl really has the same narrative value but she is definitely fun when given the stage for a purpose other than mod battle powerup. I wanna give Amethyst and Steven a hug for their self deprecating "jokes".

Buddy's Book: ngl a kinda nothing episode but it's nice to see Steven having fun and not being miserable.

Mindful Education: I will literally keysmash, I knew the song before I ever watched the show, it's a banger, loved it, lived it... But the story really really elevates this one. The visual metaphor of the butterflies was hardly subtle but was very well put together, especially when Steven sees exactly 1 butterfly sitting on top of the sword. Steven being like "yeah y'know when you hurt people it's better to not think about it that's what I do" just makes me wanna give this kid a hug. Wild how even in one of the Saturday morning Cartoon kiddie versions of war the main character is still gonna end up completely traumatized by the experience. This boy's mental health will never recover. Also. Y'know. Stevonnie Best Character, elevates every episode they're in, 12/10.

Future Boy Zoltron: the Slice of Life episodes aren't bad there's just less post-episode meat to talk about. Mr Frowny is literally Neil Gaiman and seemingly only me and Vrai Kaiser (author of the episode writeups on The Mary Sue) have noticed.

Last One Out of Beach City: In which we learn that Pearl is a useless lesbian, and still somehow has *exceptional* game. I usually dislike Pearl but it really feels like the events of Mr Greg have done her a massive amount of good. Love the soundtrack. S-Tier episode

Onion Gang: I'm sorry. I still do not understand this kid and this episode played for me like a freaking horror movie. On one level it's pretty cute on another Onion is still my least favorite character that isn't Kevin so liiiiike.

Anyway, sorry this got long. Steven needs many hugs and better parents. More SU coming soon

[slowpoke272]

“anansi boys” by neil gaiman

finished: may 24, 2023

maaaaaaaaaan, you guys. MAN. people who are bored by this book, idgi, not sure what you need but i LOVED this book so, so, so much. yeah some parts were predictable but it didn’t take aware from the overall thrill and enjoyment of the story, for me. i wanna say this is my favorite book i’ve read all year, but dang i look back at this blog and remember i’ve read some bangers this year. they haven’t all been winners but a lot of them have been sooooo good.

anyway, anansi boys. shoooooot. i just love this universe that mr. gaiman has created, the narration by lenny henry is spectacular and the little tropical sounds occasionally between major scenes was magical. this story really pulled me in, definitely my favorite kind of story because it wasn’t whether or not the plot was predictable or the characters were “likeable,” i was simply invested in what happens next. from the start, the rift between fat charlie and his dad is enough to pull in any reader, i would think, but alas it doesn’t work for everyone i guess. i also am obsessed with stories that address storytelling and neil gaiman has done this in such a suave, smooth way it’s incredible. i can’t say enough about how well written this is, i feel like i probably missed some things especially at the beginning and that makes this story definitely worth revisiting.

from what little i know about anansi the storytelling trickster spider god, it appears neil gaiman did his research and like in american gods, he was really able to respectfully tie a bunch of the lore together to make one cohesive story with the characters without stepping on any toes. i also just read that anansi appeared in the 2003 marvel comic for the amazing spider-man in which it’s revealed that anansi was the first spider-man. so you have great storytelling, numerous locations for setting, a music theme, a heritage/family line theme, ANTHROPOMORPHISM, and then sprinkle in a little hint of a marvel connection too? get outta here. loved this book so much.

i can’t wait to read it again and if you haven’t read it, i’m jealous that you have the ability to read it for the first time. apparently a series is in the works, i hope they do it justice like they did with american gods, but idk as usual i’m a bit skeptical because they will inevitably change some things. either way, the book is right there and is magical.

rating: 10/10 this deeply resonated with me, i will re-read it again numerous times and recommend it to anyone i know, the story and characters will stick with me forever; crave discussing it all the time and bring it up unprovoked

[karlibetazoid]

Finished my rewatch of #Babylon5 , 10 years (-ish?) apart from the last time I watched it (thank you Mr. Straczynski and HBO 😎) and all I could think of is "I need more B5 memes".

Here goes a post to try to convince you of watching it.

Through this rewatch, there were many laughs and some tears.

I NEED to find nice Z'ha'dum memes or at least a fun compilation of all the times everybody said "Do not go to Z'ha'dum" to #Sheridan.

Must say I loved the scripts' consistency, quite remarkable! The overall care for the characters' arc and layers 👌🏼 And the guest writers (cheff kiss). I mean; Neil Gaiman's ep? Absolutely stunning 😁

Guest stars were fun to catch too.

Londo battling bugs is me battling bugs at home. Exact same exaggeration 🤭😂 Great Maker !!

It got a little "too military" for me at some points but I truly watched it for the philosophic/religious/comic/life-centric tone and the non-human centric approach. I always got a nice sense of diversity and (linguistic / gender) representation from this series, even the first time I watched it many years ago. -Within the boundaries of the time and the network- Well done 💟

"Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your life, BE somewhere else!". (Delenn).

RIP Mira Furlan, what a great actress she was. And what a life. Many B5 actors and actresses have gone beyond the rim, sadly, but I really felt Mira's recent passing :(

You can read a bit about Mira's life and what B5 meant to her, here.

What I like about this series is that it tells us a deep story about values, imperfect beings, human and non-human alike. Life is the center value, but in the struggle there is a lot of death, darkness, treasons, wars and horrible deeds conducted by governments or corporations to peoples; or among individuals.

We get some nice ideas on life, death, language, culture, politics, loyalty, religion, philosophy, technology, and social (in)justice.

The future is all around us, waiting in moments of transition to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of the future or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain. — J. Michael Straczynski.

G'Kar: I believe that when we leave a place, part of it goes with us and part of us remains. Go anywhere in the station when it is quiet, and just listen. After a while, you will hear the echoes of all our conversations, every thought and word we've exchanged. Long after we are gone, our voices will linger in these walls for as long as this place remains. But I will admit that the part of me that is going will very much miss the part of you that is staying. — J. Michael Straczynski

We get to know some very interesting characters, like Zathras. No-one listens to poor Zathras, but us the viewers get a privileged view-point 🤭😁 I think Zathras must be one of the most beloved side charcters of B5.

We got reintroduced to one sci-fi actor we already knew from Trek. In this case, a nice, complex and cold psi-villain👨🏻‍✈️

A final note on Straczynski, Michael O' Hare and mental health struggles >> here. RIP Michael.

Hoped you liked this post and that you consider watching it 😄😁

[allkinds-oftrash]

About Dream of A Thousand Cats & Calliope

Before we get into my thoughts on the latest Sandman episode, I just want to say a huge thank you to Tumblr’s fave Step Dad @neil-gaiman​ (this was totally @minim236​​’s joke but she’s right!) not just for the reblog and notice, but for all your stories that were a huge part of my childhood that helped to shape me as a person!

But this ^^ happening was pretty damn cool too. It was definitely the highlight of my day after a couple of hard days (we had a family friend death and grief is weird af) so thank you for that distraction Mr. Gaiman - I’m glad you enjoyed my screaming in excitement hahaha

Alright then, let’s get into Episode 11 which can I just say was absolutely brilliantly done! Both stories stood on their own with great themes. On a technical aspect too, it was just wonderfully done - I say this as a recent film graduate! It just made me sit and contemplate them for a good hour or three.

TWs for the Ep & my review mentions them: Animal Cruelty/Death (Timestamp: 5:10 to 6:10), Whole of Calliope is an allegory for SA/human trafficking so watch safely or don’t at all if you can’t! (Timestamp: 23:20 onwards there’s various beats of the storyline but nothing explicit, just implied and cutaways!) and Blood/Self-mutilation (Timestamp: 52:55 to 53:20 but the scene ends at 54:00 if you want to skip the whole scene)

Take care of yourselves and be safe while watching yall!! <3

Aights here we go, spoilers below the cut

[DON’T READ PAST THIS BEFORE WATCHING THE EPISODE, TRUST ME!]

Dream of A Thousand Cats

I don’t have much to say on this episode because I loved how it spoke for itself. I adore it when shows/movies do that because not many are able to do that!

This 16 minute short film was just brilliantly done from start to finish. It was very self-contained, got its point across in a succinct way with scenes and emotional beats that knock you off your feet. It was the way I gasped when all the pieces started to fall into place and saw exactly where the story was going halfway through. Sandra Oh was SUCH a great casting choice for The Prophet/Siamese Cat. She just had such a welcoming and alluring voice, definitely very maternal which made me more emotional over the cat’s backstory. I would definitely dream of a new world just for her! 

Also I had never been so angry hearing David Tennant’s voice after what Don did to the kitties. So I would say 10/10 voice cast. Of course, the animation was a masterclass! It flowed so well and it did look super real at first. I just loved this art style and it worked so well too, it felt like the comic being brought to life right off the page. 

All in all, I just have to say if the New World happens tomorrow well then, me to the cats:

~

Calliope 

This one hurt me. Completely changed me as a person after watching it. 

I thought the kittens being thrown into the river was awful? Oh god, this completely took my breath away in the best and worse ways. So it resonated deeply with me because I have been on both sides of it. I’m a writer (specifically screenwriter) who gets ideas far and few to be honest but I’m NOT going to kidnap a Muse to get them. Then on the flip side, I have been assaulted before. So while I’m thankful it wasn’t shown (I heard its more explicit in the comics so thank you to the writing team for updating it for the medium), it is implied that both Erasmus Fry and Richard rape her to ‘get inspiration’ which Jesus, that is gross. However, it worked as a powerful narrative tool and metaphor. Speaking of which, the allusions and allegory to human trafficking and slavery were very much on point. This was most likely my second favourite part of the episode (my all time fave will be listed below in a bit!) the subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle ways - especially with the language Calliope uses when describing her journey between Erasmus and Richard - in which Calliope’s situation held up a mirror to the horrific circumstances of SA and human trafficking happens nowadays. 

Because of these two experiences, I was able to see myself in both of them (Richard before he met her) though moreso Calliope, she IS THE Muse after all aka the Original Poet. The sinister side of it aside, I also did feel a kinship to Calliope being locked away as someone who is pretty sheltered at home. It was just a very interesting and illuminating experience to watch this episode - to see myself on both sides. 

Though I completely condemn what Richard was doing while branding himself as a ‘feminist’ writer, I rolled my eyes SO hard at the scene. It was good that women and POC were hired for his crew, but it felt so performative while Calliope was still captive. If I’m not wrong they were crew members, not creatives/executives so they don’t even get a say in the final product and storytelling aspect lol so it doesn’t really mean shit other than these people getting a job which is still good but the bare minimum in my book. 

Okay now, let’s get into my FAVOURITE part of the episode, so I adoreee Calliope and how strong she was all through it and she doesn’t need no man to save her shhshs but the fucking laws ugh. HOWEVER in this case, it worked so well with Morpheus, or rather Oneiros. Their chemistry was INSANE and it didn’t need to be explosive to work too - you can tell that they were ex-spouses but there was still that affection there with some hesitancy. How they interacted and what little crumbs was given to us about their backstory just made me all the more curious about their connection, story and ORPHEUS! He along with Eurydice are my favourite Greek myth. I just have so many questions about this family and him: Whooo is he in this? Does he still have an Eurydice?? What happened to him, how did he die? How was it either of their faults? I NEED ANSWERS MR. GAIMAN! 

[Anyways if anyone could direct me to the comic issue that covers this storyline along with what happened to Nada that would be great, thank you!! ]

Honestly though, the more we learn about Nada and Calliope, (basically Dream’s love life) the more curious it gets. It sounds like a disaster all the way through, and I am HERE for it. Hopefully we can get an S2 and watch it play out in real time then. 

All in all, I really enjoyed the bonus episode thank you to the team for keeping it under wraps, it was such a lovely surprise and on the off chance you see this, Mr. Gaiman thank you again for everything you’ve done - you had a huge impact on my life and I’ll never stop being grateful for that <3 

If yall read this far, thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed the review and the episode!!

[aceofthegreenajah]

Okay, time for Sandman!

What I think I know before starting:

- I’ve read some of Neil Gaiman’s more popular books but no comics. I own the Sandman… audiobook? Audioplay? Radioplay? One of those. But I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

- I know the inciting incident – Dream aka Morpheus was captured (I think they were trying to capture Death and got him by accident).

- I’ve seen some pictures about casting.

- I think the comics were vaguely DCU related but I might be wrong about that. I think the show has to write around some things they don’t have the rights for in regards to that, but again, that’s just me reading between the lines and I might be wrong.

- I think the comic series is really long, was started when I was a kid, and might even be still ongoing???

On with the show!

- Okay that opening sequence was cool as hell I kinda want to rewatch it immediately.

- Oh this place is not ominous at all.

- Charles Dance! I didn’t know he was in this too!

- mr. Charles’ character you are sus. And a dick.

- prediction – the summoning will interrupt this and the Corinthian will remain free while Dream is trapped, and will be more powerful when he gets out. A volume 1 villain or something further down the line. (five seconds later:) yes I knew it.

- These older shakespearean actors really can declaim.

- Is that kid gonna be Morpheus’ eventual ally and releaser?

- The Corinthian came back faster than I expected.

- I also kinda want to go back and analyse the way the Corinthian moves sometimes. Kinda dreamlike, not fast, just the moment you take your eyes off him he’s somewhere he wasn’t before, but it’s the logical place for him to be so your brain just goes ‘oh, makes sense.’ At least mine does.

- Ooh that look says a lot with 0 movement, well done!

- He looks kinda spindly and a little eerie. Well done on that too.

- Well I think your father would just ask for more and more and more if he got something, but who am I to know? I’ve only seen him be a shitty father to you and a cult leader and an arrogant, reckless amateur magician who stumbled his way into good fortune by accident. See, he even makes, you, his own son call him ‘magus’!

- Is Ethel like Alex’s stepmom now? Or an apprentice magician? (hoping for second, expecting the first)

- By the way I love this bird on principle.

- Daring heist / escape by bird??? Sign me in! Oh you little saboteur!

- WHO DID THAT I WILL KILL YOU

- IT’S THE KID I LIKED YOU YOU’RE DEAD TO ME

- Maybe it’s okay his sibling to death maybe it’s not permanent

- Is that motivating him to escape tho (or motivating the kid to turn over a new leaf (I won’t forgive him but I’d give him points for effort))

- This man – Roderick or whatever – gets worse by the second.

- Sure you’ll probably be fine but it should still be your decision! Yes run away Ethel! I mean free Dream first as a distraction / to screw him over.

- Oh well robbing him is good too I guess.

- Sure fight over the magic circle of containment hope you made it from a durable material.

- That look from Dream is pure disgust and derision. Deserved of course.

- Ethel giving off villain vibes. Well more than she already was. I like it. She’s smart she’ll be terrible *★,°*:.☆(￣▽￣)/$:*.°★* 。

- Paul act as a conscience here please someone needs to. (but don’t get yourself in trouble you seem sweet.)

- understandable. Short-sighted maybe but understandable.

- I told you make your magic circles out of a more durable material. Also was it on purpose? I’m inclined to think so, but certainly he didn’t seem inclined to correct it.

- Feeling a little bad for the quilt Paul must feel but Alex kinda got what he deserved. If he had released dream after his father died I’d have said he’s a kid and an abuse victim he should be spared, but he had decades to try to be better. Eventually you do run out of time to change.

That was a fucking good time. 10/10

[terryballs]

My favourite Doctor Who writers

10. Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is one of the most talented people to ever write for Doctor Who. Of course, talent alone is not enough - Douglas Adams, Alan Moore, and Naomi Alderman all miss out on this list. What makes Gaiman special is his fairytale, fantasy approach to the show. He has big ideas, full of heart, and I am always delighted by them.

Why isn’t Mr Gaiman higher up on the list? Simply because he has only done four stories. One of them, “The Doctor’s Wife”, is an all-time classic, while the others are at least good. With a couple more stories, Mr Gaiman would surely be higher.

9. Paul Magrs

Coming in at #9 is one of the most important writers of non-televised Who. Paul Magrs has written nine Big Finish Main Range stories (most notably “The Peterloo Massacre”), three Companion Chronicles, and two Eighth Doctor Adventures, including the exceptional “The Zygon Who Fell To Earth”, as well as a huge number of spin-off adventures.

It’s in print where Magrs really flourishes, though. It’s quite hard to get across just how influential Paul Magrs has been. Firstly, his three books in the Eighth Doctor Adventures range - The Scarlet Empress, The Blue Angel, and Mad Dogs and Englishmen - are hugely ambitious metatextual delights. These stories introduce Iris Wildthyme and the Smudgelings to the Whoniverse, and have each inspired their own spin-off series, collectively called the “Magrsverse”. Iris’s parody of the Doctor is a rip-roaring delight whenever she appears - and as you know, she’s famous for it - and will prove a lasting legacy for Mr Magrs.

I suppose, at this junction, I should mention Lawrence Miles, who has had a similar influence, but I just don’t find to be quite as good a storyteller as Magrs.

8. Rob Shearman

You probably know Rob Shearman for “Dalek”, the first good New Who story. What if I told you that “Dalek” is Shearman’s worst DW story?

The titles of Shearman’s audio plays are enough to send shivers up the spines of those who have heard them. There’s “Jubilee”, the loose inspiration for “Dalek”, which explores the Daleks as fascist iconography. There’s “The Holy Terror”, where the Doctor and Frobisher the Penguin Shape-Shifter have a similarly horrifying experience with a religious cult. There’s “The Chimes of Midnight”, possibly the definitive Eighth Doctor story, and “Scherzo”, itself perhaps the most experimental story in Doctor Who history, and “Deadline”, in which the villain is Doctor Who itself.

Like many of the writers on this list, Shearman has an eclectic back catalogue full of obscure oddities. But few people have quite his capacity for knocking it out of the park.

7. Chris Chibnall

It’s true that Chris Chibnall’s work before becoming showrunner is inconsistent at best. “42″ is bad and “The Hungry Earth” is uninspired. “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” is a fun romp, while “The Power of Three” is a great story that is let down by the ending which had to be re-written hastily due to unforeseen production issues. And Chibnall’s contributions to Series 11 range from “fine” (”The Woman Who Fell To Earth”) to “bad” (”The Battle of Ranskor Av Kolos”). But in “Pond Life” and “P.S.”, Chibnall shows that he knows how to write affecting character beats.

It’s in Series 12 that Chibnall really takes things up a step. His stories become sprawling and ambitious: globe-trotting thrillers crammed full of ideas. He’s still occasionally guilty of trying to throw too many ideas in, but his love for the story really shines through. There’s barely a weak moment in Series 12, and that’s largely because Chibnall himself steps up to write or co-write hit after hit after hit. It all culminates in the epic three-part finale, “The Haunting of Villa Diodati”/”Ascension of the Cybermen”/”The Timeless Children”, a hugely ambitious story that crosses space and time and pulls together disparate elements from the history of Who. It’s a million miles from “The Battle of Ranskor Av Kolos”: a fan-pleasing story that is truly epic.

6. Vinay Patel

Why is Vinay so high? Good question. Thinking about it, I can’t really justify this placement. Patel reliably produces great stories - “Demons of the Punjab” alone marks Patel out as a great, and to follow it up with “Fugitive of the Judoon” shows that it wasn’t a fluke. But Mr Patel has only got four stories to his name - the aforementioned TV stories plus “Letters from the Front” and “The Tourist” - so for similar reasons to Mr Gaiman, a high position is difficult to justify.

So instead, let’s give this position to Terrance Dicks. Mr Dicks has a bit of a reputation as more of a “jobbing” writer than someone like Chibnall or Shearman, Terrance Dicks was, first and foremost, a script editor. Yes, he co-wrote “The War Games” and was the sole writer for “Horror of Fang Rock”, but he’s best remembered for script editing the Third Doctor era (and part of the Second Doctor era), as well as producing an absolute mass of Target novelisations. But that’s not all - Mr Dicks has written original novels (VNAs, EDAs, and PDAs alike), Quick Reads, audio stories, two stage plays, and even the Destiny of the Doctor video game.

Sure, Mr Dicks didn’t burn as bright as Mr Patel. But his contribution to the Whoniverse is unparalleled.

5. Nev Fountain

Comedy writer Nev Fountain has written several of the very best Doctor Who stories. For some reason, these stories tend to centre around Peri (Fountain is married to Nicola Bryant). “Peri and the Piscon Paradox” is the best Companion Chronicle by far, due to a combination of great acting by Bryant and Colin Baker and Fountain’s sizzling script. “The Kingmaker” is an outrageously funny historical with incredible dialogue and multiple ideas clever enough to carry a whole story.

Frankly, those two alone should be enough to convince anyone of Fountain’s brilliance. But there is so much more - “The Widow’s Assassin”, “The Curious Incident of the Doctor In the Night-time”, “The Blood on Santa’s Claw”, “Omega“... if you like Doctor Who, make yourself familiar with Nev Fountain.

4. Robert Holmes

More than anyone else, Robert Holmes is responsible for the esteem which the Fourth Doctor is held in.

Holmes first wrote for the show all the way back in Series 6, with “The Krotons”. He wrote the very first Third Doctor story, “Spearhead From Space”, in which he also introduced the Autons. They reappeared a year later in “Terror of the Autons”, which introduced Jo Grant and the Master. In “The Time Warrior”, Holmes introduced the Sontarans, a pastiche of imperialism.

It was in the Fourth Doctor era that Mr Holmes really made his mark. He took over from Mr Dicks as script editor. In his own right, he wrote “The Deadly Assassin” and “Talons of Weng-Chiang”, but he also turned “The Ark In Space”, “Pyramids of Mars”, and “The Brain of Morbius” into usable stories, even appearing in “The Brain of Morbius” as the Doctor.

After stepping back from script editing, Holmes returned as a hack to write stories like “The Caves of Androzani” (probably the most popular story in Classic Who) and “The Two Doctors”, before dying shortly after his 60th birthday.

3. Jamie Mathieson

Putting Mr Mathieson above Mr Holmes really shows my bias towards New Who, but honestly, I’d rather re-watch “Mummy on the Orient Express”, “Flatline”, or “Oxygen” than any of Holmes’ stories. Mathieson is very inventive and extremely good at maintaining pace and tension. I’m sure we’ll get more stories from him in the future, but the ones we have so far should be used as inspiration by anyone wanting to writing exciting Who.

2. John Dorney

It is hard to exaggerate Mr Dorney’s contributions to audio Who. He may lack the external fanbase of Mr Gaiman, the influence of Mr Magrs, or the legendary status of Messrs Dicks, Chibnall, and Holmes, but make no mistake, Dorney is exceptional. In almost every range he tries his hand at - Lost Stories, Novel Adaptations, Third Doctor Adventures, Fourth Doctor Adventures, Fifth Doctor Adventures, Dark Eyes, Doom Coalition, Ravenous, Time War, Companion Chronicles, Short Trips, Jago and Litefoot, Missy, UNIT, Diary of River Song... Dorney reliably writes the best story in the set.

In particular, Dorney’s stories are notable for the way they focus on character drama. Look at stories like “A Life In A Day” or “Absent Friends” for particular examples of stories that use sci-fi concepts to draw emotion out of characters, particularly the stoic Liv Chenka. Other highlights of Dorney’s include “The Red Lady” and the “Better Watch Out”/”Fairytale of Salzburg” two-parter.

1. Steven Moffat

What more is there to say? Moffat is truly exceptional, reliably writing the best stories in TV Who for several consecutive years. The classics are too numerous to list, but the stand outs amongst the stand outs are “Blink” and “Heaven Sent”/”Hell Bent”.

Some of Moffat’s best work comes away from TV. The minisodes “The Inforarium” and “Night of the Doctor”, the novelisation of “Day of the Doctor”, the short stories “Continuity Errors” and “the Corner of the Eye”, and lockdown stories like “Terror of the Umpty Ums” are Moffat deep cuts which deserve to be held in the same regard as his great TV stories.

Moffat’s imagination lead to him creating multiple iconic monsters - foremost amongst them, the Weeping Angels and the Silence. Moffat emphasised the use of time travel within the stories themselves; other themes in his work include memory, perception, paradoxes, identity, sexuality, and responsibility. He is, without a doubt, the greatest Doctor Who writer, and I am so lucky to have lived through the period where he was active.

[jenroses]

Chapters: 6/6 Fandom: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, Good Omens (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Warlock Dowling & Adam Young, Warlock Dowling & Greasy Johnson & Adam Young, Warlock Dowling & the Them (Good Omens), Adam Young & Sarah Young (Good Omens) Characters: Adam Young (Good Omens), Warlock Dowling, Sarah Young (Good Omens), Harriet Dowling, Mary Hodges | Sister Mary Loquacious, Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Good Omens), The Them (Good Omens), Greasy Johnson (Good Omens), Mr. Johnson (Good Omens), OMC, Deirdre Young, Arthur Young | Mr. Young (Good Omens), Gabriel (Good Omens), Michael (Good Omens), Dagon (Good Omens), Beelzebub (Good Omens), The Almighty Lord of Creation, All the hosts of Heaven and Hell Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Deus Est Machina, The unexpected consequences of well-thought out wishes, setting the record straight, Adam Has a Sister, Canon - book & show combination, Everyone Moves to Tadfield, The Almighty Clarifies Several Things, G_d Goes To Church Series: Part 2 of A Newer Testament  (Sequel to Mitzvah) Summary:

After the Card Trick's thirteenth birthday, everyone moves to Tadfield.

Adam's older sister shows up, and the blessing she asks for has some unexpected consequences, including the Archangel Gabriel being required by the Lord to sully his temple with birthday cake.

Warlock gets to know the Them, and Pepper gives him a new name.

Complete! 

Please, please read, please comment, please share. All six chapters are up, there are no comments at all at this posting. The fic has not managed to hit the top of the “date updated” list a single time in the entire four days I’ve been posting it, and I’m really struggling to stay positive because the hit count is SO low. (Literally I will check the list, post, and then check again, and it will be 5-10 items below things that were there before I posted.) 

I don’t want to belabor the point but this series is the first writing I’ve done in like 2 years and it’s unlikely I’ll be sharing much more if people don’t care about it. 

[universitybookstore]

Well done, Mr. Gaiman.

[giapism]

January Reading Updates

Since we’ve just reached the end of the first month of 2020, I thought I’d take some time to share with you all what I’ve been reading and also write a short review about each book (else I’ll completely forget what I read by the end of the year...) The books are listed in the order that I completed them in. 

(*): Read in Vietnamese 

1. American Gods - Neil Gaiman

Neil is perhaps my favorite storyteller ever, and he particularly excels in building strange yet captivating worlds that do a great job of making humans seem more human than ever, despite the fact nothing remotely conforming to the human-norm happens (except marriage problems--I suppose even gods and demi-gods are dumb motherfuckers when it comes to love.)

American Gods follows Shadow, a widower freshly released from jail as he tags alongside a suspiciously rich “Mr. Wednesday” (later revealed to be an undercover God), on a quest to convince the old, forgotten Gods of America to rise up and fight the new Gods (Technology, Media etc.) The book pulls up many characters from Irish, Norse, Hindu, Slavic, African and Egyptian folklore and so on, and offers a very refreshing take on religion in modern society. Although Gaiman didn’t dive deep into any specific culture, it’s a helpful start to continue learning about religion and folklore all over the world. There is a lot of information and I can only imagine how painstaking the research process must have been.  

Genre-wise, I don’t think this book fits into any at all. There’s history, fantasy, horror, maybe some thriller too. The idea of a giant war with hundreds of Gods is very ambitious, so the book does get a little messy and all-over-the-place at times. I’d call it “jigsaw-puzzling”, though, you’re given lots of information that doesn’t seem to make sense, but gradually everything comes together at the end and I absolutely love getting to the end and exclaiming “OH! So THAT’S what it was about” I find that the suspense-building in this book very well-done, too. The only criticism I have is that the ending felt a bit... lacking. You had all this build up, this gigantic feud, but everything’s resolved so simply you almost feel cheated. Or maybe I just have something against how Armageddon-type stories (where 2 sides fight to death) keep ending. Other than that, considering how hard this topic is to write about, I’m flabbergasted at how well Neil pulled it off.

Overall rating: 8/10

2. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck - Mark Manson

Everyone was raving about it so I had to give it a go. For those of you who don’t know, this is a self-help book aiming to show you how to re-purpose your life, communicate effectively and live productively. Surprisingly, it only took me 2 afternoons to finish (I always find self-help books are easier to read than fiction, don’t know why). It’s written very informally and feels more like a humorous conversation with a loving but foul-mouthed friend, which makes it easy to digest whether you’re a 10th grader being peer-pressured to apply to US Colleges or a 53-year old electrician just realising you actually wanted to be a novelist. The only requirement for the the advice to be useful is that you kind of need to mess up a lot.

However, I found that there weren’t that many new things in the book. Mostly, it just reminded us of the things we already knew but consciously (or subconsciously) decide to shove under the carpet, OR put into words things we kind of already think, but don’t know how to explain. There is, no doubt, lots of helpful advice but like all self-help books, I find it too much to remember (unless you’re going to re-read it 20 times), and when I finished, out of the dozens of pieces of advice I only remembered one, “People who make changes aren’t flashy and don’t about what they’re going to do a lot. They just do it.” And from then on I shut up about my plans and just worked on them. Everyone’s going to have their own takeaways relevant to their lives, and I’d encourage you to read it just to see if you can find anything interesting. If out of 20 things, you remember 2-3 things that work for you, that’s still a win.

What I enjoyed the most was actually reading the stories/examples of real people at the beginning of each chapter before getting into the “lecture” part. 

Overall rating: 6.9/10 

3. Dracula - Bram Stoker

A classic in gothic horror. I actually started reading this last year and the first third of the book telling Jonathan’s fearful stays at Count Dracula’s castle had me hooked - it’s written in beautiful, elegant language which we hardly ever hear anymore, and does such a wonderful job conveying the characters’ fears, thoughts and emotions. But the moment Jonathan leaves the castle and the book switches to other characters’ stories, it just got so long and boring that I stopped reading for 3 months altogether and forgot which character was which because there were so many men. The “dull chapters” stretch on for at least a quarter of the book, and things only get interesting again when Dracula returns to the story and certain characters start turning into vampires. The rest of the story follows the “heroes” as they try to defeat the Count and bring peace to his victims, and although many parts are suspenseful and very clever, the ending is also so easily achieved that it’s a bit of a downer. 

The whole book is written in diary entrees, journal entrees and letters of different characters (I’ve only read single-person diaries before) which was surprisingly pleasant in that you feel like you know the characters and by the end, you grow quite fond of them. It even inspired me to start keeping a diary again. It also made me start speaking like an old Englishman for the few days after completion, because I hadn’t really shaken off the language yet. Everyone seemed to be much more caring towards each other in those days, and through the letters I picked up some romantic phrases of which my favorite has been “And so, as you love me, and he loves me, and I love you with all the moods and tenses of the verb, I send you simply his ‘love’ instead.” Lovely, isn’t it? 

Overall rating: 7/10

4. Days at Morisaki Bookstore /  Những Giấc Mơ Ở Hiệu Sách Morisaki - Satoshi Yagisawa*

I’m not sure of the popularity of this book, it seems quite lowkey but has a surprising amount of reviews on Good Reads and even has a film adaptation. I happened to find it on my bookshelf and finished it in one afternoon (it was only 150-ish pages.)

Genre-wise, I’d call it Slice of Life although I don’t know if books are even allowed to be called that, or just anime. There is generally no real plot, only character development as Takako (main character) gets dumped by her cheating boyfriend and moves into her uncle’s antique bookstore to re-charge, gradually finding herself learning to appreciate books and the people around her. It’s a very simple storyline, and there’s almost nothing very special about the main character, but maybe that’s what makes it a relaxing read - because in reality, most humans aren’t the special snowflakes and oddballs we think. Admittedly, I started off finding Takako very annoying, but as she grew through the story, I found myself empathizing with her. For me, the book is a reminder to take things slower in life, remember to recharge and learn to see the beauty in simple things around you. It had a happy ending, too. Good for lazy reads, you don’t really have to think much - just sit there with a nice cup of tea and go with the flow. 

Overall rating: 7/10

5. The Oldest Parents With The Youngest Child / Những Tháng Năm Rực Rỡ - Ae-ran Kim*

I. Loved. This. Even now it’s left me with a tumble of emotions that I don’t even know how to describe, and I can say for sure that it’s made it to my list of favorite books of all time. 

The story recounts the life of a 17-year-old boy with progeria (a disease that makes his body age 4x as fast as a regular person, meaning he has the body of an 80-year-old) and his parents, who had him when they were 17. It talks of the struggles of teen parents learning to cope with an unintended pregnancy, their financial and mental hardships raising a child whilst also battling his illness, and also of the main character’s steel-hard resilience and love for life despite his condition. It actually made me feel ashamed of myself for being perfectly healthy, but not being as curious and hungry to learn, and most of all, to have a perfectly functioning laptop and not be writing. Other than that, it also humanizes persons with disabilities, showing that they too can fall in love, get anxious when ghosted and want to sneakily drink alcohol despite being underaged - anything a typical 17 year old might do. After this book, for the first time in a long time I felt that every aspect of life was truly wonderful and that I was lucky to be here. I also made a list of 30 challenges to do these coming months, to understand and enjoy life more and will keep you updated on my progress. 

Even though the book is written from the perspective of a boy with progeria, the author herself is a perfectly healthy woman in her 40s (who did a lot of research before writing, I’m sure). Yet somehow she’s able to tell the story so vividly, convincingly and emotionally that I feel like I’m in his body, living his life and feeling his disappointment and excitement. The tone is so natural, so nonchalant it just feels like a leaf smoothly riding the breeze down the the ground. Reading this book, I’m reminded again of how powerful a tool literature is in sharing ideas, bridging humans and building empathy. I’m in awe of not just the main character for pushing through his difficulties the way he did, but also of the author for writing something so powerful it changed the way I looked at life. It makes me want to write stories like this one day, too. I just don’t know what to say about this book other than I really loved it. 

Overall rating: 9/10

And that’s it for this month! I’ve only just gotten back on track with reading and remembering how fun it is. Hopefully someone will find this helpful and maybe pick up one of these books. I’ll see you guys next month!

[slutforalistairtheirin]

Sanders Sides High School AU

Roman Prince:

-16, Sophomore

-Drama geek, almost always gets leads in the school musicals/plays

-Best friends with Virgil

-Very very very gay. Out to the school but definitely not his parents.

-His parents (or at leas his father) are very homophobic

-Lives only a few blocks away from the school

-Has a major crush on Logan

-His mom is Cuban

-Father is very white

-He speaks Spanish but avoids doing it around his father

-Loves Virgil’s dad

-has very bad anxiety

-Loves make-up/dressing up

-He’s usually a huge charmer until someone calls his bluff *cough* Logan *cough*

-Always has impeccable outfits

-Mama’s boy

-good cook

-His friends mean the world to him

-Dreams of going to Broadway

-unfortunately he lives in the middle-of-nowhere Indiana

-On the swim team

-His dad wanted him to be an athlete and said he could only stay in theatre if he joined a sport

-Actually adores being at school

Virgil Windsor:

-16, Sophomore

-Roman’s best friend

-Demisexual

-Stylish emo

-purple hair obviously

-Out to everyone

-Adopted

-Adores his father

-Also drama geek, usually stage-managing 

-Lives a ten minute walk away from Roman’s house

-Enjoys teasing Roman about his crush

-Often has sleepovers at his house with Roman, Grace, and occasionally his little sister will join

-Would literally die for his sister

-History whiz

-Eats lots of gummy worms

-really digs dragons?

-Can’t cook worth shit but he can bake for days

-Sometimes has nightmares about his birth parents dying

-Calls Roman Princey

-has throwing knives

-has really good aim

-Lowkey has a crush on Remy but would never admit it (not to be confused with Remus)

Logan Addison:

-17, Junior

-Debate team, yearbook photographer, runs school instagram, Mathlete 

-Super gay. Not officially out to anyone but his mom but it’s not like he’s hiding anything. Everyone knows.

-Dresses kind of like a hipster

-Had dark blue hair a in middle school so now he has a few blue streaks leftover.  Barely noticeable unless you’re looking for them

-Lives kind of far from the school so he drives there

-Drives a blue Ford Fusion

-He has doctor who stickers all over it

-He’s a sucker for Neil Gaiman

-His only sibling is in college

-His older sibling is Joan btw

-knows all the science 

-mostly just psychology actually

-he aspires to be a psychiatrist

-eats a pretty healthy diet, but he really enjoys brownies

-Pretty infatuated with Roman

-Terrible at expressing emotions

-His debate hoodie has “Data” on the back

-Enjoys the paranormal

Patton Windsor: 

-35, works at the local library

-Asexual/aromantic

-loves books, animals, and hot cocoa

-he also likes dying his hair different colors

-his favorite so far has been pink

-Dresses exactly like Jim Hopper in ST3 but like everyday and times 100

-Drives a minivan even though he only has two kids

-He has hippie/rainbow bumper stickers

-loves his kids with his entire heart

-Loves easy to enjoy books, such as Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the like

-Loves carbs.  Always makes some kind of pasta or comfort food for dinner.  

-Adopted Virgil when he was 5

-Virgil’s favorite that Patton cooks is Potato Soup

-Patton also adopted a baby girl when Virgil was 10

-The baby girl is named Isabel

-Adores his kids

-Very openly emotional

-Has lots of #1 Dad paraphenalia 

-Loves Roman, too

-Absolutely 100% willing to adopt him

-The sweetest man you will ever meet

-Wears large, round glasses

-has freckles literally everywhere

Remus Prince: 

-15, Freshman

-Roman’s half-brother

-The result of Mr. Prince having an affair

-aromantic homosexual

-Lives with his mom

-Doesn’t meet his father/brother until he’s about 7

-Doesn’t have many friends, he’s a little bit odd.

-While he doesn’t often hang out with Roman, his brother is there for him when he needs it

-Dyes his hair green

-Dresses very dramatically

-He’s really good at chemistry

Dee Harper: 

-17, Junior

-On the debate team with Logan

-Asexual, homoromantic

-When they were sophomores, he had a crush on Logan, but he was never interested

-Dee is very good at math

-likes the color yellow

-dresses very well

-Logan and Dee are good friends

-No one ever actually catches Dee’s eye, but he’s okay with being single

-He lives in the rich part of town with his wealthy grandparents

-Loves old classic books.  Like Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, The Anne of Green Gables books, Oscar Wilde, all of them

-He also loves The Lord of the Rings

-He has a pet snake named Legolas 

-and a rat named Gimli

-he plays the sims a lot

-volunteers at the zoo

-Dee is a very good singer

Remy (Remington) Gray:

-16, junior

-hella gay, out and proud

-extremely intelligent

-and intuitive

-most people think he’s a psychic

-honestly he never denies it

-he plays along

-thinks school activities are dumb

-but he does work at the local art museum

-he has a great appreciation for art

-he’s also a really good artist but no one knows that

-he likes to draw people

-including his friends.  He’s very close with Logan and Dee, and eventually will be with Virgil and Roman

-Virgil is his favorite to draw ;)

-its rumored that he’s from another planet

-really he’s just eccentric and mysterious

-likes birds

Mr. Sanders, Thomas: 

-30, drama teacher

-really, really gay

-connects really well with his students

-he’s very empathetic and just a sweet man

-He always dresses super eccentrically and nobody questions it because that’s just Mr. Sanders

-Sometimes he bets with the other teachers about which students will end up together

-he usually wins those bets

-perks of being the favorite teacher

Characters that aren’t sides: 

Grace:

-16, sophomore

-Roman’s other best friend

-raging lesbian

-she’s very sweet, but she can also be very scary

-do not piss her off

-she enjoys hiking, travel, and theatre 

-she aspires to be an anthropologist 

Mr. Prince, Fred:

-40, lawyer

-Roman’s father

-he’s extremely homophobic

-he had an affair with a 30 year old woman

-also kind of racist but he married a cuban woman??

-he doesn’t let her speak spanish

-he’s also borderline abusive to Roman and his wife

-He doesn’t like Virgil. or any of Roman’s friends for that matter

-Honestly he’s an all around shitty person

-he’s not going to have an arc okay

Mrs. Prince, Estrella:

-35, works at the library with Patton

-Roman’s mother

-Not homophobic, but if Roman ever came out to her it would take her a bit to get used to it. She wouldn’t hate him at all though. She would still love him equally

-She wants to leave Fred, but she hasn’t been able to make enough money to get her and Roman out of there.

-sweetest mother

-always worried that Roman isn't eating enough

-she even thought Virgil had an eating disorder, but he’s just skinny

-delightful woman

Isabel Windsor: 

-6, 1st grade

-she only cares about Voltron, Mickey Mouse, and rainbow crayons. 

-her brother is her best friend

-she adores Roman

-all of Virgil’s friends are also her friends

-Sometimes Virgil and Roman pick her up from school and they go get ice cream. 

-She loves cats

-she thinks unicorns are real but not santa

-she’s a very bright kid, too

-she loves coloring books

-

All done! Man that was longer than I expected. This is based off of my Logince fic.  Feel free to send asks about this!

[izzy-b-hands]

9-14 for the ask game??

aaah thank you! Under the cut again to save y’all from my wordy ass

9. Who’s your favorite author? 

@neil-gaiman, hands down (who I’m @ ing here so that y’all know he has a wonderful blog on here, and you should go follow him if you don’t already.) Inspired me to write, and saved my life in high school with the Sandman series (which reminds me, I still need to finish designing and get my Sandman tattoo.) I have a variety of writing goals in life, but if ever I manage to publish something that he reads? That will be one of the apex moments of my work as a writer. 

10. Who’s your least favorite author? 

I don’t know that I have one? Really? I mean, there are certain genres I don’t read as much so maybe I don’t have a soft spot for authors from it. The closest I can get to an actual answer for this is whoever wrote my math textbooks for my college math classes. Not because they did a poor job, they did wonderfully, but I’m bad at math and those books made me cry, not in a good way, so...least favorite author (s). 

11. What’s your favorite book? 

Oh man. I have literally at least one hundred answers for this question, and I always tell myself I’m going to narrow it down the next time I get asked, and I never do. So, I’ll go with a current favorite and say Me by Elton John. 

12. What’s your least favorite book? 

I want to preface this with an explanation. This book inspired so much ire and argument in my AP English class in high school that I legit can’t discuss literature with one of those classmates to this day, we immediately bring up this book and get into it again every single time. 

That said 

Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. Sorry Mr. Hardy, but this book nearly lost me friends, and made my depressed ass even sadder. "Done because we are too menny” is a line that inspires both sadness and anger in my heart. I mean, it is a well-written book that you should read at least once in your life, but be prepared to possibly end up like me, damaged and slightly angry with it at all times. 

13. What’s your favorite trope? 

Already answered here!: https://aboutthatmelancholystorm.tumblr.com/post/190844943186/writing-asks-1-13-22-44

14. What’s your least favorite trope? 

Like the favorite trope answer, this is one I really hadn’t thought about until now? Like, I know what I dislike, but I don’t overtly think of it unless I’m in the moment seeing the trope I don’t like, I think. Anyway, I pulled up TV Tropes again to see if I could answer this with an actual categorized trope and like

man

there are so many tropes out there. I think in the long run, in most of the media I consume, I don’t mind a lot of common tropes, unless they’re done poorly or messily. 

Like, I don’t know, the guy always getting the girl at the end of a rom com, which I think falls in as a trope? That one I know I don’t like.  Part of why I really dislike most rom coms is this, because there is rarely ever enough time or room for character development to make it so you could go ‘oh yeah they should end up together now’ and it seems like, healthy and reasonable. A lot of times it feels like they went ‘oh shit we hit the end of the movie, so now everything has to be okay and they have to be happy with each other again.’ 

All of that makes me sound like I hate love or love stories or something, and I certainly don’t! I just like them more when it all feels less rushed and more healthy and like the two characters actually...like each other lmao. 

[chiseler]

The Greatest Bad Writer in America? Weird, Forgotten Harry Stephen Keeler

Harry Stephen Keeler (1890-1967) enjoys a peculiar kind of fame as a writer. Or "paper-blackener," to quote him. The prose of his mystery novels and pulp stories, written from the 1920s into the 1960s, can be simultaneously balled up, discombobulated, lyrical, cryptic -- even going "utterly blooey" at times. This is from The Riddle of the Traveling Skull, published in 1934:

For it must be remembered that at the time I knew quite nothing, naturally, concerning Milo Payne, the mysterious Cockney-talking Englishman with the checkered long-beaked Sherlockholmsian cap; nor of the latter's "Barr-Bag" which was as like my own bag as one Milwaukee wienerwurst is like another; nor of Legga, the Human Spider, with her four legs and her six arms; nor of Ichabod Chang, ex-convict, and son of Dong Chang; nor of the elusive poetess, Abigail Sprigge; nor of the Great Simon, with his 2163 pearl buttons; nor of--in short, I then knew quite nothing about anything or anybody involved in the affair of which I had now become a part, unless perchance it were my Nemesis, Sophie Kratzenschneiderwümpel--or Suing Sophie!

Viewed through the appropriate lens, Keeler's manifest flaws become avant-garde virtues, as he seems to stretch the novel towards some new form, possibly the radio play or podcast. Neil Gaiman is a fan: "My guiltiest pleasure is Harry Stephen Keeler. He may have been the greatest bad writer America has ever produced. Or perhaps the worst great writer. I do not know. There are few faults you can accuse him of that he is not guilty of. But I love him."

Among the various devotees keeping this "forgotten author" alive, no one has proven more steadfast than Richard Polt, who chairs the philosophy department at Xavier University in Cincinnati and founded the Harry Stephen Keeler Society. http://site.xavier.edu/polt/keeler/

Richard, give us an introduction to Keeler and his work -- and tell us what led you to dedicate so much time and energy to keeping his name alive.

I ran across Keeler by pure accident in 1996, and from the start I was thrilled by the feeling that I was onto something truly weird and forgotten. I’ve always enjoyed digging into some corner of culture, going deep enough that I discover things that just aren’t in sight of today’s conventional wisdom, and finding connections that I would never have found otherwise. That’s exactly what the world of Harry Stephen Keeler has done for me.

Keeler (1890-1967) was a lifelong Chicagoan. His father died when Harry was an infant, and his mother married a series of other ne’er-do-wells who also kept dying on her. Meanwhile, she ran a boarding house for vaudevillians—so Harry was exposed to a wide variety of theatrical types in a city that was teeming with immigrants. He studied to be an electrical engineer and worked for a while at a steel plant, but his real passion was writing. His mom feared that he was going insane, and had him committed to the asylum at Kankakee, Illinois in 1911-1912. But he was released, and managed to make a living publishing quirky little stories with twists. In 1919 he became the editor of the pulp magazine 10 Story Book, which published short fiction and pictures of half-clothed girls. He also edited magazines such as the Chicago Ledger and America’s Humor.

Keeler’s stories began to get more convoluted, and by the late ’20s he was publishing mystery novels with Dutton in the US and Ward Lock in England, including The Spectacles of Mr. Cagliostro, which drew on his experience in the asylum. Things were looking up, but the Depression cut into book sales at the same time as HSK’s novels took a turn for the bizarre. He typically built his novels on the skeleton of an old short story from his youth, or several of them woven together. Sometimes his wife, Hazel Goodwin Keeler, would also contribute a chapter. This all became the occasion for gloriously implausible tales, chock-full of long-winded speeches in dialect; caricatures of every ethnic group from “Swodocks” to “Celestials”; near-future technology such as intercontinental 3D television; and, inevitably, a surprise ending that sends your synapses on a rollercoaster ride. This stuff appealed to an ever narrower audience. Finally, Dutton dropped Keeler in 1942. He was published by the bargain basement Phoenix Press from 1943 to 1948. Ward Lock cut him in 1953. Then he wrote for Spanish and Portuguese publication at $50 a title—or just for himself.

There were definitely some bitterness and frustration in Keeler’s old age, and when Hazel died in 1960, he went into a tailspin. But then he married Thelma Rinaldo, his one-time secretary from America’s Humor, and as he put it, he caught hold of “the greased pig known as the will to live.” Harry collaborated with Thelma on some late novels that have been published only in recent years.

There are two perennial questions about Keeler: Was he mentally ill? And was he a bad writer? Most people’s initial reaction is that he was a terrible writer who had mental problems. But you can also make the case that he knew what he was doing and was very good at it; it’s just that he had an eccentric sense of humor that requires a special sensibility to appreciate. I’m inclined to this latter view, although he does keep me guessing. I suspect that he had some traits that we would classify as belonging to the autistic spectrum, such as a prodigious memory for facts combined with a superficial grasp of human emotion. A Keeler story is not about interiority; it’s about a complex plot that plays games with the reader’s mind.

Describe Keeler's trademark concoction, the "webwork plot." “Web-work” or “webwork” was Keeler’s term for a highly complex plot, which weaves together a number of strands. He introduced the term in 1917 in a series of articles for The Student-Writer, which he then expanded into a fairly long treatise, "The Mechanics (And Kinematics) of Web-Work Plot Construction" (The Author and Journalist, April-November, 1928). Keeler never claimed to have invented the term or the concept; he gave credit to now-forgotten pulp writers such as Bertram Lebhar. But he did consider himself to be a skilled practitioner, and his fans would surely agree.

What’s most delightful in HSK’s theoretical writings on webwork is the diagrams, which show graphically how various characters and objects intersect at key moments in the story. "Mechanics" distinguishes 15 types of “elemental plot combinations” and presents a mind-blowing diagram of Keeler’s 1924 The Voice of the Seven Sparrows. It’s a very tortured plate of spaghetti.

Some of Keeler’s novels (including Sing Sing Nights, Thieves’ Nights, and the series Hangman’s Nights) get their complexity from a 1001 Nights structure: a framework story embraces several stories told by characters. Other Keeler novels get their complexity from endless digressions and red herrings, or tons of factoids that may or may not turn out to be relevant to the main story. Often, the action is told or retold by an unreliable character, instead of being shown to us directly. Inevitably, there’s a big surprise at the end that makes you see the whole plot differently in retrospect.

If you take away the surprise ending, webwork looks a lot like the contemporary literary genre sometimes called “hysterical realism”—the massive, weird, convoluted stories of writers like Pynchon. Keeler pioneered the formal analysis of this kind of tale. If you have a mathematical mind, you’ll appreciate his advice for getting a webwork started:

In conceiving a story or inaugurating a plot which involves threads weaving with threads, if the thread A, or viewpoint character, should figure with the thread B in an opening incident of numerical order "n" (with respect to the incidents in the conditions precedent) there must be invented a following incident "n + 1" involving threads A and C; an incident "n + 2" involving threads A and D; an incident "n + 3" involving threads A and E; and so on up to perhaps at least "n + 4” or "n + 5"; and furthermore "n" must cause "n +1"; "n + 1" must cause "n + 2"; "n + 2” must cause "n + 3" etc.

I’ve tried it—it works!

What's it like living in and among Keelerian natterings over the long haul?

Like one of Pynchon’s paranoid plots, or like Borges’ fantasy encyclopedia that ends up colonizing reality, the Keelerian world has many unsuspected strands that create a webwork in which I am now enmeshed. I’ve read more obscure authors because they imitated Keeler (John Russell Fearn) or were friends of his (T. S. Stribling). I found out that my own great-grandfather, Wells Hastings, wrote a mystery novel that can fairly be described as webwork. And I taught myself some Dutch in order to read the 2010 novel De Sciencefictionschrijver, by Harold S. Karstens—a story about a man who becomes unhealthily obsessed with Harry Stephen Keeler and starts a correspondence with Richard Polt. Yes, Keeler’s world is absorbing—to the point where I have now been absorbed within the covers of a fictional exploration of that world, to be discovered, like Harry himself, by future eccentrics.

by Daniel Riccuito

[spiritofmultitudes]

This week in Armie Hammer #10 (May 12)

Well this has been a week of content for Armie’s armada! Or Armie’s army...or whatever the 5 of you who read this prefer.

Snarky Armie has returned to social media with a glorious tweet about the Met Gala. A lifetime of society events with family and promotional events aren't everyone’s cup of tea. And his appears to be running over. He was photographed in NY just prior to the event, presumably for work.

Armie posted several song lyrics on twitter this week . From fantastic musicians -Tom Waits and the Nine Inch Nails. He has great taste in music selecting great poets like Tom Waits and some classic songs from the NINs. Of note, Trent Reznor from NIN scored the Social Network which was Armie’s breakthrough role. The lyrics certainly speak of angst and transition to me.(Ok and heroin..but I pray to God he isn't doing that.)

Armie received some good news from fans this week, who nominated him for an audience choice award via Broadway.com for Straight White Men.

As May 30th approaches, Ben Wheatley has been posting updates on instagram about Rebecca including location shots.The badges are a lovely touch and somehow both eccentric and lovely- a du Maurier quote that actually harkens back to Charlotte Bronte and Jane eyre (to my mind). The publicity surrounding Rebecca has been pointedly referring to this movie as an adaptation of the novel as opposed to a remake of the Olivier vehicle. Jane Goldman has done some amazing screenplays inc Stardust by Neil Gaiman, Kickass, Miss Peregrine’s home for peculiar children, both Kingsman movies and the Woman in black. She’s also working on a Game of Thrones prequel. So her work on Rebecca is another quality piece of this puzzle.

The most exciting news from Rebecca comes with the casting of the incomparable Kristin Scott Thomas as Mrs Danvers. FINALLY! To see Armie and  KST go toe to toe will be so thrilling for me (having loved the book and the movie so much). Mrs Danvers is such a nuanced role and KST and Armie certainly radiate a sense of belonging that the 2nd Mrs De Winter (Lily James) doesn’t. 

Andre Aciman’s title cover for Find me has been released and he has tweeted another location in Rome where Elio and Sammy have a glass of wine. I hope Armie is recording that audiobook too. If so I will be weeping in the car listening to that too!

Finally Armie hosted the Steppenwolf Gala fundraiser in Chicago on Saturday night. He looked leaner and his hair (kind of a fade?) looked amazing.He looked leaner than the Montreal pictures from Dreamland and recent LA photos. He invented a drinking game for the audience and looked to be enjoying himself.

I love this no-fucks-to-give Armie. In his favourite suit (yes. I’m guessing). Strolling down the street in a bathrobe. Using a plane blanket as a shawl (haven't we all?).”Serving looks”.

As usual, it’s your decision on how to live your life, coming out, staying in, getting married, breaking up. Your work and your choices are yours. 

Love is messy, like life.

No-one gets what they deserve. Things don't happen for a reason.That’s BS. Tell that to a parent whose child has cancer. Or who has been widowed with small children. Or abused.Or been cheated on.Or lost their life savings.

No-one understands what goes on in a marriage. You may understand yours when you’ve experienced the dissolution of one. Sat in family court for a day awaiting your case. Youth is such a gift, but what you learn growing up is very hard won and so precious. Nothing prepares you for the losses and the heartburn. Each harking back to a younger one. 

As always its your choice what to tell people, what to share, when to write, when to post. Just concentrate on being healthy mentally and physically. Love you Armie!

Love is love is love.

[house-of-nevs]

LAUGH, they nearly SUED.

On the whole, we're inclined to leave the majority of new comics alone. Any clown can pluck the latest offerings from the shelf, say '$7!! For this?!' and be done with it but Joker 10 is something of an anomaly that deserves greater inspection, to say the least.

In the 70's, The Joker was granted his own title as he was extremely popular due to a number of still influential Batman stories of the time. In theory 'What does The Joker get up to in his spare time?' ought to write itself.

Problem was, The Comics Code and it's judgements still carried weight back then, and both writers and editors had to be cautious about the content of their comics, because The Code ruling against you could mean the majority of newsstands just wouldn't carry your book. Presumably newsstand vendors just kept an eye out for that little white square and that was the end of gauging whether this month's Batman Family wouldn't turn little Johnny into a foaming, homicidal pervert or whatever.

So, DC were in a bit of a fix. There's no way The Joker could ever be perceived as any kind of hero or even a sympathetic protagonist, therefore he had to be shown paying the price for his activities and securely locked up at the end of each issue. Which really just underscores how inefficient the security of Arkham Asylum had to be.

'The Joker' ran 9 issues and was..alright? Certainly readable but nothing to bother paying more than cover price for. No Neal Adams, Michael Golden or Marshall Rogers art to turn them into classics. Even Mike Gold qualified the reprinting of Joker 3 in 'The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told' as something of a necessary chronological inclusion rather than being regarded as any kind of greatest story.

Joker 9 was the final issue for decades, although confirmation existed that a tenth issue had been completed and just wasn't published due to the book's cancellation. An entirely reasonable and believable until, well, you read the thing but trust us, we'll get to that.

So, for quite a few years, we have this lost Joker comic. In retrospect it seems a bit odd that DC never find a place to publish it given how many times The Joker has been in vogue, and they're certainly not averse to putting out other lost works, such as the Legends Of The DC Universe title kicking off with a previously unseen Crisis On Infinite Earths story, The JFK/Teen Titans annual and a Neil Gaiman Green Lantern book.

So then, FINALLY, as part of the never ending wave of omnibus books that DC insist on abusing bookshelves with, they announce 'Joker:The Bronze Age. To include Joker 10.

The obvious response from the average reader who doesn't want to plonk down $100 for one new comic is 'Any chance of knocking this out as a separate comic?' Given both the DC Dollar and Facsimile Editions are doing a bit better than new comics at the moment, Joker 10 would probably have blown away any other new comic in pre-orders for any given week in 2019.

As of this writing, Joker 10 isn't being offered as a single hard copy comic any time soon, but imagine our surprise when flipping through the Joker promotional sales on Comixology to see...

Joker 10. No hype, no fanfare. Just 'Oh by the way this is in our library now.' An odd way to promote the first monetised publication of a lost comic featuring one of pop culture's most significant icons.

Again, until you READ it.

Joker issue 10 is mental.

Not in a 'well, it features a lunatic so of course there's going to be a twinge of insanity going on.' way. Look. We're old. We've seen The Joker shoot and potentially physically assault a young woman, play poker with Mr MxyStupidnamex for the right to control reality, kill Jim Gordon's wife dead in the street, continue an abusive relationship with Harley Quinn, become the U.S. Ambassador fot Not Iran, batter Jason Todd to death with a crowbar, slice his own face off because reasons and even break his own neck just to frame Batman for murder.

Still, though, this is The Joker at his most literally insane and murderous. If we have this correct, The Joker kidnaps a doctor and explains to him the story of being coerced into destroying a serum that would literally stop death. By Satan. Who looks an awfully lot like Elton John with the word 'POOF' signifying John's arrival at a time where Elton was still very much in the closet.

Joker recants his gleeful, methodical murder of each member of The Justice League, including hanging Wonder Woman by her own lasso from a Jokerised Statue Of Liberty, sending The Flash insane by shooting him up with some kind of..Super Amphetamine that burns his system out and leaving Green Arrow to die in a Hyena cage in the zoo. He also possesses superhuman powers never seen before, including the ability to be at several places at once!

At the end of the issue, we see Joker in possession of The Justice League's bodies, 99/100 ths dead but not dead. Just what in Chief O'Hara's name is going ON here? What happened to the serum? Or Elton John? Why can The Joker do all these new dastardly deeds?

Guess what?

We'll NEVER KNOW.

Joker 10 finishes on a cliffhanger. This is part 1 of 3. Are there at least scripts knocking around the DC offices that could be drawn up, because this is truly the Twin Peaks:The Return of comics. An answer to a long awaited question that only creates question upon question with it's existence.

Was this really going to be submitted to The Comics Code, because The Joker is working with Satanic Figures, enjoying the fruits of his evil deeds, happily murdering superheroes (that whole '99/100ths' thing reads less like a plot point and more like a 'covering that whole killing women Code violation' addition.) and somehow we're seeing, well, issues with this issue.

So we have to turn this over to you; there has to be more to this story. Are there scripts for 11 & 12? Latest rumours as we write this is that The Joker Bronze Age Omnibus may not even make the shelves (although the preview book is out this week at all good comic shops.) UPDATE: The book is out in good comic shops now. We looked in a bad one.

We hope to see you with more on this on The Funnyiest Of Page's!