#also gillian anderson my beloved

[agentperezbian]

I'm actually feeling optimistic about Tron: Ares after seeing the snippet of leaked trailer. Which seems to not be the public opinion, but I think a darker tone could work for Tron and that seems to be what they're going for. It's too soon to tell, but with NIN doing the soundtrack and this red aesthetic they're going for it could be a lot of fun.

[wolfieloveswade]

My Love/hate for The X Files:

Fox Mulder was written as a sensitive and intuitive man with a thirst for knowledge, he's after the truth whether it involves injustices of the natural world or events that are connected with the paranormal

this was the first time we saw a UFO enthusiast who wasn't presented as a joke, this was an attractive male in his mid 30s who happened to be a federal agent, he's smart and sweet, back then he was seen as "weird" for being obsessed with the paranormal but now in the 2020s, almost 3 decades later after the show first aired, his character has become somewhat of a Demi-God in Autistic circles, hundreds of fans call him the OG Autistic Lead or put him in the same category as Sherlock Holmes, me being Autistic and a fan of both characters, I do consider them to be Autistic Representation

Fox Mulder isn't only a great example of a sensitive male lead, but he's also autistic coded and for Sci Fi fans everywhere, he's become like I said, somewhat of a Demi-God

because of Fox Mulder being written the way he was and for David Duchonvy's amazing performance, I am a big X Files fan(for the most part lol), but here's my hate for the show begins(get ready lol)

I hate dana scully, I don't hate Gillian Anderson personally, do I think she's a good actress? no, I don't, I stopped watching the show around season 3 because of how insufferable scully is as a character, she's cold and selfish and mean spirited, all she does is gaslight Mulder and talk down to him, her rare moments where she chooses to be nice are weird and sus and make her look like a narcissist

to the women in the world that "love and identify" with scully, I need to say this

WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU??

and to the men and women that identify with our Beloved Blorbo, Agent Fox William Mulder

I Love You 🌹

[klessard]

The Culkin Brothers: Macaulay Culkin became a sensation in the 1990's for his portrayal of Kevin McCallister in the Home Alone movies. His brothers Kieran and Rory are also actors, and they feature in some of my favourite productions from that era.

Home Alone, directed by Chris Columbus, 1990

A movie I love to watch every Christmas vacation and never get tired of. With Macaulay Culkin as the lead, but also Kieran Culkin as Kevin's bed-wetting cousin Fuller. Also starring beloved Canadian comedians Catherine O'Hara and the late John Candy. Wonderful soundtrack by John Williams.

The Mighty, directed by Peter Chelsom, 1998 Based on the novel Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick, this underrated gem is funny, uplifting and heart-breaking all at once. Kieran Culkin plays a gifted teenage boy living with Morquio syndrome. He befriends a strong yet learning disabled boy who becomes his legs while he becomes his brain. Another movie I love to watch around Christmas since an important part of the story is set at that time of year. Hilarious performance by Gillian Anderson as "the Queen of Saxony". Set in Cincinnati but filmed in Toronto. Amazing Celtic-tinged score by Trevor Jones.

Signs, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, 2002 I include this film even though it was released in 2002. It is close enough to the 90's and the story was conceived in a pre-9/11 context. The technologies used by the characters are still those of the 90's (VHS tapes, cathodic televisions, baby monitors) and the fashion as well (Rory Culkin's character rocks the denim overalls and plaid shirts like a pro). This movie is dear to me because of its raw depiction of a man's faith struggle and its effects on his family. But it also offers a wonderful message about God's sovereignty.

[scuderlia]

tagged by my beloveds @oscarpiastriwdc & @liamlawsonlesbian

what color are your eyes? the general consensus is that they're green, but i think i kinda cheated my way into green eyes because i've just got blue eyes with yellow around the pupil 😭

(reference images below)

tell me about your pets/your dream pet: i have a standard poodle. he's the love of my LIFE and i'm obsessed with him. he takes the same anxiety medication as me.

share an interesting fact about yourself: i was trained in opera when i was younger but stopped to focus on being a theater kid (tragic).

what was the first fandom you were a part of? idk if this counts but i used to talk about bbc earth documentaries with randos on kik when i was in elementary school. (proper fandom though, probably harry potter lmao i started reading it when i was nine)

do you have any phobias? i don't really have any fears (which is slightly concerning) but i worry and obsess over literally everything so i feel like that sweeps this category.

are you a picky eater? if so, what food can't you stand? other than being vegetarian i'll eat pretty much anything OTHER THAN SPINACH. the only exception i have to this rule is maybe spanakopita. i also consume incredibly low levels of dairy because i lowkey am lactose intolerant so…

do you eat the burger and fries at the same time or one after another? i always taste the burger first but then alternate between the two from that point forward. i also have to end with the fries or it feels incorrect and i think about it for the rest of the day.

winter or summer: oof, depends where. probably summer but i don't love sweltering weather, so if i'm able to be somewhere where i'm not burning up but just pleasantly warm, it's perfect.

favourite fanfiction tropes: friends-to-lovers if i feel like having a magnifying glass held to my heart, but any kind of complicated relationship where there's lots of emotional turmoil always leaves me gagged.

are you studying or working? what do you study/is your job? i'm an architecture student <3

what is the last country you visited: mexico!

(enjoy this photo of the balcony plant i fell in love with)

what country would you want to move to after retiring? i don't know if i want to stay put after i retire... i'd be pretty content to just travel around until i drop dead. if i had to pick though maybe Belgium or Amsterdam, some of my family is from there and it's where my brother wants to live.

who was your first crush? god, i think either Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in Alien or Gillian Anderson as Scully in The X-Files. my parents are big into sci-fi so i watched both way too young, but it was a great way to kickstart my sexuality ig.

how did you get into f1 fandom? i've been watching f1 my whole life but fandom-wise i've been lurking since like 2015-ish and only properly got into it these past few months.

~ i'm not tagging anyone but pls do it if you'd like :)

[pjstafford]

Scully’s Journey to All Things

In my current rewatch of The X Files, I have paid closer attention to how episodes which are not considered part of a specific arc and are considered “Stand alone” episodes fit together as if they could be a mini arc of character development.  The season seven episode All things, written by Gillian Anderson, certainly seems like it is the culmination of something important even if, in typical X Files fashion, it is shaded and couched in maybes.  At the end of this season, Scully is pregnant, and the viewer certainly believes it is Mulder’s child.  Many people believe it’s because they consummated their love in this episode. Also, Scully, the skeptic and Catholic, attempts to use holistic medicine to cure a man whom she once loves after praying in a Buddhist temple and having a vision.  How did we get here?  The episode is sometimes criticized that Scully does things out of character.   It is my impression that if we look at the three episodes which precede All Things, we can make an argument that Scully’s journey has intensified to a point to make her decisions in All Things perfectly in character.

It is worth noting that during the filming of season seven, there was widespread speculation that it would be the last season.  Both David Duchovny and Chris Carter had contracts which were ending and David Duchovny was in a lawsuit with Fox over syndication rights. It must have been a difficult task between trying to bring an epic, beloved series to a successful closure while, also, leaving the opportunity open for additional seasons.  The series did continue, but season seven does have the specter of the end hanging over it.  

Mulder had always been on a quest for the truth of what happened to his sister.  He gets that in the episode 11 “Closure.”  What has Scully been on a quest for? She was assigned to provide scientific analysis of Mulder’s work and began to believe in his work while always trying to use a scientific method.  She has seen things which tested her faith but has always returned to her Catholic upbringing.  She has been tempted to leave the X Files, but stays and there is no doubt about her devotion and commitment to Mulder. There is, also, no doubt that she has been annoyed by his inability to maintain a work/life balance.  The will they/ won’t they dynamic has been drawn out too long but in Millenium there was a New Year’s kiss and they certainly have seemed a bit more flirtatious in this season which some fans have called “The Season of Secret Sex.” 

Theef is a an episode where Mulder and Scully continue their flirtatiousness and, also, where she is more open to extreme opportunities.  Initially she questions Mulder as she has so many times about why the case is an X-File.  The fact that Mulder and Scully joke about the expectation that she is going to ask him indicates that in this episode there might be a shift.  Quickly she pivots to “hex-craft.  I’ll buy that as the intent here.”  Does she mean it or is she teasing Mulder when she follows up with “I’ll always leave you guessing”? Regardless of her openness at the point of that conversation, Scully goes temporarily blind in this episode due to voodoo magic.  The last scene shows Scully questioning whether or not Peattie could have saved his daughter’s life even though medical science could do no more than ease her pain. That is quite the shift for Scully and leads to Mulder saying under his breath, after she leaves the room, “You do keep me guessing.”  This is an aside because I have to - the way in which Mulder says this line rises to a new level of yearning and appreciation.  

Theef leads so well into En Ami.  This is another episode where if there is a delay between watching the episodes, a viewer might scratch their head and wonder why, why, why would Scully run away with the villain of the show. “Thee f” has made Scully question her faith in traditional medicine.  The cancer man offers her information which is the cure for all cancer and she is aware that her cancer was cured by a mysterious chip in the back of her neck.  She would never happen have left with CSM if she was not at an odd crossroads in her life, but people do odd, out of character, risky things when at odd crossroads in their life.  Also in En Ami, the cancer men talks about how he has “studied her for years...you’ve drawn to powerful men, but you fear their power.”  In All Things we will become aware of another powerful man in Scully’s life she walked away from.  It is not unreasonable to think the CSM knew about this part of her life as well.  

Chimera is an episode which forces Mulder to experience domestic life and its unpleasant aspect.  It is a Mulder focused episode.  It is important to note though that Scully is in a stakeout and is unhappy about the assignment.  She solves the case without Mulder’s assistance, but it probably leads to her feeling so out of sorts at the beginning of All Things.  

So these are the three preceding episodes with which we arrive at All Things.  

We begin with Scully getting dressed in Mulder’s bathroom while Mulder lies naked in his bed.  (We will come back to this).  The voice over is important.  Scully is pondering her life decisions big and small.  The next scene is 63 hours earlier.  

The scene is in the basement office with yet another slide show and Mulder trying to get Scully interested in crop circles.  It reminds me of Never Again where the agents aren’t in a heated argument, they are just not in rhythm.  (One of my favorite parts of this episode is the emphasis on rhythms of life like ticks of the clock).  Scully is done.  She is, perhaps, still fatigued from Chimera.  She has just done an autopsy.  She has no interest in going with Mulder to England to see crop circles.  The fact that Mulder simply shrugs, says he will cancel her ticket, and still plans on going emphasizes their differences and what her life will be like if she continues with him in her life.  

Then we have the coincidences of life stepping in.  On her way to the hospital to pick up autopsy results there is a mixed up in the envelopes and she finds out an once powerful man she loved is in the hospital seriously ill.  Along the way in this episode she will administer life-saving medicine to him only to see him in a coma.  We find out that he was married, she was his student in medical school and that she left.  She is forced to consider the life she might have had if she had stayed.   Is that the life she wants now?  The life she would never have with Mulder.  On the other hand a part of her wants to walk away from Mulder.  What will she regret then? What is the right path?   Then, there are a bunch of other coincidences and occurrences.  Eventually she ends up with a holistic healer trying to bring Dnaiel back out of his coma.  He comes out.  Perhaps it was her holistic help, but Daniel, the doctor says no.  I think this decision to try a different approach goes right back to Theef and the recognition that modern medicine is not all and that in En Ami she was willing to take dangerous steps to find other paths.  It’s in character for her at this point in her life. It might be out of character in another week.

Back to the Mulder and Scully relationship and did they have sex in All Things.  I say it doesn’t matter.  Maybe.  Maybe not.   She was asleep on the couch at the end of the episode.  Why was she in the bathroom?  He only has one and she needed to go first thing in the morning before she leaves?  Why was he naked?  its his place, its how he sleeps, Scully has seen him nude before.   To me what is more significant is that they have begun a serious conversation about their life together and all they mean together, She has made a decision.  One which he was just waiting for her to make. 

[mr-m-murdock]

top 10 favorite female characters of all time?

Oh, a JUICY ask! Well, you shall receive, dear anon:

Natasha Romanoff (comics, she just is overall a million times more complex and intense (and hot) in the comics. And I love her. As you may have guessed.)

Leia Organa, the first ever girlboss (I know I don't exhibit my Star Wars obsession on here much but believe me. She rotates in my mind at least three times a day)

Kamala Khan (My precious precious baby girl princess. I love her in all her forms, in every universe, she is beloved to me and I need y'all to understand this.)

Nakia (So goddamn underutilised in fandom and fanfiction oh my god. This woman is a Wakandan spy how is that not the coolest thing ever? Not to mention she's godsendingly gorgeous)

Morgana Pendragon (What? She's so evil and pretty. I want to sit on her lap like a Bond villain's cat. Also I am obsessed with how mad she went. How much of an insane little freak she is. 11/10)

Daisy from AOS (God, I need to write some fics about her. She is so traumatized I need to crack her open like a hazelnut.)

Valka from HTTYD (Dragon MILF. Need I say more?)

Mulan (Again, girlboss. Genderbending ICON. Best friend is a lizard.)

Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson? Yes, yes, 100 times yes. Once again, girlboss. And she's always so put together...)

Tess Servopoulos (Couldn't leave out my new obsession :) There's so much potential here for some exploration into the morally grey. And I mean...Anna Torv absolutely rocks that grunge survival look. Yum.)

[platypotoo]

I've finally finished the second season of The Great. Man, what a ride! Spoilers under the cut.

The Good

- This season feels very different from the first. Though it continues the first season almost directly and the characters feel like themselves, nothing is repetitive or boring. Strangely few shows manage this.

- No Leo.

- Gillian Anderson is breathtaking. I'd known that she is beloved, but I hadn't seen much of her so far... She is amazing here.

- All the actors continue to be awesome.

- Marial/Grigor should be the most random, strange thing ever, but it grew on me fast. They are cute.

- Grigor seems like a completely different person without George. I never thought much about him, but this season made me like him a lot.

- Goddamn it Nicholas Hoult

- Elizabeth continues to be one of my favourite characters. I love that, once more, she turned out not to be mad after all. I adore her.

- The Igor reveal was astonishingly done. It makes absolutely sense (especially since it was hinted that he was Peter The Great's), but still I never would have guessed it, it changes nothing plot-wise but instantly, offhandedly changed a lot for a few specific characters, and the acting!

- I'm glad they didn’t fully Jane-Austen-hero-ify Peter, which it looked like they were going for in the first few episodes. He has definitely grown, he's a great father, he adores his wife, apparently is a good cook and even better lover, he slowly develops into the person he truly wants to be and in general he tries his best, but he's also a complex weirdo who does fucked-up shit. That's what I love about him.

- The chemistry between Peter and Catherine. It has been very noticeable in season 1, but in this season, it is SIZZLING. I consume a lot of media, but very rarely, if at all, have I seen something like it before.

- The sex scenes, too, were well-deserved after all this tension and super hot.

- I liked the revealed bond between Peter and Velementov more than I thought I would. It came from left field, but somehow it worked.

- Catherine made a lot of mistakes this season, I like it. At first I was a little annoyed, especially since I was unsure whether the narrative wanted us to agree with her. But I like that she was portrayed as being less than perfect after all, and also that we were shown glimpses of why she is the way she is, just like with Peter's background. By the end of the season, she has grown a lot, and I'm excited to see where the show will take her.

- Peter The Great was somehow nothing and exactly like I expected. He has always been a weird specter hanging over everyone, and it was hard to imagine a clear picture, but the one we saw fits.

- "First, try and start breathing again."

- The last two episodes were amazing from start to finish, every scene golden. I had goosebumps multiple times.

- I really like the Swedish royal couple. They are extremely fun to watch and open up a lot of potential for season 3.

- Have I mentioned how brilliant Nicholas Hoult is in this role?

- Marial had it coming to be honest, she was never truly loyal, never truly wanted the best for Catherine. I hope she gets to grow next season.

- I like the tiny bits strewn throughout that are accurate or at least a clear reference to what happened in reality, like Elizabeth taking Paul without Catherine's consent, or Catherine wanting to free the serfs but not being able to due to political reasons.

- His arc is super weird, but Archie continues to be one of the most interesting characters. I liked him especially in the last episode. He suffers a lot, but he tries his best and has not succumbed to his old demons yet. I also liked his siding with Catherine (character development! The consequence of their making peace earlier in the season!) and his reasoning: at least she believes in something.

- More Arkady and Tatyana! Arkady has fantastic comedy timing, I laughed so much at moments like "I can't tell if you're joking"

- Elle Fanning is astonishing, especially in the last episode.

- This show is extremely horny in a female-gaze-way and I respect it for that.

The Bad

- Peter trying to woo Catherine in his simple, naive, yet strangely intense ways is the most adorable thing, and hot as well.

- He knows her so well and loves her so much, even when trying to convince himself that he doesn't

- The dialogue, costumes, musical choices and acting continues to be among the very best out there right now.

- I can't even say why exactly, but the first half of the season was kind of a slog. After the first episode, not much seemed to be happening and even the dialogue seemed less witty.

- This is my personal problem and I'm aware it's probably rooted in internalized misogyny, but there was far too much talk about cunnilingus for me. There were episodes were this was mentioned every few minutes, and always like the men really loved it. The bit was funny and fascinating in small doses in season 1, but it transformed into a running gag/plot device sort of thing this season and was overdone. Don't pretend all men are eager to please this much and love the taste, that feels unrealistic in an embarassing way!

The Weird

- Would have loved to see more scenes between Archie and Marial again (I like their dynamic a lot). There were several character dynamics in the first season that have been neglected this season in favor of introducing new ones; Archie+Peter and Orlo+Catherine as well. I understand it, but it's still a bit disappointing.

- I'm used to a lot of weird shit on this show, but Archie's arc in the second half of the season... Wtf. Archie has been one of my favourite characters (at the same time sinister, complex, caring and earnest), but this arc is just batshit insane even for this show. It's horrifying, it's disturbingly funny, it's fascinating, and I have no idea where they are going with it. Is it some kind of commentary on real-life church institutions? Where does it come from? I have no idea and I don't know if I like it. Props to the actor, though - he's really going all in and doing a great job.

- Similar, but not nearly as crazy is Orlo's case. His arc and motivations are much more understandable, but he gave in so easily to the theft and it was handled weird. He's also acting strange when found out, like it's nothing, like Catherine is in the wrong for being mad at him for it, like she should apologize to him after kicking him from her closest circle. I don't like it. I hope this is getting built on more next season.

Overall, I think my expectations for this season were too high (I heard great things about it and the only thing I actively disliked in season 1 was Leo) and I'll like it more upon rewatching. But even so, The Great continues to be one of my favourite shows right now. It's smart, fun, witty, swoon-worthy, creative, darkly hilarious, extremely well-acted and produced, and looks amazing. I really love it.

- I'm a huge romance nerd and I love the relationship between Peter and Catherine, but even I thought that it took a bit too much room this season. It felt like Bridgerton at times (which I love as well! I just don't think it fits here!). I'd like to see more political intrigue next season, more vastly different plotlines, but somehow I'm convinced we will.

----

[404pagehasbeenfound]

CelebArt 🖼

Hello everyone, the old page of the day is CelebArt from 1997. What caught my attention on this site, is that it was created by a 15 year old teenager using photo effects and filters that are so common today, but back in the day it was really a new world to be discovered. It just reminded me of myself when I was 12, and I figured out how to put an orange light effect on my hand in a photo, and I thought it was so cool because it looked like I was manipulating fire and so I showed this to everyone I knew, I was very proud of my "art". So let's take a look in her "arts".

The first is her beloved one, Brad Pitt, like all the teenagers around me had him or other celebrities as a crush minus the weirdo here lmao.

I really find funny how this effects for us is so simple but for her it made Tom Cruise "sooo ugly" lol.

Oh she was nice to Jodie Foster and ended up putting just some stars in her face, unlike what she did to her beloved Brad Pitt.

Yeah, I really hope this person nowadays knows how to use the filters in Instagram and Snapchat to put any effects that she want in the face of Mel Gibson and any other person.

Ok in this one, I tryed to reload the page but there it's a bug in the original photo of Denzel Washington but afterwall this is a site from 1997 hosted in the Soho of Geocities, so it's a miracle we are seeing this page.

Also I really appreciatte that she took her time to explain and write something about these celebrities, like this page about Rene Russo and Kevin Costner.

I didn't finded what programs she used to do all of this but I really imagining her have a fun time doing this with Tom Hanks.

Now I want to know, what Jenny McCarthy did to you Rachael? Why you hate her so much?

Our tallentousy artist even receive a requested to put some effects in this picture of Ani DiFranco.

Others celebrities that she put some effects was Kirsten Dunst...

...Gillian Anderson...

...David Duchovny... yeah guys we need to remember that she made this in 97...

...and Gabriel Byrne that was also requested. And yes, I tried to enter in the pages of these people that requested but they no more exist along with others links that were in the inicial page of CelebArt.

That's it. I find really funny how she put like a simple effect of bricks in the photo and then was like "ooooooh myyy gooosh" because I did exactly this to with my photos and this bring back good memories of a time that won't come back, the time that tecnology was new and could impressed us all in the good way. If someone wanna visit this site, here it is the link: https://geocities.restorativland.org/SoHo/1161/index.html#example

~ The Archeologist

[doyouknowthisbook-poll]

welcome to do you know this book poll!

how this works:

I post polls with excerpts from books—occasionally I post excerpts from novellas and short stories. Polls run for one week, so results are posted eight days after the original post date. Part of the fun is guessing/trying to figure out which book the excerpt is from, with some excerpts being more obvious than others. Feel free to leave suggestions for books you want to see posted (or suggestions for the blog in general) in the replies of this post 😊📚

I am one person running this blog so please be patient and kind. I currently post 1-3 polls per week.

submissions are now open, submit a book here!

current voting options:

A) I’ve read this book before, and I like it!

B) I can tell which book this is from based on this excerpt, but I haven't read it

C) I started reading this, but didn’t finish it (or I am reading it currently)

D) I haven’t read this book, but I like this excerpt!

E) I’ve read this book before, and I don’t like it

F) I haven’t read this book and I don’t like this excerpt

tags:

open polls you can still vote on: tagged/open

closed polls/revealed: tagged/results

all of this blog’s polls: tagged/poll time

fiction polls only: tagged/fiction

nonfiction polls only: tagged/nonfiction

all polls (includes polls from other blogs): tagged/poll

all posts that are not a poll: tagged/not a poll

resources to free reading, libraries, and posts about libraries: tagged/library

additional tags not listed here include names of titles and their authors.

a list of all excerpts that have been posted and revealed:

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Six of Crows (part of the Six of Crows duology and the Grishaverse) by Leigh Bardugo

Beloved by Toni Morrison

“The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

My Immortal fanfiction — this was posted for April Fool’s Day

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel von der Kolk

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez

Silver in the Wood (part of The Greenhollow Duology) by Emily Tesh

Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls

Holes by Louis Sachar

1984 by George Orwell

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

“I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” by Harlan Ellison

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy

The Giver by Lois Lowry

If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

All Systems Red (part of The Murderbot Diaries) by Martha Wells

The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsburg

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Aces Wild by Amanda DeWitt

Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

Geisha: A Life by Mineko Iwasaki (the results also discuss Memoirs of A Geisha by Arthur Golden)

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

The Alchemist by Paulo Cuelho

Mistborn: The Final Empire (part of the Mistborn trilogy and universe) by Brandon Sanderson

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Eve by Cat Bohannon

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

[how-very-blue]

45, 14, 22, 18

hello! <3

45: How many times have you watched your favorite movie?

oh man that's hard. Favorite movie is probably Lord of the Rings (all of them, collectively), they're comfort movies, and I marathon them a couple times a year. Hard to say how many times total, but it's a *lot*

14: Do you like watching movies alone or with friends?

both! I watch a lot of movies alone, but one of my favorite things is convincing people to watch beloved movies with me, especially if ive seen them a ton of times. Going to a theater with friends is more fun than going alone too. One of my favorite memories of seeing a movie in a theater was when a bunch of us went to see Sinister, and at one point I looked over at my friend Amanda, and she's just curled up in a ball in her seat, hood pulled over her face, pullstring cinched so tight that she was just looking out through a tiny hole! You don't get those sorts of experiences when you go to theaters alone

22: Have you ever watched a horror flim so scary you had to turn the movie off or walk out of the theater?

Not that I can think of! Horror is my favorite genre, and I've watched so many horror movies that I'm mostly desensitized to them now. Although, as a kid (until I was about 19, actually) I was so spooked by Michael Myers that I couldn't watch Halloween! My dad watched it every year - us kids would go out trick-or-treating with mom, and he would stay home, watch scary movies, and hand out candy - and I saw just enough of it as a kid to scare the shit out of me to the point where I refused to watch it at all. Then, senior year of high school, some friends and I had a horror movie binge - i think we watched Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Hellraiser - and that was the first time I actually watched Halloween all the way through. I love it now, and continue the tradition of watching Halloween (the original, and the Rob Zombie remake) every Halloween. (If anyone has any good spooky movie recommendations, I need to start making my 31 Days of Horror list soon...)

18: Favorite actor?

another super hard one! I feel like there's so many actors i can point out as my favorites, and it changes all the time. Probably right this second, I'd have to say Con O'Neill, because Our Flag Means Death is consuming my entire existence, but also I could make the argument that my longest running favorite is probably either Harrison Ford or Gillian Anderson - Star Wars and X-Files are childhood staples, Maybe Linda Hamilton, because when i was about 8, I wanted to grow up to be Sarah Connor

[danascullyshair]

Scully’s “I’m so fucking done with this” face my beloved

[1989doolittle]

hii cat ‼💥 i know nothing abt the x files but what r ur fav episodes ? ^-^

HI SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO ANSWER IM AT A FAMILY THING AND I MADE THIS LIST TOO DETAILED. i already have a pre-made list of my top ten but since u haven't seen them I'll explain them a bit for u <3

10. Revelations

Scully centric episode!!! Most of these episodes on my list are scullygirl episodes and im not ashamed <3 anyway this is one of those fucked up religious episodes and as a religiously raised kid it makes me personally extra insane. Complete with fucky Jesus symbolism and prophecies and all sorts of shit that Scully's own religious conflicts make soooo fun and interesting.

9. Oubliette

oughdhdddbfj poor meow meow mulder feels in this episode <\3 anyway it's such an interesting concept and extra scary because it's one of those episodes about a Real Human Person committing crimes that makes it feel so much more real and scary

8. Arcadia

Trouble in suburbia episode!!! Fake marriage for a case trope with mulder and scully! Everything you could ever ask for!!! This episode is just straight up Fun all the way through <3

7. Irresistible

sorry to be a scullygirl but this episode makes me fucking insane. This is right after scully goes through a traumatic experience and then she's forced to go through another one in this episode and yes I love her yes she's my meow meow but i do like to see her suffer and study it <3 also the serial killer is So terrifying and menacing it's incredibly well done

6. Ice

Absolutely iconic. Cultural reset. Carbon copy of The Thing but better (i probably deserve to be attacked for saying that but im right). Nothing more to say about this episode besides absolutely iconic, filled with tension, and hshduhhh iconic msr moments too <3

5. Tithonus

oh boy big surprise another scully episode 🙄 It's all about death and Scully's coming to terms with the concept of death (added angst due to one of her arcs earlier in the series). Also an absolutely badass concept of an immortal photographer that takes pictures of death all in an attempt to finally die himself. AMAZING ending this one gave me chills.

4. How the ghosts stole Christmas

aka the episode I've been spamming about for days. Christmas episode of all time <3 anyway it's pretty much mulder and scully getting psychoanalyzed by some christmas ghosts for 40 minutes and it's somehow absolutely amazing. It ends with both of them bloody on the floor of a haunted mansion while "have yourself a merry little Christmas" plays and never have i seen such a vibe of a scene.

3. Redrum

This episode is not even about mulder and scully (mulder isn't in it at all and scully is in like 3 or 4 scenes). It's about this one-off character (WHO ALSO HAPPENS TO BE JOE MORTON OF TERMINATOR 2 FAME) who time is literally going backwards for and he has to figure out who killed his wife and why he's been convicted of murdering her. It's literally SUCH a fun tense well done episode.

2. Triangle

the inner film nerd in me goes absolutely insane every time i even think about this episode. There are about a total of like... 4 cuts in the whole episode (except for the very last scene in the hospital) and other than that it's all one take. And one takes are my beloved my love my bestie i love one takes sooo much. I've rewatched this episode several times just to watch in awe at the camera work and cinematography. Fuck Chris Carter but like he can certainly direct a hell of an episode.

1. All Things

THEE SCULLYGIRL EPISODE OF ALL TIME. Directed and written by none other than gillian anderson (Scully's actress) and damn does she understand scully. ALSO THE EPISODE THAT FEATURES THE LESBIAN COUPLE. Makes me and @xfilesnatural insane with the philosophical implications of the whole episode. to quote a dm from samael about the philosophy of xfilesnatural (hope this is ok to put here bestie): "the conficting philosophies in spn are more like hard theological determinism vs free will (events being preordained by a creator or created solely by human will) , and the conflict on txf is more metaphysical libertarianism vs psychological determinism (fate or coincidence)" I HAD TO INSERT THIS BECAUSE EVER SINCE I READ IT I HAVE NOT STOPPED THINKING ABOUT IT. ANYWAY EPISODE OF ALL TIME.

[screenandcinema]

New Shows Coming in 2022

Now that we discussed the new movies coming in 2022, how about a list of the new shows I am most excited about coming to television and streamers in 2022. So I present the shows I am most excited about coming that are likely coming out this year (in alphabetical order):

1899 (Netflix) - This upcoming period mystery-horror series is from the creators of the German series Dark and is high on my shows to be excited about. Not much is known about the series except a short logline provided by Netflix, but that premise is enough to hook me: “Multinational immigrants traveling from the old continent to the new encounter a nightmarish riddle aboard a second ship adrift on the open sea.“

Bel-Air (Peacock) - Normally a reboot of a beloved 1990′s sitcom wouldn’t be that interesting. However, with Bel-Air there is a twist, this show is a darker, dramatic reimagining of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. That is enough to pique my interest.

The First Lady (Showtime) - Viola Davis is Michelle Obama, Michelle Pfeiffer is Betty Ford, and Gillian Anderson is Eleanor Roosevelt in this upcoming series that focuses on the women who stood alongside American Presidents. 

Halo (Paramount+) - Pablo Schreiber is Master Chief is in this adaptation of the acclaimed video game series that has been in development for a long long time.

House of the Dragon (HBO) - HBO will be returning to Seven Kingdoms of Game of Thrones this year with this upcoming prequel set 200 years before the 2011 series. 

Inventing Anna (Netflix) - Shonda Rhimes is behind this upcoming mini-series starring Julia Garner as the faux-socialite Anna Delvey.

The Last of Us (HBO) - The second of two video game adaptations on this list is The Last of Us starring Pedro Pascal. The show is being developed by Neil Druckmann who worked on the video game and Craig Mazin who made the amazing HBO miniseries Chernobyl. That is a perfect recipe for success.

A League of Their Own (Amazon Prime) - This adaptation of the 1992 film will follow new characters and new storylines during the World War II-era of women’s professional baseball. 

The Lord of the Rings (Amazon Prime) - Amazon spent $250 million on the rights to make a television series, combine that with a five-season commitment (wherein each season is expected to cost $100-$150 million), The Lord of the Rings series could end up costing Amazon $1 billion. This September, we find out if it was all worth it.

Moon Knight (Disney+) - There are a handful of new Marvel Studios shows expecting to come to Disney+ this year, including Ms. Marvel, Secret Invasion, and She-Hulk, but by far the one I am most expected about is Moon Knight starring Oscar Isaac as the titular hero and Ethan Hawke as an undisclosed character.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (Disney+) - Disney+ also has a couple of new Star Wars shows coming in 2022, including the Rogue One prequel Andor. But seeing Ewan McGregor returning as the exiled Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Hayden Christensen somehow reprising the role of Darth Vader is by far the highlight of 2022 television in my opinion.

The Old Man (Hulu) - Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow star in this thriller that is an adaptation of a novel of the same name about a former intelligence officer forced back into the world he left long ago.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+) - This new Star Trek series has the double duty of being a spin-off of Star Trek: Discovery (and follow-up to season two of that show) and prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series. Hopefully, the crew is up to the task!

Wednesday (Netflix) - Tim Burton directs this upcoming horror-comedy that follows Wednesday Addams in high school. Tim Burton and The Addams Family are a match made in heaven, so that alone puts it on this list.

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (HBO) - John C. Reilly is Lakers owner Jerry Buss in this upcoming sports drama about the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s. The show follows the “Showtime” era of the team and is based on a book titled Showtime, but since the show airs on HBO, it can’t be called Showtime, and thus it is Winning Time.

The White House Plumbers (HBO) - David Mandel directs Woody Harrelson, Justin Theroux, Domhnall Gleeson, and Lena Headey in this mini-series about the Watergate break-in.

-MB-

[sabbathism]

People don’t like season 2, and here’s what they have to say :

tl;dr: I answer the web’s most vehement complaints about season 2 of American Gods. If you happen to recognize yourself in one of those, then I suggest thinking about it really really hard and, perhaps, giving the show another chance. If you recognize yourself in several of those, please drop the show. It’s not worth wasting your time and especially not ours. (I put a list of helpful cast and production related facts at the end.)

Hi, Nelle here, I’m but a humble fan who wishes to have fun seeing gods bicker and argue among mortals, complete with the craziest of situations, stellar cast and great visuals. And yet I can’t help but hear things when I start browsing this hellsite in quest of juicy fanworks.

Although I’m no Joan Of Arc, I hear voices from above and here’s what I have to shout back (lest I get burned at the stake)  :

“The pacing is all over the place ! It’s too slow !”

Is it tho ? Pacing has been “all over the place” (really meaning: different from what we avid show-viewers are accustomed to) since season 1, we’ve never gotten straight answers out of anything unless we started listening and paying attention to details. 

The book (you know, the source material) has four parts, the fourth serving as an epilogue to the whole story, season 2 is most definitely meant to close part 1 which, allegedly, had the slowest of pace to begin with. And it doesn’t even have half the new narratives the show has been creating. So no, it’s not slow. I promise you things are happening.

“It needs to follow the actual book more !!”

What’s a good adaptation ? Is it something that is 100% truthful to the source, down to every word ? Is it something that should offer something for people who don’t know the source ? Or, on the contrary, be something inseparable from it ?

American Gods as a TV show offers new things for people who have read the book and for those who haven’t, while keeping the beloved moments and aspects from the original material.

Why add or change stuff ? Well because, if you’re a book reader, you get welcomed into the state of existential dread that comes with not knowing what happen next, I promise it’s part of the fun. But also because author Neil Gaiman believes that he can do more, do better, with something that was written 20 years ago and needed the changes in a lot of places. He’s aware that he has, in fact, a show to make, and not a carbon copy of the book, as well as a fanbase that deserves to be challenged and entertained.

“Why taking the focus off Shadow ? He’s barely the protagonist anymore !”

Because there are..... characters ? who are also part of the story ? Like, actual stories need characters ? But alright, I know it can get confusing when you have a lot of those, here’s how you can still tell Shadow is the protagonist : months of advertising and the entirety of season 1 which was spent following Shadow with only minor breaks allowing other characters to breathe. Trust me they need the development too, or then we’ll really have reasons to complain.

You want a narrative focusing solely on staying in Shadow’s head ? Alright. Try the book. But here’s my take on its narrating choice, as a graduate in english literature : it’s boring. To the point where Neil Gaiman himself got sad that he couldn’t follow other characters.

“They’re not giving the POCs enough space ! Where are the coming to america segments ? At least they gave actual insights.”

Out of every piece of fiction, I truly don’t think you want to get angry at American Gods for how much room it’s giving POCs... (a 20% white cast ensemble, POCs and especially WOCs writers and directors on production, ethnically accurate casting and writing, diversity positive messages, etc) Really I’m sure there are many other places in the fictional industry were the question of diversity is more than legitimate. American Gods has yet to be one of them, by far.

As for the Coming To America stuff, well, there’s not that many in the book to begin with. There are a whole bunch for sure, but we’ve got over quite a few of them in season 1. If there’s more believers you want, we’re served with the latest episode 4, with humans worshiping both Old and New, and interacting with gods. I’m sure we can review that point again once the season is over.

“Those white directors don’t even know how to read or write POC characters !”

*cough*

here’s a list of the POC directors and writers on episodes 2 to 5 of season 2 only :

Deborah Chow (director)

Aditi Kapil (writer)

Salli Richardson (director)

Rodney Barnes (writer)

Orlando Jones (writer)

That’s half the entire director-writer team for these episodes, with Neil Gaiman being involved. You’ll have to point out to me exactly what you mean by “not writing right”.

“New Media ? 1. she’s a bitch, 2. her actress is just plain bad, 3. she’s a hurtful stereotype.” 

And here comes perhaps the trickiest one of all... I’m gonna have to bear with you, as much as you’re gonna have to bear with me :

1. Yes. 2. No. 3. Yes, and it’s a problem, but not for the reasons you think.

First of all, and let’s get it out of the way : actor =/= character nor writing. You think the writing is bad and/or that the character is annoying ? Well, it’s certainly not on the actor. You wanna know the actual level of Kahyun Kim’s acting ? Starring in an Alan Cummings play alongside him. We’ve got a lot to discuss but please keep her out of this.

Second, New Media is an absolute bitch of a character. She’s mocking, manipulative, and too ambitious for anyone’s good. A lot of people seem to love her tho and to that I say good ??? I mean, great if you like her, because she’s got as much potential as the rest of these crazy characters, I’m not here to tell you who you should hate and who you should love.

But there’s a problem you shouldn’t ignore, and that its so far she’s not well written. It’s a terrible thing to say in such a show but she’s really not : because we barely see her talking, because we barely got any scene with her (remember what I said about letting character breathe ?), and because what we’ve seen of her so far is the stereotype of the hypersexualized naive asian girl. Complete with tentacle porn scene. (Whether you felt weirded out, amused or utterly disgusted by this is your own valid opinion.)

The character has been officially described as “the goddess of global content”, “a cyberspace chameleon” and “a master of manipulation.” In recent addition to that, actor Bruce Langley (Technical Boy) has said : “New Media’s willing to be perceived as naive because if she’s being underestimated, when she does make her move, you’d never see it coming, but she knows way more than she lets on.” He then goes on to compare her to Gillian Anderson’s Media.

This proves that the way New Media comes off isn’t a problem of intent (the naive part is calculated and they want the character to be duplicitous, falsely seductive), but of handling, and it’s just as bad. Sure, Gillian’s Media also knew more than she let on for about as much screen time -I’m sure New Media will get to her four scenes in one season-, but she had been grounded in the narrative as her own character, she’s had her exposition speech and time. (See her meeting with Shadow in S01E02) We’ve yet to see that much of Kahyun’s New Media.

Because they do not give her what she needs to be more than a two dimensional character, we find ourselves with a shallow character who doesn’t give too many signs of the thought process everyone seemed to have put into crafting her beforehand, including Kahyun’s acting. This is a serious issue that needs to be handled before the season ends, or she will just stand out like a nasty spot in an overall incredible piece of fiction. Hell even Laura (another very unlikable character) manages to be a great addition to the narrative. Come on people.

You can of course argue that they could have gone for another type or personality for her, other than naive and sex-oriented, for a korean actress to play. You’re right, there’s a lot of aspect of social media that could have been put to work, but not only are we gonna need more than two scenes (at least the tentacles aren’t a regular occurrence so far), but it’s just like they could have not made the Technical Boy hang Shadow. 

The New Gods appear as the ‘general bad idea’ we promote through and associate with their element. Mr. World is gonna be the creepy looking government dude, Tech is gonna be the lanky rude geek, they’re gonna be cold, insensitive and selfish. They’re gonna be the things we don’t like. Throughout season 1, Tech Boy was in the same place we find ourselves in with New Media : he was the loud white racist teenager hating on anon on the net, he was unlikable from start to finish, and it’s only once we got inputs from his actor, the writers, and then now that they’re showing more of his story and personality well after season 1 that we see him as the fully complex and interesting character he is.

Let’s all keep our wits about us, not engulf ourselves in blind hate or love, and encourage the writers to prove us all that this character is worth the while like her actress says.

(I still won’t forgive the bitch, but at least she won’t stick out like a sore thumb.)

(if you want Kahyun’s input on her character and experience, here’s a lengthy interview)

"They don't even know how to write their own character, period !"

By all means, tell me your basis of characterization to declare that characters who didn’t even have enough screentime to have much substance in season 1 (except Shadow, but strangely no one complains about him) aren’t written right when their creator is literally hovering over the writers and actors shoulders, because he wants them to be developed and written right.

It’s not Harry Potter, Neil isn’t making up facts about them to make himself look better, maybe accept that the vision you had in your mind wasn’t entirely accurate to the truth of the characters and that’s okay ? You can still write them yourself however you want, tell the stories you want to tell, Neil has made it very clear that he doesn’t consider fan ideas less valuable than his.

“Bryan has such as specific, unique vision ! They’re just trying to copy it and they’re failing.”

Definitely. No really, you’re right, I’m a big fan of Bryan’s work, I lost my mind like everyone else when he said he wasn’t giving up on Hannibal season 4.

But you know who else has a unique vision ? The seven directors who took over (four of those are women) and the show-runner who had already worked with him beforehand. They’re not trying to copy his style, they’re trying to make a smooth transition so fans like you don’t have a hard time mourning the terrible loss of Bryan and Michael. And for every person who noticed the changes, there were just as many who haven’t even paid attention to it.

Concept : some people may watch shows/movies for the story and the characters, not just for who’s behind the camera. (As far as I’m concerned, I actually like the image better. Everything was killer in season 1, and I think it’s even nicer in season 2.)

“Bryan gave us Salim and the Jinn, and now they’re just gonna be cast aside because those directors lack the LGBT+ sensibility Bryan has !”

Alright, yup, sure. As a member of the community myself, I totally recognize that someone who’s also part of it will know firsthand of the subtleties and details to give the best representation possible on screen. The example of Salim and the Jinn is perfectly fine, since the entire segment was indeed beautifully made. But if we cannot allow people from outside to ponder and think about our lives through writing (which is probably the best way for them to start understanding and broadening their mindset), how can we expect wide representation to improve in any meaningful way ? Especially considering that the show has been casting LGBT+ actors, in an environment where the cast is listened to and solicited on their opinions. 

And especially when Bryan was not the one who gave you Salim and the Jinn. (Because I’ve seen people genuinely believe it.) Neil Gaiman did. He wrote a gay muslim couple in his book 20 years ago, way before it was considered a political statement. He’s also the one who gave strict and specific directions as to how these very characters should be handled. Because if he expanded Salim and his fire boyfriend Jinn’s story from a one-shot to a full story integrated into his entire narration, then it’s certainly not to pull a “bury your gays” or make them miserable. No need to be LGBT+ to be a decent writer and human being.

“Production was a mess anyway, I knew it’d turn out like this. It sucks without Bryan.” 

Define “mess”. Because all the incendiary reports we got throughout early production had been utter bullshit.

Showrunners being “fired” ? Bullshit. “Disastrous” organization ? Bullshit. “Screaming matches” between directors and actors ? Bullshit. Actors “refusing” to come back ? Bullshit.

Every report that wasn’t made through direct input of the cast or production team was not only wildly exaggerated, but also fake ? But please, hear it from Neil himself :

It was weirder for me to read some of the stuff online that said, “Oh, my god, American Gods, behind the scenes, is all falling apart.” I was going, “But they just shot four episodes, and everything is fine. They’re doing some re-shoots, but they’re doing less re-shoots than they did in Season 1.” [...]

I was reading Steven Bochco’s biography on the tube, going into work on Good Omens, every morning, and learning about what went down on Hill Street Blues, and then on NYPD Blue. That was worse, by a factor of thousands, than anything that happened on American Gods. A showrunner came, and a showrunner left. That’s not even an unusual thing. [...] The weirdest thing for me was putting out a thing on Twitter on Season 2, and having a bunch of people go, “We thought this was canceled.” No, it’s not canceled. In its own mad way, it’s on schedule.  

(Source)

The show was never in any danger, much less in jeopardy. It's overreactions to false rumors and dramatic assumptions that can kill a show faster than a showrunner leaving. You want to be critical of a production ? Go ahead, and check your sources and facts. Please. I promise most of the time it’s not worth the worry, much less losing all hope.

“Bryan cared, they’re just ruining what he’s built.”

I dare you to watch any cast interview and tell me these people don’t care about the show, and that they do not value the work everyone else (from hair department to makeup artists, producers, writers, directors and costume team) puts into it as well.

I’ve watched my fair share of shows, I’m curious about production and behind-the-scenes material in general, and I’ve never seen a group of people being so genuinely happy and passionate about what they do and create together.

Neil took time out of preparing Good Omens (which he was showrunning himself) to be more active because he knew things would be different between season 1 and 2. Ricky Whittle (Shadow) had his contract reviewed to better accommodate shooting and planning. Orlando Jones (Nancy) contributed to writing episodes (especially regarding Black history and representation) and brought inputs on characterization. Ian Mcshane (Mr. Wednesday) participated in directing when he explicitly said during season 1 that he wasn’t interested in working as a director on this kind of show.

And that’s for the well-known names only. Go on the American Gods hashtag on instagram, you’ll find all the various artists who participated in crafting all the details found in new episodes. They’re out there talking about how excited they were to work on it all, how they did it, the love they have for the show and crew. They’re active and positive in every way you can be, please tell me how much they don’t care.

Production made the choice of taking its time making this season rather than rushing it when it’s been very clear that delaying can cause massive loss of viewers, because they care more about how the show comes out than what people actually think. They took in stride whatever problem a show of this magnitude could naturally encounter (again guys, no disaster happened) and worked to solve it the best way they could because they were perfectly aware that we fans care. And somehow that’s what made some of yall disappointed ??

If you seriously think Bryan (and Michael, some people forget about him smh) cared more about American Gods than these people -when he, in fact, cared just as much-, then by all means, leave right with him.

(Also uhm, idk if you noticed, but they’re both still credited in the fucking opening. Because, you know, they’re going by the bases they’ve settled.)

Some (hopefully) helpful facts :

+ Bryan and Michael weren’t fired, they walked out of the show after mutual understanding with the rest of the production that they weren’t agreeing on budget and realization. They concluded that pushing it would just be harmful to the show.

+ Likewise, Jesse Alexander (second showrunner) wasn’t evicted but stepped out once disagreements rose as to how to handle the end of the season. Again, they found a solution fairly quickly.

+ Gillian Anderson had only signed for season 1. Whether her character will ever be seen again (probably in flashbacks) is entirely up in the air. No promises, no impossibilities.

+ Both Kristin Chenoweth (Ostara) and Chris Obi (Anubis) have not been able to contribute to season 2 due to conflicts in their schedules.

+ Neil Gaiman has been much more involved in the production of season 2 as he had finished shooting Good Omens, something which took up most of his time when season 1 was produced.

+ Taking time producing a show =/= production being a disaster.

+ Always go for the reports/articles involving interviews and/or inputs of the persons actually working on the project (cast members, producers, writers, directors). Those are the most reliable sources you can fight. (Just remember that there’s always a possibility for fake news/drama online !)

[douxreviews]

American Gods - ‘The Bone Orchard’ Review

"I love you. Something feels weird."

So, a television series adapted from the extraordinarily beloved novel by Neil Gaiman, as interpreted by Bryan Fuller, who gave us one of the best television shows of all time in Hannibal, and Michael Green, who wrote Green Lantern but is probably still a decent person and nice to babies and small animals.

So... no expectations then...

Starz' American Gods is a curious beast, brilliant and gorgeous and upsetting and strange. Based on a book first published in 2001, which was then substantially updated for its 10th anniversary edition, it still manages to be very much its own thing. With that in mind, it's worth a quick word up front:

I had never read American Gods, when I stumbled across the first episode of the series. I was mostly interested in it because I was a huge fan of both Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic and Bryan Fuller's Hannibal, and wanted to see how the two influences meshed together. For what it's worth, I actually also like Green Lantern, but that's not really relevant as I didn't make the Michael Green connection at the time.

Not having read the book, in my occasionally humble opinion, actually improves season one of the show. I have since read it, or to be more accurate listened to it on Audible, because it really was a very long wait between season one and two. To be honest, I sort of wish I hadn't, because the spiraling 'wtf'-ness – if I might coin a phrase – of encountering all this in a vacuum really heightens the viewing experience. Ah well, that ship has sailed for me now. In any case, this is my long-winded way of saying that we're going to be looking strictly at the show itself here without considering anything from the book. I have no idea what percentage of people watching the show have read the book or haven't, and I don't want to spoil anything for anyone with more self control than I have. So it would mean a great deal to me if we all could be cool about refraining from a lot of spoilers in the comments. Cool? Cool.

The first notable thing about the show is how beautiful it looks. This isn't really a surprise, as making bizarre and disturbing things look unsettlingly beautiful was kind of the entire reason that Hannibal existed, and nobody's better than Fuller at pulling that sort of thing off. The opening 'coming to America' scene with the Vikings is in equal measures incredibly funny, horrifying, and gorier than I would have expected them to get away with. Consider specifically the dismembered arm, still holding its sword, flying through the air and landing in the throat of the other Viking. Slapstick shouldn't work when there's that much viscera on screen, but it does here. And the loving care with which Fuller and co present scarlet and crimson blood as a three dimensional object moving through space is possibly the sign of something severely unhealthy in his emotional makeup. Honestly, it's just gorgeous.

Honestly, the opening sequence with the Vikings sets up the tone of the show absolutely perfectly.

Contrasted with this, the final sequence of Shadow's attempted lynching, and the slaughter of his assailants, whoever they were, by the person saving Shadow, whoever they were, is equally beautiful. If that's not an inappropriate word for the subject matter being shown. The deep midnight blue of the night, contrasted with the rich reds of the blood. Seriously, there are food commercials that haven't put in this much work to make what they're filming looks good.

And on the subject, so many hats off to the show for not shying away from the lynching. The basic setup of the show, as we get very lightly sketched in in the first episode, is that the old gods that were brought to the US by the people who came here and gradually forgotten are gearing up for a war with the new gods that replaced them. The Gods who represented things that modern Americans worship now. Gods like Technology, and television, and money and guns. We see what appears to be the God of Technology here, and he's an obnoxious, vaping jackass of a kid. Seems about right. We don't see anything about television here, but it was well advertised beforehand that Gillian Anderson would be appearing as Media. Money and guns are my own observation about 'things Americans worship.' So, that said, it was a brave decision to embrace the imagery of lynching, in a show focusing on the 'spirit(s) of America', it's brave of them to not shy away from the ugly parts.

The general upshot of the story is that our protagonist, a man by the name of Shadow Moon, is released from prison a few days earlier than he was supposed to be when his wife and his best friend are killed in a car accident together. On his way home to the funeral he encounters a strange man who identifies himself as Mr. Wednesday, who's played by the always-charming Ian McShane, who offers him a job as his driver and man-Friday. Along the way this week Shadow also meets Mad Sweeney, a surprisingly tall leprechaun played by the criminally underrated Pablo Schreiber, previously best known as 'Pornstache' on Orange is the New Black.

This, the opening episode of what is clearly going to be a long and involved multi-season multi-entangled story, presents us with a strong story hook in the form of Shadow, a few interesting mysteries in the form of Mr. Wednesday and Mad Sweeney, and a particularly graphic sex scene featuring a character named Bilquis, in which I saw more of character actor Joel Murray than I ever wanted to see. A very good first mile on what is clearly going to be a very long journey.

Quotes:

Wednesday: "I offer you the worm from my beak and you look at me like I f***ed your mom?"

Wednesday: "What should I call you if I was so inclined?" Shadow: "Shadow Moon." Wednesday: "Oh my boy, that is one outstandingly improbable name."

Wednesday: "Rigged games are the easiest to beat."

Shadow: "So how’d you do it?" Sweeney: "With Panache."

Audrey: "I am trying to get my dignity back here!"

Bits and Pieces:

-- Shadow said that he'd read 813 books in prison. That's also the year the Vikings arrived in the opening sequence. It's also, as Shadow points out, a Fibonacci number. Good on him for enjoying math.

-- Ian McShane does gleeful decadence very well.

-- The concept that faith makes airplanes stay in the air is genuinely terrifying to me. I'm afraid of flying as it is.

-- I didn't get into her in the review, but Audrey is by far my favorite character so far. She's damaged beyond the ability to function, but not so far that she doesn't know she's non-functional. That's an interesting space for a character.

-- Fuller and Green, according to the stories, wanted Shadow to accept the BJ from Audrey on his wife's gravestone, on the theory that after three years in prison he'd be horny. Neil Gaiman responded that if they did that he'd commit suicide and leave a note that he'd killed himself specifically because they had done it. They decided to go a different way with it. Did I mention that the book has a lot of devoted fans?

-- Language as an operating system for religion. Wittgenstein would have loved that.

-- I would totally hang out at that crocodile bar.

A great first episode, with lots of promise for what's to come.

Four out of five flying Viking arms.

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water.

[raspadoris]

2, 21, & 47 (:

2: If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

literally all of my mutuals on here <3

21: Who is your celebrity crush?

rina sawayama my beloved. also gillian anderson

47: Do you have any obsessions right now

aurora released a new album the other day and it’s amazing 🤌 also my consistent obsession is female-centric horror stories and i’m doing a writing workshop this semester and so excited to start my workshop story because it’s gonna be in that genre