#STARZ Original Series

[wontonsoupho]

THEN GOD

MADE THEM BLUE

© Artist the Author

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN

THE GUARDIANS

OF MACABRE

(from top to bottom)

SHANNON THORNTON (circa 2019-present) as GOAPELE KIMANI XOLANI SCOTT aka ‘ANGELOU’

AGE : 35

HOMETOWN : BROOKLYN , NEW YORK

OCCUPATION : CREATIVE DIRECTOR , VOCAL COACH , CHOREOGRAPHER ,& ALUMNI MEMBER OF MACABRE’S FACTION

DAVE EAST (circa 2016-present) as XODUS ELIJAH SYMERE CASANOVA aka ‘GOLIATH’

AGE : 36

HOMETOWN : QUEENS , NEW YORK

OCCUPATION : OWNER OF ‘GOLIATH’S PALACE OF WONDER’ , PHILANTHROPIST , ONE THIRD OF FATHER MACABRE ENTERPRISES , & CO-LEAD OF MACABRE’S FACTION

THE MOTHERS

OF MACABRE

(from top to bottom)

MISSDEMEANOR ELLIOT (circa 2018-present) as GLORY UNI QASIM-SCOTT aka ‘MAMA QASIM’

AGE : 57

HOMETOWN : BROOKLYN , NEW YORK

OCCUPATION : OWNER OF ‘SAINT QASI’S WOMEN HEALTH CLINIC , ONE THIRD OF THE FATES & HEAD MEMBER OF MACABRE’S FACTION

LELA ROCHON (circa 1995-early 2000s) as XOLANI APHRODITE CASANOVA aka ‘MAYOR CASANOVA’

AGE : 53

HOMETOWN : BROOKLYN , NEW YORK

OCCUPATION : MAYOR OF MACABRE , ONE THIRD OF THE FATES & HEAD MEMBER OF MACABRE’S FACTION

SÔNIA BRAGA (circa 1976-early 200s) as SOLANA YZABELLE SOSA aka ‘MAMA SOSA’

AGE : 53

HOMETOWN : ARIMA , TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

OCCUPATION : HORTICULTURIST OF ‘SORACULTURE’ , ONE THIRD OF THE FATES & HEAD MEMBER OF MACABRE’S FACTION

THE FAMILY

OF CASANOVA

(from top to bottom)

JAZZY AMRA (circa 2016-present) as YAMILETH ÉMIE CASANOVA aka ‘KAGOME’

AGE : 34

HOMETOWN : ARIMA , TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

OCCUPATION : SINGER , SONGWRITER , MUSICIAN & MEMBER OF MACABRE’S FACTION

AVA MCCLURE (circa 2019-present) as YANIIS ARACELY CASANOVA aka ‘NANI’

AGE : 7

HOMETOWN : MACABRE , GEORGIA

OCCUPATION : KADET OF AVANT-GARDE | ACADEMY OF KNOWLEDGE & OWNER OF YAMILETH’S MUSICAL CATALOG

FAITH JAGGERNAUTH (circa 2019-present) as LEONI SERENITY ORTEGA aka ‘CHITTY’

AGE : 26

HOMETOWN : MACABRE , GEORGIA

OCCUPATION : CHIEF COMPUTER ENGINEER AT FATHER MACABRE ENTERPRISES , FREELANCE HACKER & MEMBER OF MACABRE’S FACTION

THE FAMILY

OF MACABRE

(from top to bottom)

AMIL WHITEHEAD (circa 1997-early 2000s) as JUSTICE MOHE MACABRE-CASANOVA aka ‘MOTHER MACABRE’

AGE : 62

HOMETOWN : MANHATTAN , NEW YORK

OCCUPATION : CO-FOUNDER OF FATHER MACABRE ENTERPRISES & HEAD MACABRE’S FACTION

BIA (circa 2018-present) as PROMISE AMAHLE MACABRE-CASANOVA aka ‘PRINCESS’

AGE : 43

HOMETOWN : MANHATTAN , NEW YORK

OCCUPATION : TREASURER OF MACABRE , SECRETARY OF MAYOR CASANOVA & HEAD MEMBER OF MACABRE’S FACTION

THE FAMILY

OF HENDRIX

(from top to bottom)

LOLA BROOKE (circa 2021-present) as THAÏS ASHANTI HENDRIX aka ‘FLOJO’

AGE : 34

HOMETOWN : MACABRE , GEORGIA

OCCUPATION : CO-OWNER OF ‘GOLIATH’S PALACE OF WONDER’ & ONE THIRD OF FATHER MACABRE ENTERPRISES

DEMETRIUS FLENORY JR. (circa 2019-present) as JUKKA KIMARI LEGEND HENDRIX aka ‘KASPER’

AGE : 19

HOMETOWN : MACABRE , GEORGIA

OCCUPATION : CONSTRUCTION WORKER & STREET PHARMACIST

THE MAIN

SUPPORT

(from top to bottom)

SKEPTA (circa 2018-present) as MATEO ARMANI DEMUN aka ‘MAC 3’

AGE : 37

HOMETOWN : MACABRE , GEORGIA

OCCUPATION : CO-OWNER OF ‘GOLIATH’S PALACE OF WONDER’ & ONE THIRD OF FATHER MACABRE’S ENTERPRISES

BAND HUNTA IZZY (circa 2018-present) as MONTERO ARTEVIOUS DEMUN aka ‘DRAEKO’

AGE : 19

HOMETOWN : MACABRE , GEORGIA

OCCUPATION : LIFE INSURANCE BROKER & CRYPTO-CURRENCY INVESTOR

SEBASTIAN MIKAEL (circa 2019-present) as CHÖSENTINO TAHIIL XIRSI aka ‘CHÖSEN’

AGE : 36

HOMETOWN : BRIXTON , LONDON

OCCUPATION : BOUNCER / SECURITY OF ‘GOLIATH’S PALACE OF WONDER’ & HEAD MANAGEMENT OF FATHER MACABRE’S ENTERPRISES CLEANING DEPARTMENT

* there will be other members added to the cast as the show progresses and i will give them a mini character profile when/if necessary. for now these are the names and faces of those to lookout for and pay attention to.

… DID YOU HEAR WHAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK ON THEN GOD MADE THEM BLUE ?

FIRST QUARTER | ‘PANDORA’S PALACE’

SYNOPSIS

MASTER | LIST

TAG | LIST

[beyourselfchulanmaria]

Composer Bear McCreary introduces the various sounds of the hurdy gurdy used his score to "Black Sails."

手搖琴，又稱絞弦琴，是一種出現在歐洲各地的古老弦樂器，透過樂手轉動樂器上的手柄，聯動腹腔內樹脂包裹的輪子來摩擦琴弦，從而震動發聲。手搖琴有多個低音弦，因此可以產生一種類似風笛的持續音，而實際上在奧克西塔尼亞、加泰羅尼亞、卡津、坎塔布里亞和匈牙利的民間音樂中它常常和風笛交替使用。Most hurdy-gurdies have multiple drone strings, which give a constant pitch accompaniment to the melody, resulting in a sound similar to that of bagpipes. For this reason, the hurdy-gurdy is often used interchangeably or along with bagpipes. It is mostly used in Occitan, Aragonese, Cajun French, Asturian, Cantabrian, Galician, Hungarian, and Slavic folk music. It can also be seen in early music settings such as medieval, renaissance or baroque music. One or more of the gut strings called 'trompette' usually passes over a buzzing bridge called the 'chien' that can be made to produce a distinctive percussive buzzing sound as the player turns the wheel.

bear mccreary on tiktok talking about his hurdy gurdy (and playing the black sails theme!)

[thenightling]

For those keeping score here are all the TV shows based on the work of Neil Gaiman from the last ten years. Lucifer - Loosely based on the version of Lucifer who quits ruling Hell and opens a piano bar, from The Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman. Originally aired on Fox and then moved to Netflix for seasons 4 through 6. Neil Gaiman also got to play God in a bonus episode for season 3. The full series can be watched on Netflix. And is available on DVD. The plot deals with Lucifer, the ruler of Hell, up and quitting and moving to Earth where he opens a night club called Lux and takes up playing piano. In the TV series he befriends (and eventually falls in love with) a woman homicide detective named Chloe Decker.

_______________________ American Gods - Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman. Aired on Starz. The plot deals with a man called Shadow Moon who gets dragged into the strange world of Old and New Gods vying for power.

________________ Anansi Boys - Originally written by Neil Gaiman as a spin-off of American Gods, the TV series version was filmed for Amazon Prime and is currently in post-production (Not yet released.) The plot deals with the sons of Anansi, the African trickster Spider-God.

__________________ Good Omens - Showrun by Neil Gaiman and based on the novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Also Neil Gaiman has a small cameo in the first season. Available now on Amazon Prime. Seasons 1 and 2 are complete. Season 3 has not yet started filming and will very likely be the final season. Season 1 is currently available on DVD. The plot deals with two "differently competent" entities, an Angel and a Demon, who have come to love life on Earth and each other. And now must work together to prevent the apocalypse.

______________________________ The Sandman - First episode was co-written by Neil Gaiman, based on the stories and original characters created by Neil Gaiman with a few borrowed DC comics characters. Currently on Netflix. Season 2 is in production now. Neil Gaiman also voiced a ghostly bird in the bonus episode segment Dream of a Thousand Cats. Season 1 will be available on DVD and Blu Ray at the end of this month. The plot deals with Morpheus, the King of Dreams, who accidentally gets summoned and captured by occultists who had been trying to capture The Grim Reaper. After over a hundred and six years in captivity Morpheus finally escapes and has to track down his tools which had been taken from him when he was captured. He also comes to realize he had made many terrible mistakes in the past and struggles to set those wrongs right.

_________________________________________ The Dead Boy Detectives - First official spin-off of The Sandman. The Dead Boy Detectives were originally planned as an HBO Max series (now just Max) but moved to Netflix after the success of the first season of The Sandman. Based on characters who first appeared in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman: Season of Mists, Neil Gaiman is involved in the production. The plot is a pair of ghost teenagers decide to become detectives and are really bad at it. These two characters made a previous appearance in Doom Patrol on Max (Formerly HBO Max) but had been played by different actors.

[recycledmoviecostumes]

This blue Tudor-inspired gown was created for Charlotte Hope’s portrayal of the first wife of Henry VIII, Katharine of Aragon, in the second season of the Starz! series The Spanish Princess. The piece was spotted again on an extra as a lady in waiting in the 2024 Netflix original movie Damsel.

Costume Credit: Katie S.

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[thetruthwilloutsworld]

justjared.com

The 44-year-old Outlander actor headed to the gym for a workout on Wednesday afternoon (January 22) in New York City.

For his outing, Sam bundled in a blue puffer jacket, blue sweatpants, and white sneakers.

In a new interview, Sam weighed in on rumors that he's running to play the next James Bond!

“I don’t know. I certainly haven’t heard anything," Sam told The Post.

“I know every British actor that’s ever worn a suit is probably talked about [in connection with the Bond role] at some point," he added.

However, Sam admitted that now he's done playing Jamie Fraser on Outlander for eight seasons, he's not sure he can play another "iconic character" like Bond.

“I don’t know if I’d go from one iconic character to the next,” said. “Certainly, it would be a great undertaking. But look, I’m a huge fan of James Bond."

The Scottish actor, who will next be starring in Starz's new thriller series The Couple Next Door, recently visited a bar in Switzerland where the original James Bond Sean Connery filmed the 1962 movie Dr. No.

“I was recently in Switzerland where they shot part of Dr. No and sat in the same seat that Sean Connery had a martini in," Sam recalled. “Or I’m not sure if he had a martini — probably a Swiss beer.”

“[It] was cool,” he added. “It was cool to see a bit of history.”

Posted 23 January 2025

[a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives]

Netflix Picks Up Starz Series ‘Black Sails’ From January 2024

Netflix will be starting the New Year off strong with the news coming today that the streaming service US will be picking up multiple seasons of the Starz Original series Black Sails from January 1st, 2023.

From executive producer Michael Bay, Black Sails is the historical drama series that serves as a prequel set 20 years prior to the beloved 1883 novel Treasure Island. It ran on Starz as an Original series for four seasons across 38 episodes between 2014 and 2017.

The series scored 3 Primetime Emmy wins throughout its runtime and remains a hit among fans with it currently carrying an impressive 8.2 on IMDb. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a mix of One Piece for its slavish ships and sets mixed with the historical drama and action of The Last Kingdom.

Amongst the vast ensemble cast for the show featured Toby Stephens, Hannah New, Luke Arnold, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Tom Hopper, Toby Schmitz, and many more.

When will Black Sails be on Netflix?

Multiple seasons will be coming to Netflix US on January 1st, 2024. The exact number of seasons coming to the service hasn’t been confirmed, but we suspect it’ll be all four.

The show is expected to continue to reside on the Starz streaming service.

We haven’t found any other Netflix regions scheduled to get the show. We also checked Netflix in the UK and Canada, but they’re not expected to arrive in either. That’s not to say this couldn’t be licensed to others down the road, however.

For more on what’s coming to Netflix in the United States throughout January 2024, keep it locked here on What’s on Netflix.

Netflix in the US doesn’t have access to many Starz titles like it used to. Netflix US has previously held titles like Ash Vs. Evil Dead and Spartacus, while Netflix internationally carried Power. One significant exception is Outlander (although that’s licensed from Sony Pictures Television), with new seasons coming two years after their original air date. Season 6 of Outlander is due to release in 2024.

Source: What's On Netflix

[margareth-lv]

🌊 No man ever steps in the same river twice 🌊

[Heraclitus, an ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher, totally unknown in the STARZ headquarters]

After long months of Droughlander - boom! - Thursday 11 July 2024 arrives, along with a surprisingly unoriginal 'hot couples' promotion from Blood of My Blood and a surprise guest appearance by Sam Heughan at STARZ TCA Summer 2024 at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena, California.

💥 Boom. Bang. 💥

[At the same time, Caitríona has dusted off her sexy boots from the Taylor Swift concert and is enjoying a night out at the Hozier concert in Glasgow. She's slightly uptight and embarrassed, but she's having a great time. They are about 13 hours apart by plane. These two individuals can never be together. And if you think there's something going on between the two them, you’re probably just a conspiracy theorist with your head in the clouds. Move along. Nothing to see here.]

Well, classical education, meaning educating for the good, the beautiful and the true, doesn't have much in common with STARZ's modus operandi.

They really did have the truth, bless them.

It’s so disappointing to see them trying to replace it with a weak, fake version instead.

You know, I'm not going to give Blood of My Blood a rating before I've even seen the series. To be honest, I don't think I'll be watching it because it's not really my thing. All I'm trying to say is that no man ever steps into the same river twice. I'm not sure I understand why you would go to the trouble of making a copy when you've already destroyed the original with your own hands? I don't see the point in that. Ok, I've just had another great quote come to mind: 'The truth is like a lion; you don't have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.' Augustine of Hippo. I think it would be a great idea for the lovely folks over at STARZ to take a little break from scheming, manipulating and destroying the truth and instead read up on some classical philosophy. In the meantime, I'm curious, who has been brought on board to promote Blood of My Blood? Oh, what a surprise!

I wonder if there’s any truth in the rumour that STARZ’s milk cow was on the scene 🤣🤣🤣 This seems unlikely, doesn’t it? I have a feeling he's just as surprised as we are.

*** *** *** Keeping everything I've mentioned in mind, I've made a slight change to the STARZ promotional slogan, which I’d be really grateful if you could take a look at.

[12 July, 2024]

[sunnytoonsproductions]

Just know, y'all, before ya start readin' this list, just know that this list will always often be edited since I always add again some new characters here. Y'all can read now! =^/////^=

🎷🥁🎻🎸🎸🪈🪘🎹🎷🥁🎻🎸🎸🪈🪘🎹

Here's finally the official characters list of the 'back to the SING!' reboot:

🎷🥁🎻🎸🎸🪈🪘🎹🎷🥁🎻🎸🎸🪈🪘🎹

Note: the eight main characters all appear in EVERY single episode, and I'll make these notes for each types of characters lists

Main characters - Sunny, Li'l D, Madison, Philly Phil, Tamika, Eddie, Kim, and Kam

Note: in the antagonists list, each one of the antagonists appear in each episode, and some characters that often act evil or villainous will be added here

Antagonists - Dr Nefario, Big D, Salieri, Lil' G, Addison, Brooklyn Bill, Bambi, Freddie, Jim and Jam, Big D, Mr Yin snd Mr Min, Gunther and Inga, Principal Luna, Kaylie and Mackenzie (they're sometimes good), Tanya, Jared, Zelda (often), Dustin and Preston, agent one, agent two, Ms. Jaspers, Karl, Vladimir, Scranton Sue, Dylan and Ronald (Jared's friends), Ruby, Bi-Bi, Kee-Kee, Maya, Jesper, Maximus, Belle, Rosie, Sally the chubby dance student, (them nine are actually also often nice unlike Tanya), Timmy, Milford the chairman, Hal the bodyguard, Al the bodyguard

Note: the main reccuring characters all very often and nearly always appear in the reboot along with the main characters, and are important to the reboot ofcourse like always

Main reccuring characters - Mila, Cheddar man, Bianca, Kaylie and Mackenzie (I'll add them here, along with Tanya and Jared), Tanya, Jared, Lucius, Jan, Bullfrog, Ms Noir, Sherri and Carrie, Coach Barnum, Petunia Squattinchowder, Albert Schwartz, Efron, B.R.O.C. (he can often be a evil), the Beast, Santa Claus, Mrs Claus, Sulu, Momo the Gorilla, Sherry Stevenson, Ruby, Bi-Bi, Kee-Kee, Maya, Jesper "Jes", Maximus "Max", Belle, Rosie, Sally the chubby dance student, Replacement Tamika "Tamara", replacement Madison "Maika", Reverend money, Kathy the teenage girl, Talk show host Kassandra, Ms Margarette, Yeti, Frank, Buddy Z

Note: just like the main reccuring characters, but these ones are the NEW ones, like, they're my own characters for the reboot and they will often and nearly always keep all the original characters company

NEW main reccuring characters: Oliver Starz, Agathe Dubois, Amy (she's Agathe's student) Soleil, Valien the alien of the solar system, Dakota the humanoid android, Meowster the cool cat, Cam the iguana, Margarete the Queen Spider, Ms Rubystein, Moony Nights (he can often appear here), Cheddsy charsy

Note: just like for the NEW main reccuring characters, the NEW antagonists are my characters for the reboot, that will ofcourse, also keep the original characters (even my own characters) company in the reboot

NEW antagonists - Sunil, Kitty McBitty, Mozzarela sir, vampiric-medusas trio (Aelius, Barbara and Gouda gentlemen), Robotic Sunny, T-Top dog, Robotic Li'l D and the robotic westley kids

Note: the minor/background characters are all the other unimportant or background characters that I've found on the behind the voice actors site, and in the reboot, they aren't important to the reboot but are just the part of it just to be background characters

Minor characters - all the other background guest roles on the behind the voice actors site:

🎷🥁🎻🎸🎸🪈🪘🎹🎷🥁🎻🎸🎸🪈🪘🎹

And this is even for all my loved ones in my big tumblr family, so they all can know more information and details of my reboot (even all my other series/shows for the 'sunny toons productions' company), even tho some of them aren't really into class of 3000: @0lemonadefox0 @kxllboii @cheezekennith @aquamarine-dream-queen @dayzsac224 @oscarandgrinchfan @moshywoosh @ilovescaredysquirrel2 @nuggetaubrey @sharkyy599 @nightkit92 @familyoffood @animatronicdoozer @thelazzyblogzz @sugar-miss1 @shrimpathizer @shypeachrunaway @iggyguyy @sayuri-does-skits @peaceforpeople @ben5569 @oxxjustfrankieandmikuloverxxo @ducktopia90264 @artismeyou-12 @blackstar044 @dieguin-san-theartist2009 @nia1sworld @rumplestiltsbear @s4gefr0g @beeware-of-lulu @leafith @bluebird-in-a-cagedrawing @blo0st4r @fancytigercupcake @classywinnerpeace @dackychansworldofhoshino @itzbluecl0udd @moonlightrosebud2000 @avaford2009 @ghostytoasty726 @devillemon085 @untitled14360 @dynastinoble @kornyart and @elizachangreaves and even some class of 3000 fans here on tumblr, and outside of tumblr =^///////^= 💖💖💖🩷❤️❤️❤️🧡🧡

I hope y'all will like this list =^.^= 🎷🥁🎻🎸🎸🪈🪘🎹

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

Okay okay, you all might've noticed I'm hyperfixating on 2010 Spartacus again. Here are some scattered thoughts on it, and also a desperate attempt to get my followers to watch it.

This show was so ahead of its time, guys. If this show came out today, the fandom would be insane I'm telling you. A Starz original series about slaves starting an uprising that's literally all about mostly naked men fighting and killing each other in the most brutal, bloody, hyper-masculine ways, but then also fucking each other and no one bats an eye because it's Rome? And also the main gay couple are the only characters that live at the end??? And go start a goat farm?? It's like an uno reverse bury your gays. It's a bury your straights. Bury your everyone but the gays.

Alright a decent amount of gays die as well, but not the mains!!

The fandom would be in the trenches. There would be Barca/Auctus vs Barca/Pietros ship wars. We'd be rioting over the Ashur reboot right now because it's not the nagron on their goat farm show we all wanted. I'm telling you this shit would rival Our Flag Means Death in its cultural impact.

I mean, it's also a pretty poignant show with great themes on freedom and humanity as well, but that's a whole other post.

[wontonsoupho]

THEN GOD

MADE THEM BLUE

© Artist the Author

FIRST QUARTER | ‘PANDORA’S PALACE’

“Ever since you came back to Macabre it’s like PANDORA broke loose up in this PALACE!”

PANDORA’S BOX can be described as an item that conceals every evil one could possibly think of. Mythologically speaking , it was a container or jar to be exact given to Pandora for her to keep safe and protect. But when Prometheus — her husband — stole fire from heaven he was punished by Zeus losing her and the ‘box’ to his brother Epimetheus. As the story goes on , we’ve all heard the infamous excerpt about her curiosity being the spawn for unleashing the chaos and havoc trapped in the special confinement. It’s also been rumored that Zeus sent Pandora with the jar to Epimetheus with the knowledge that she’d likely open it’s lid and release total and utter mayhem. Some spiritualist believe that it’s somewhat parallel to the tale of Adam and Eve , where the box takes place of The Tree of Life. ‘Til this very day in modern times , the idiom is used as a forewarning statement when a person sets into a course of action that could intend a series of unforeseen chaotic events , or a disastrous butterfly effect. The infamous myth can additionally be utilized to represent the weakness humans have to temptation of commodities known and unknown.

“BODIES are DROPPING , WOMEN are coming up MISSING…what the fuck is goin’ on in our city man?!”

THE MACABRE

CONSPIRACIES

LOOK|BOOK

“I'm telling you SHIT IS DIFFERENT OUT HERE Angelou. This ain't no SAME OLE MACABRE.”

…DID YOU HEAR WHAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK ON THEN GOD MADE THEM BLUE ?

PILOT | WHEN THE LEVEES BREAK

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN

SYNOPSIS

MASTER | LIST

TAG | LIST

[mercurialharpy]

Disappointment even when you don't meet your shitty heroes, but they still haunt you.

Step into my own personal wayback machine for a moment. It was Fall of 1992, I was rooming with five young women I barely knew in a college dorm suite, at a college I'd transferred to the year before. I remember looking at an end table and on it, was a comic book. I'd never been into comics personally. Like most folks at the time I'd imagine, I (incorrectly) assumed that comics were for kids, and strictly for superheroes.

I was about to learn how wrong I was. This happened to be an issue of The Sandman, and was borrowed by one of my roommates from her boyfriend. He happened to be there when I was thumbing through it. I don't remember exactly what we said; all I recall was he disappeared, and re-appeared a half an hour later with Preludes and Nocturnes, a collection of The Sandman issues 1-8. I was hooked. Completely and absolutely. From that moment forward, I was a Neil Gaiman fan, and although I wasn't a hardcore consumer of every piece he's done, I would stan him and defend him and his work to anyone who would listen. My roommate and her (now) husband, who remained friends with me for decades after college, have had more than one book signed for me from the man himself.

Following the end of the original Sandman series, the novel American Gods became my second favorite. When, in the late 2010s and early 2020s, I learned my two favorite works were finally in production for television, I was beside myself with joy. Vindication. At least for me, being a fan of Gaiman was like being in a club no one else wanted to be in but you.

In following the threads of the main plot of the series, Morpheus himself was an outcast because of the trauma he suffered at the hands of vile people. In turn, he was not a particularly nice guy. I absolutely got the message that you could be a literal god, and be broken at the same time. This, paired with learning about Greek Mythology while in school, gave me a deep and satisfying understanding of the material that persisted for years. Almost a decade before The Sopranos or Breaking Bad lit a fire under the antihero archetype, Gaiman had it on lock with his work. The best foreshadowing is when you don't see it coming at all, I suppose. I will always be a fan of the work. But I'm not in the club anymore. Even now, I'm gazing at a bound version of the entire Sandman series on the shelf, and I've given serious consideration to tossing it out with the trash bin entirely. In all honesty, I had a sinking feeling when I watched the premier of American Gods on Starz (a now defunct network). It was at once a very good show, and a very flawed adaptation of the novel. In one of the promo pieces for the show, I remember reading that Gaiman was immediately at odds with Producer Bryan Fuller, and the differences ultimately caused Fuller to leave the project while taking some of the A list actors with him. All I could think was "uh-oh. This isn't going to make it to the end." And boy was I right. But not exactly for the reasons I thought.

So now we know. All of the articles I could find discussing the allegations against Gaiman and his current wife are behind paywalls, so I'm not going to link them here. I would recommend heading to Reddit for the ugly details. Both the decades-old assault allegations, and Gaiman's jaw-dropping responses, have left me questioning what exactly I should do with a piece of foundational literature that as a writer, I depended on as one of my touch stones. Another creator on Tumblr (of course I can't find the blog NOW when I need it) mentioned that supporting the remaining seasons of The Sandman TV series and Good Omens is probably a good thing despite a moral imperative to stop supporting the author; it helps maintain an ecosystem of actors and TV/film production that has suffered terribly in the wake of the Covid Pandemic and the recent writer's strike. But that doesn't solve my internal struggle. In discussing the situation with my partner, he quipped "Well, why would he stop being an asshole, if he was consistently rewarded for it? Networks were tripping over themselves to offer this guy deals. Someone had to know what was really going on, and chose to ignore it." Oof. Late-stage capitalism strikes again. While researching this post, I came across a quote from actor Norm MacDonald, from his memoir "Based On A True Story:" “It's true what they say. Never meet your heroes. It turns out they're all a bunch of fucking assholes. They're probably the reason you turned into such a fucking asshole - because they were your heroes and you spent all your time trying to be like them.”

Yup. Accurate. A good Wiccan friend, who has since passed into the Summerlands, told me during a particularly ugly divorce "Harpy, remember the opposite of love is indifference, not hate. " This quote is often attributed to Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. The source notwithstanding, this quote never sat right with me. In America, we are now contending with an almost terminal lack of empathy, as the authoritarian shit-show circus revs its engine. We are, again, a place where the cruelty is the point, and it appears co-conspirators are literally lining up to inflict as much damage as possible on weaker individuals without agency. I care. I'll never stop caring. This is my fatal flaw, my hubris. My middle-finger to the gods that be, telling me not to care, and look the other way. I will not obey in advance. And I will not pretend that something I loved dearly wasn’t created and elevated via the suffering of other women, directly or indirectly. In short, I refuse to be haunted by an author I once had boundless respect for. As a Norse Pagan, I don't pray to the gods for forgiveness per se. We (or as least I, in my practice) make offerings, and ask for help in just being a better person; take responsibility for missteps and hurtful things, as we know not even the Gods are immune from consequences.

I see none of this kind of contrition coming from Gaiman. I see a lot of narcissistic self-soothing and justification that just, well...turns my stomach. Musician Tori Amos's response to the allegations alone made me sob. I know well, having been the victim of narcissistic bullshit in the past. This avoidance may be a strategy for side-stepping potential legal exposure. Or, it could be that he's just an actual predatory asshole. For now, the book stays on the shelf. But I won't be touching it, or looking at it for a while. The ghosts will just have to chill for a minute, and be content with indifference for now.

[brostateexam]

I could do with a bit of bread and circuses

[recycledmoviecostumes]

This blue Tudor-inspired gown was created for Charlotte Hope’s portrayal of the first wife of Henry VIII, Katharine of Aragon, in the second season of the Starz! series 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔.   The piece was spotted again on an extra as a lady in waiting in the 2024 Netflix original movie 𝑫𝒂𝒎𝒔𝒆���.   What did you think of the costumes in 𝑫𝒂𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍? Comment below or on our website: Bit.ly/TudEliz225    

[queer-ragnelle]

Hey as fellow horror fan am I curious of your taste in horror media?especially the given the unique horror route you have chosen take with elegy of an empire .

Hey!

I love love love this question. I'm putting the answers below a cut because of the laundry list of dark themes and spoilers.

So the earliest influence for me was The Twilight Zone (1959-1964). I first watched it as a kid and it's been delightfully haunting me ever since. I intend to watch it through again as I'm confident I haven't seen every episode and at this point in my life it would give me new insight. My two favorite episodes are S01E08 Time Enough at Last and the very last episode of the original series, S05E36 The Bewitchin' Pool. The latter was an especial inspiration for Sir Gromer. Sounds insane but just trust me.

A fun horror movie I'm sure astute readers will see the inspiration from in my first book is The Witches of Eastwick (1987), particularly the polyamory and magical tennis match. I didn't even do this consciously, I just watched it again recently and sat up like:

I love how it blends bright colors and comedy with the grotesque. It's so camp and I think it's a great example of marrying "opposing" genres to heighten both.

Pairing movies together here, I really like how The Babadook (2014) and The Ritual (2017) portrayed grief and survivor's guilt, not only through the protagonists Amelia and Luke themselves, but the manifestations of literal monsters they're tormented by and powerless to do away with. Even if the endings are "happy," with the main characters surviving the narratives, the creatures remain undefeated, as they represent something they'll carry with them forever. Death cannot be undone.

Another show example would be the first season of AMC's The Terror (2018) following the Franklin Expedition in their futile pursuit of the Northwest Passage which devolves into illness, murder, and cannibalism agitated by the presence of a supernatural monster attacking and eating the men. (It's Quest for the Holy Grail coded if you squint.) I love that it starts out almost purely historical drama, with only a glimpse of the supernatural as a crewmember lay dying and appears to hallucinate. After he's dead and buried though, Tuunbaq the polar bear-esque monster hunts the survivors down and finishes them off. It's a commentary on the hubris of the Empire's imperialism. I just think adding some of these elements to a Grail Quest ala Sir John Boorman's Excalibur (1981) would go really hard.

Sort of building on the previous movies' themes, I think Arthuriana is ripe for haunted narratives. I love what Starz Black Sails (2014-2017) did with character deaths in season 3 and 4, with Miranda haunting Flint, appearing in his dreams and during times of stress, and then later Eleanor haunting Woodes by showing up out of focus in shots off to the side or making small knitting sounds while he struggles to think. Another great example is A24's Hereditary (2018), one of my favorite movies of all time. I think it was brilliant how the trailers seemed to focus on Charlie, leading viewers to believe she was the main character, only to brutally behead her fifteen minutes in. Her headless body then torments her brother Peter while their mother Annie spirals in her grief, first from losing her own mother who she hated and now her daughter, blaming Peter for Charlie's death.

Then of course there are books. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving does a wonderful thing with decadent descriptions of rich feasts and elegant high fashion clothing juxtaposed with formless dark evil lurking on the periphery, more so describing how the environment changes than the headless horseman himself. It reminds me a bit of J. R. R. Tolkien's translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in how the environment and "monster," as it were, meld together. It really gives you a sense of the characters' mounting dread.

I love the works of H. G. Wells particularly The War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man. Now I don't write Science-Fiction, but Scifi and Fantasy are in a loving triple marriage with Horror so we're putting these here. With The War of the Worlds, aside from loving the prose itself, I was captivated by the insignificance of the narrator in the grand scheme of all that is happening around him. He felt so small, and yet he did what he could with the things in front of him. So many Arthurian books take the perspective of Arthur or Merlin, and while I wouldn't say Gawain or Mordred are insignificant in the fall of Camelot, I do think they offer a perspective that's more detached from the outcome, at least until the very end. Gawain is certainly not aware of all the prophecies that Merlin told of and which haunt Arthur and dog him day and night. He's just living his life when he unknowingly becomes an instrument of destruction through grief. I did enjoy the 2005 movie as well, I'm a sucker for powerful sound design. As for The Invisible Man, well Sir Gromer has an invisibility cloak. So. I mean the influence is pretty straight forward. But beyond that I also find the Griffin's personality to be fascinating. He's such an asshole. If you read my books and love to hate Gromer, well, take it up with Wells. I can fuck with a character who is a cunt.

There are other examples which I love, such as The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde or Dracula by Bram Stoker, but they have influenced me to a lesser degree. One could argue Dorian's fixation on beauty and youth played a role in how I depicted Ragnelle or Stoker's codified vampirism will effect how I write the sickly lady on Grail Quest who wanted the "healing" blood of Percival's sister.

The most recent Horror book I read was Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle which really raised the bar for me on queer autistic characters experiencing the horrors. It was so good I'll be chasing that high forever. While there isn't a ton of direct cross over from that work to mine, the presence of monsters tormenting queer autistic people is a subject of interest in both, so a general shout out to that for showing me it's possible to do that without being obnoxious about it the way The Winter Knight by Jes Battis was.

I'm probably forgetting something but that's basically a run down of my main inspirations. Many of those have dual genre, like Horror/Mystery or Horror/Fantasy, even Horror/Comedy, and I try to bring that to my work. If a story gets too heavy on one aspect, it falls flat. So I strive for balance in all things. Thanks for this ask I really enjoyed answering it and provided links to watch or read most things. I'd love to hear what Horror resonates with you and whether we have any overlap in our interests. Take care!

[minny5ca2018]

Outlander ...

Various clips from Instagram combined with the audio track.

Original video copyright to Sony Tallships Production Starz Lionsgate Outlander series.

No copyright claim either on the video or the music.

Fair use only give it a second or two, music will start.

How Deep Is Your Love duet featuring Michael Buble/Kelly Rowland

[ncisfranchise-source]

CBS‘ NCIS: Origins is about “a story I don’t tell,” narrator Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs tells us midway through the prequel spinoff’s premiere. Specifically, “This is the story of–“

Actually, the end of that sentence is a major spoiler, and the onset of a provocative mystery. And Gibbs’ full declaration, as the forever-analog former NCIS agent puts this story to paper in front of an Alaskan campfire, is bound to figuratively ignite your interest in what lies ahead.

Launching this Monday at a special time (9/8c) with a double-episode premiere, NCIS: Origins is set in the year 1991 — not long after a young Gibbs (played by Austin Stowell) returned from serving in Operation Desert Storm, only to bury his tragically killed wife and young daughter. The series follows Gibbs as he begins his career as a newly minted Special Agent at the NIS Camp Pendleton office, under the tutelage of the legendary Mike Franks (Big Sky‘s Kyle Schmid).

But we already know this story, some NCIS fans have contended, citing bits and pieces scattered across Mark Harmon’s 19 seasons on the mothership and a smattering of flashback episodes featuring Harmon’s son Sean as a young Gibbs. NCIS: Origins, though, is here to fill in blanks you weren’t expecting (including about the aforementioned story he mysteriously has never told), and bring to life seminal, never-before-seen moments from Gibbs’ past. (How do you think Jethro reacted when he first was told the Shannon/Kelly news?)

Because Gibbs is new to his job at NIS — and because he is still shellshocked by his personal loss to a greater degree than he might admit — “Probie” is understandably reserved upon claiming his desk at Camp Pendleton. He holds back on hunches. He’s more laconic than even his older self. That low-key vibe may give a viewer concern, out of the gate, given that this is Gibbs’ story. I, for one, had some reservations coming out of the premiere, for that very reason. But there is a “Gibbs first” in Episode 3 that excitingly activates the character and imbues the rookie agent with a confidence that will be warmly familiar to NCIS fans.

Caleb Foote (Made for Love) and recurring guest star Bobby Moynihan (SNL) serve up comic relief as gung-ho Special Agent “Randy” Randolf and overworked forensics lab boss Woody. Diany Rodriguez (The Blacklist) is a bit of an enigma thus far as Special Agent Vera Strickland, though she and Molino have a powerful scene together early on. Similarly, Tyla Abercrumbie (The Chi) as Field Operation Support Officer/”Head Secretary in Charge” Mary Jo Hayes doesn’t get much focus until Episode 4, but when she does, she absolutely brings the goods as NIS’ warm beating heart.

In recurring roles, Patrick Fischler (Mad Men) finds just the right level of officious as SAC Wheeler, and it’s very easy to see how Robert Taylor (Longmire) might age into NCIS‘ Ralph Waite, as Gibbs’ father Jackson.

Now, you ask: What about young Gibbs himself?

As noted above, series front man Austin Stowell — of Peacock’s A Friend of the Family and much more recently Starz’s Three Women — is tasked at the start with having to lie low and give us a Gibbs who is a bit unsure of himself, and is (too?) often distracted by tragic memories. And looks-wise, he is more “Jack Reacher” than “Sean Harmon.” But the nature of the character at this very specific point in his life does call for gravitas — this is Gibbs like you’ve never seen him before — and Stowell does well with that material, including to heartbreaking effect in Episode 4. (There are also times when Stowell’s voice eerily sounds just like Mark Harmon’s, or when he’ll cock his head just as Boss would when getting an update from DiNozzo.)

The 1991 setting, as you can imagine, lends itself to not just Asteroids and Galaga machines in the NIS break room, but all manner of “retro” technology and crimesolving methods. (Do not ask Franks how to start up the newly delivered PC, and do not expect fingerprint analysis back from Woody inside of two days!) A trip to a mall in Episode 3 doesn’t distract with ’90s fashion, but there are occasional needle drops — including a use of a Bangles tune that took me a second viewing to truly appreciate.

THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: Both young Gibbs and NCIS: Origins take a minute to find their bearings, but once they do, this latest NCIS offshoot shows promise.