#anansi boys opening title

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

https://thinkingplace.co.uk/2024/04/08/episode-17-of-right-place-right-time-is-live/

An interview with Peter Anderson from Peter Anderson Studio that did the Opening Titles and some other graphics for Good Omens ❤

Peter Anderson: "At the moment I'm working on Anansi Boys, right this second with Neil Gaiman who is one of my favourite people in the world, brilliant author and showrunner."

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

Title: Anansi Boys

Author: Neil Gaiman

Rating: ??

I started reading this by accident. I was skimming some reviews, and then I happened to look up "Anansi Boys", thinking I'd seen the title somewhere else, since it sounded like a good title. And then I opened the first book.

It... might just as well not have been the start of an exciting new series. If I hadn't already been familiar with a lot of Gaiman's earlier work (Sandman, American Gods, Coraline, Stuck in a Tale, etc.), this book would not have interested me much. It contains no worldbuilding, no explanations of the worldbuilding, no information about the nature of the setting, no hints about how it differs from the one familiar to me from his earlier works.

I feel the way one feels in an elevator before the elevator has started moving, with some apprehension and not much else. I'm not sure if this is a book for someone who hasn't read his earlier work, or a book for someone who has read his earlier work but doesn't find it much more fun than it already was.

There is some interesting stuff about the construction of fairy tales, but it's kind of buried there and not really central to the narrative. The characters of the story are kind of an ensemble cast -- like, there are a bunch of kids involved but some of them have only short arcs and some of them get much more attention than the others, which seems weird. I couldn't follow the story very well even as I tried to -- I didn't know how, say, the main characters in the story relate to each other except when we find out that they have something in common, and it takes me quite a while to figure that out.

And on the whole I think "Anansi Boys" ends up as a very conventional "fantasy" story told through more conventional "found family" tropes, with nothing too inventive on the plot front. It has a lot of fun with a few of its central premises -- the setting, the various forms of mind control -- but doesn't seem to be much of a departure from earlier work. It seems aimed at people who have read Sandman and liked it, and who don't need a lot more worldbuilding from Gaiman beyond that.

To a lesser extent I've also been thinking about this from the perspective of "Anansi Boys" as a kind of "fanfic" -- it's Gaiman's way of updating his earlier stories. Gaiman's early work is sort of "fancier" than his "more recent" work in that it's full of (often non-anthropomorphic) characters, and it's less consistent about the mechanics of the plot. That's what makes it fun! (In the above paragraph, for instance, there are lots of characters, some of which have only a few lines of action, and some of which are only involved in a few scenes each, and the reader doesn't know when characters have stopped talking because there is a lot of ambiguous speech happening in these stories). If you're doing a modern version of "Anansi Boys" that also includes a lot of extra stuff, like the character of Shai, then, it makes sense to tell a slightly "fancier" story.

But if you were going to adapt Anansi Boys to present-day terms, rather than just updating it, then what would you do? You'd want to keep the characters with only a few lines of dialogue, and not necessarily give everyone some kind of "soul" plotline. You'd have to keep the story's worldbuilding relatively vague and not tell the reader a lot about how the world is supposed to work. You'd probably not want to have the characters meet aliens in a desert and ask "What is our relationship with other species?", as Gaiman does in the earlier stories. It would be much harder to make the story fun in this adaptation. You'd have to do some stuff that Gaiman isn't going to do.

This means that a "fancier" version of "Anansi Boys" isn't necessarily any funner -- a better comparison would be, say, to Terry Pratchett's last three novels, which seem like "fancier" adaptations of their predecessors. But these books are just fine.

[magicalmonsterhero]

Black Lynx trailer

The world of businessman Travis Raymond is turned upside down when he finds himself living another life as the feline hero Black Lynx. Part of the Tachyon universe

(Open on Travis Raymond waking up in a dimly lit alley. As he gets to his feet, he is surprised to find himself wearing a black costume with dark orange accents and a cats-eye emblem on the chest.)

Travis: What is this?

(Cut to Travis standing on the 4th-floor balcony of a lavish manor, looking out over the horizon.)

Travis (v/o): As CEO of a major company, my life wasn’t that ordinary to begin with.

(Shot of Travis at a gala, making nice with his fellow aristocrats. Shot of Travis inspecting the mask part of the previously mentioned costume.)

Travis (v/o): Now, however, it’s like I’m someone else altogether.

(Shot of Travis, in full costume, sprinting over rooftops with incredible agility and perfect balance. Shot of Travis in a very dimly lit room, eyes faintly glowing as he looks around. Shot of Travis in costume, tumbling through the air and landing on his feet in the middle of a shipyard.)

Travis (v/o): I’ve never felt so alive!

(Cut to Travis at a fancy restaurant, talking with Giselle LeMarche and Jason Andrews.)

Giselle: Eidolon’s back in town, and he’s calling a bunch of heroes together.

(Shot of a tall, ethereal humanoid with pale blue skin and glowing green eyes, dressed in a red cloak and hood ensemble. Cut back to Travis, Giselle, and Jason.)

Jason: That means something big is about to go down.

Travis: Who else is involved?

(Shot of a young black male wearing a purple bodysuit with a gold web pattern and a matching eye mask, scaling the wall of a building like a spider.)

Jason (v/o): Joel Bryce, AKA Golden Web. Host of the spider trickster spirit Anansi.

(Shot of an attractive brunette woman in a pink bodysuit, striking a pose before vanishing into thin air.)

Giselle (v/o): Lilly Pickford, AKA Gossamer. TV starlet and mistress of invisibility.

(Shot of a well-built man of mixed race wearing a form-fitting green shirt and red pants, sparring with three teenage boys in a gym.)

Jason (v/o): Michael Tate, AKA Mike the Strike. Former convict turned social activist and street hero.

(Shot of a man in a blue bodysuit/gymnast’s uniform hybrid with the Libra symbol on his chest, confronting a band of thugs outside a mini-mall.)

Giselle (v/o): Nate Ellis, AKA Libra. DA by day, vigilante by night.

(Shots of the heroes in action.)

Travis (v/o): I may not know these people, but they know me. And more importantly, they need my help.

(Cut to Travis's bedroom, where a news report is playing. Travis is holding up the mask as he looks over at the TV.)

Travis: Looks like I’ve got work to do.

(Shots of Travis suiting up. Shot of him posing in front of a mirror. Cut to title card.)

Black Lynx

(Shot of Travis in costume, leaping from one rooftop to another.)

[neil-gaiman]

So to begin with, Mr McGinnis said yes. He was, at the time, almost 90, and we were unable to believe our luck. We had talked about getting someone to work in the style of book covers of bygone days, but Bob McGinnis was there, and he had painted those covers. And he was -- and is -- still painting.

The brief from me was as simple as I could get it:

Mostly, for all except American Gods, which could be haunted spooky American landscape, I'd love people, and the feeling that we are looking at the kinds of book covers nobody does any longer.  Mr Nancy in the foreground for Anansi Boys? - something that says Funny, Thorne Smith, slightly sexy, strange. Stardust, a beautiful study of the Star ? Very fairy tale. Neverwhere, very Adventures, and perhaps Richard and Door, or a scene or moment from the book?

Jennifer Brehl, my editor at William Morrow, came back with:

I think there should be figures/people on all four covers. Looking at McGinnis's art (and the other covers you sent me) it seems that the characters are extremely important. I was also seeing TWO characters per cover. Rough images: AMERICAN GODS: Shadow and Mr. Wednesday, standing in a rugged landscape beneath a lightning-streaked sky ANANSI BOYS: Mr. Nancy in his yellow hat (didn't he have a yellow hat, or am I misremembering?) holding mike singing to young woman STARDUST: Tristran leaning over a sleeping (fallen) Yvaine (Star) NEVERWHERE: Richard carrying/supporting a wounded Door through a door -- leaving the World Above and stepping through to Below.

That seemed like enough to get going with.

We did American Gods first. Landscape and lightning, Shadow and Wednesday. We lifted the "Underground novel" blurb from a 60s paperback of Stranger in a Strange Land.

When we did Anansi Boys it followed the same pattern (although I knew what I wanted as a blurb):

Mr McGinnis sent in some cover sketches. He honed in on the opening scene, with Mr Nancy singing Karaoke to tourists in a Florida seaside bar. We had told him we wanted it to feel like it was a book cover from 60 years ago, and that all these covers would have slightly different sensibilities. We knew that he was the one painting the most memorable book covers in the 50s and 60s, so our brief was to paint what he would have done if he'd read the book back then.

He sent in 5 sketches and I picked a few of the ones I liked best and sent them to Todd, to start talking about visual book styles. (Here are a couple.)

Everyone's favourite was the first.

Todd mentioned that it reminded him of this kind of style, and sent me book covers to show what he meant. He suggested that we have the title over on the left (like the ALL THE WAY cover here).

The finished cover painting came in...

and Todd did a few versions, always picking up the green from Mr Nancy's hat and tie:

(There were lots more versions than these, but I'm limited to 10 images on Tumblr.) I suggested that we lost the Awards stuff, which made it feel cluttered. And I picked the typefaces and versions I liked best, which gave us:

The publisher wanted the #1 Bestseller information back...

I suggested that if we were going to do that we should add an adjective of some kind, like "rollicking" or "magical" just to make it less dry. So Todd did a few of those...

(We actually went with "Magical" on the finished book.) And we had a book cover.

One that felt way out of time, like it had been designed and painted 60 years ago.

[zambie-trashart]

Origins Part 2: rewritten series

Tag list, so far. @ash-amg and @loveswifi

Read the whole series

Summary: Marinette and Jon talk about being a hero and Jon tries to convince her that she was what it takes. Adrien sneaks into school and sets his sights on Jon who gets pissed when he sees Adrien try to take gum off of Marinette’s chair.

......................................

“Marinette? I want to tell you something,” Jon said letting go of his teary eyed cousin, “I never thought that heroes could save the day until I saw it myself when Superman saved me. He’s a different breed of hero and that girl yesterday, she reminded me of him so as long as you embrace that part of you Marinette, you shouldn’t have to give up on being a hero,” Jon said smiling and picking up the earring box.

“Why are you telling me this Jon?” Marinette asked a little defensive grabbing her bag and the box.

“Cause being a hero is the best thing to ever happen to me and it’s what this family does best. I know that nobody is supposed to know but it’s a little hard with super hearing,” Jon said sheepishly and Marinette just stared at him is disbelief.

“You don’t really expect me to think that you’re Chat Noir do you?” Marinette asked arms crossed.

“God no, I’m and American hero Marinette. You have to promise me that you’ll try again, it was a mistake but everyone makes them, even Superman,” Jon said blocking her exit.

“Sorry Jon, I just can’t,” Marinette said maneuvering around him and running to school.

“Marinette!” Jon ran after her and watched as she put her earrings in Alya’s bag. Jon stepped into the classroom and saw her trying to get gum off her seat and upset with a blonde boy who may have been half a foot taller than both Jon and Mari.

“What’s going on over here?” Jon asked angry and glaring at Adrien and Chloe was laughing. “Oh, really funny. Hope you three are happy, you guys deserve each other,” Jon said handing Marinette a tissue to put over the gum. That comment stung and Nino his seat partner told him to just talk to Marinette and Jon, he said that they were very understanding and that if one forgave him then the other probably would too.

Roll-call started and once the teacher got to Ivan’s name, he came busting through the door as Stoneheart again. He took Chloe and Mylene to the Eiffel Tower. Alya went after them leaving her bag so Marinette ran after her. Chat was already there and was trapped after throwing his stick to save Alya from being crushed by a car.

“OK so who owes who ten dollars?” Jon asked landing on the roof next to Robin and they saw Ladybug and Chat running over to the Eiffel Tower by rooftop.

“No one owes... let’s just go,” Robin said starting to run and they stopped in front of the Tower on the roof of a building. Stoneheart seemed to be throwing something that was a person! 

Jon flew down at super speed and caught her.

“I didn’t promise,” Chloe said flipping her hair in Jon’s face.

“Way to blow our cover Superbrat,” Robin said landing next to Jon.

“Whatever.” Stoneheart started coughing and a bunch of butterflies came out of him mouth. A man named Hawkmoth started making a speech.

“Nice try Hawkmoth but none of these people would have been akumatized without you, we know who the real bad guy is. We will find you and you will give us your miraculous,” Ladybug said before capturing all of the purple butterflies and releasing them a giant stream of butterflies went over Paris.

Damian looked up at her feeling something weird but, it was her fault. She must have done something to him. That was what he thought until Jon started laughing at him. “What did you do?” Damian growled.

“Nothing, you did this all by yourself,” Jon said still laughing at his friend’s anguish. They still had to defeat Stoneheart though. 

Marinette thought that bringing them closer together would help and she made sure to capture the akuma that time. She threw the parachute up in the air and ladybugs started fixing everything.

It was beautiful, amazing, miraculous! (the show title)

.......................................

Marinette and Jon walked into school with Alya who said that she wanted to unmask Ladybug and ask her if her and Superboy were dating cause they seemed close. That made the cousins cringe before laughing.

Jon glared at Adrien walking up to his seat and Marinette didn’t even look at him.

“You still haven’t talked to them dude?” Nino asked. “I’m shocked that Jon can even stay mad at someone this long, he used to visit every summer when he was younger so dude, the cousins aren’t people that you have to worry about, they are probably waiting for you to apologize.

After school, rain started coming down and Marinette and Jon were standing outside the school waiting for a good time to start walking.

Adrien figured this was as good of a time as any to apologize. Adrien looked at them and started to speak, “I was only trying to get the gum off of your chair, yesterday was my first ever day of school and I was hoping to make some friends. I hope you guys can forgive me,” Adrien passed his umbrella to Marinette and it collapsed on her and Jon and Adrien laughed at her. Adrien looked at Jon and listened to his laugh, his eyes were so blue through his glasses.

“I don’t know about Marinette but I forgive you,” Marinette nodded along “we’ll talk to the class for you and help you become friends with you,” Jon said smiling. God that was a nice smile. 

“Th... thanks. I’ll see you guys to... tomorrow,” Adrien said stuttering a little as they two waved over their shoulders. “Why am I stuttering?” Adrien asked himself.

“I think I might have an idea,” Plagg said and Adrien looked at Jon who nudged his cousin as they walked into the bakery.

“First day of school and we already have two lovebirds,” Marinette said laughing at her cousin.

“He’s a friend Mari, I kind of like Chat though, he seems nice,” Jon said crashing into a chair. 

It was going to be a long year.

...........................................

Damian will be more important later in the series I promise. This will be an equal opportunity for both ships. Talked it over with Wifi and now I know what I’m doing for each episode on the list and I’m going right into writing Copycat now so episode requests are closed for anything in season one. Two and three are still open but there are certain episodes that I’m not doing which are Anansi, Startrain, Ikari Gozen, Desperada, any of the ones where the side characters get a miraculous. I have a plan trust me!

Peace out ya’ll

[isfjmel-phleg]

A discursive chat on Psmith in the City while cooking a meal appropriate to its world. Which is a great choice, because food plays an important role in this book, more so than any of the rest of the series (I would analyze that but am tired and braindead), especially in its connection with the boys’ friendship. They don’t really discuss that here, but there’s a lovely menu and it’s nice to hear this little-known book talked about. Highlights include:

Some puzzling remarks such as Mike was drafted into the bank to join their cricket team, Mr. Smith is “a well-to-do farmer” (possible but unconfirmed in text), and the boys’ first supervisor is a Mr. Bannister?

Psmith is a character whose roots have gone from Anansi to Ferris Bueller. Absolutely.

Oh look, it’s my copy of Psmith in the City on the counter!

“Peas of the usual color.” I love this name because it implies the existence of peas of an unusual color and the need to be assured that These Are Not Them.

Quoting Psmith lines that don’t quite exist.

Persistently shoehorning Hugh Laurie into the conversation?

Mike and Psmith's loyalty--as evinced in a scene that doesn’t quite exist.

“I don’t remember which university, but [Wodehouse] does go to university.” Alas, no, he went into a bank. I’m surprised that didn’t come up since it’s directly relevant to this book.

Acknowledgment that the characters and language are what make the book.

Almost all the foods connect to ones mentioned in the book! Even open-jam tarts like the one Mike knocks a pitcher of water onto. The lamb might be a nod to the original title (The New Fold, a sequel to The Lost Lambs).

also if anyone wants to round me up to give a thorough and carefully researched talk to the masses about Psmith and Wodehouse while cooking (or attempting to), here I am.

[richincolor]

Book Review: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky

Title: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky

Author: Kwame Mbalia

Genres:  Fantasy

Pages: 496

Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents

Review Copy: ARC from publisher

Availability: Available now

Summary: Seventh-grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend when they were in a bus accident together. All he has left of Eddie is the journal his friend wrote stories in. Tristan is dreading the month he’s going to spend on his grandparents’ farm in Alabama, where he’s being sent to heal from the tragedy. But on his first night there, a sticky creature shows up in his bedroom and steals Eddie’s journal. Tristan chases after it-–is that a doll?-–and a tug-of-war ensues between them underneath a Bottle Tree. In a last attempt to wrestle the journal out of the creature’s hands, Tristan punches the tree, accidentally ripping open a chasm into the MidPass, a volatile place with a burning sea, haunted bone ships, and iron monsters that are hunting the inhabitants of this world. Tristan finds himself in the middle of a battle that has left black American gods John Henry and Brer Rabbit exhausted. In order to get back home, Tristan and these new allies will need to entice the god Anansi, the Weaver, to come out of hiding and seal the hole in the sky. But bartering with the trickster Anansi always comes at a price. Can Tristan save this world before he loses more of the things he loves?

Review: I remember on Twitter a few weeks back Kwame Mbalia posting a pic of what Gum Baby looked like and as I read I couldn’t get that picture out of my head. The intensity on her face, her cute little afro puffs, just stayed with me as I imagined this tiny spitfire of a character raising hell all throughout the book. Let’s just say she became my favorite character and she also grew on Tristan as well. And that is the strength of “Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky”; the characters. Tristan’s grandfather is only in a few chapters at the beginning of the book and even he makes a strong impression. Mbalia takes these mythological figures and humanizes them in a way that rounds them out where we see not just their greatness but their faults as well. I loved John Henry when I was a kid, but really, in the old tales he’s a fairly one dimensional character. Not so in this novel. There was a moment where John is exhausted from all the running and hiding from the iron monsters and he puts down his hammer and sighs. I really felt that. It allowed me to really see the weight of “being John Henry” had on him and that even a great hero can have doubts.

The world building in “Tristan Strong” is also impressive as Mbalia has created this whole second world connected to ours through our stories. This is a trope that is not often used, but it is one of my favorites. I love stories where our dreams, our hopes, our prayers, our beliefs give life to a wholly complete world and through a character entering the world, shows how powerful these beliefs, these stories are. Having West African mythology and African-American folk heroes in one story shows how our stories and beliefs survived slavery, though in the novel there is tension between the two groups. However, they end up working together to save themselves from the Maafa. Because of Mbalia incorporating so much, I loved learning new gods and stories that I hadn’t known before and to have them depicted in such a rich, detailed world was uplifting.

I realized I haven’t talked much about Tristan and that is because he really is a typical 7th grade boy, and well, I work in a middle school - sometimes I need a break from a 7th grade boy, so I sometimes had problems connecting with Tristan. However, Tristan is a character with a good heart who is confused as he just lost his best friend, and at the same time is trying to find his place within his family, specifically what it means to be a “Strong.” His dad was a popular boxer and Tristan longs to follow in his footsteps, but loses his first fight. When we meet Tristan he’s feeling pretty defeated. I felt for him because Tristan is truly at a age of transition where adolescents no longer feel like children (in their mind) but don’t have the skills to be adults. It is a funky age and Mbalia nails it with Tristan.

I really enjoyed this Kwame Mbalia’s debut novel and am greatly looking forward to the sequel.

[majesticfox34556]

Pagan Deals

Title: Pagan Deals

Rating: T (Teen)

Word Count: 1,103 words

Pairing: Sabriel (Sam/Gabriel)

Tags: Gabriel is Loki, Season 5 Apocalypse, Humor

Summary:  Sam knelt in the circle set up for summoning.

“You boys sure about this.” Bobby asked, worriedly.

“Yes.” Sam shared a determined look with Dean. “We need him.”

Dean stared back before saying the incantation.

Dean, Sam and Bobby summoned Loki to make a deal. His help for Sam. Anything was better than having Sam say yes and jump into the cage.

Read: Sam knelt in the circle set up for summoning.

“You boys sure about this,” Bobby asked, worriedly.

“Yes.” Sam shared a determined look with Dean. “We need him.”

Dean stared back before saying the incantation. Dean finished the last word and there was a loud shrieking noise. 

Dean, Sam, and Bobby clamped their hands over their ears. The noise died down and Gabriel sat, lounging upon a throne that appeared out of nowhere. 

“Who dares… Oh. It’s you three.” Gabriel sighed. “What do you muttonheads want this time? I already gave you the answer to your little problem.”

“Gabriel-” Dean began.

“Nuh-uh.” Gabriel wagged a finger at him. “It’s Loki. You called on Gabriel’s pagan side so you get Loki. Not Gabriel.”

“Loki,” Sam spoke strongly. He scooted closer. “We need your help. I offer you myself in return. Do with me as you wish.” Sam bowed his head.

“Huh.” Loki sat back in his throne in shock. “You two are okay with this?” Loki directed his question to Dean and Bobby.

“We need all the help we can get. This was Sam’s idea.” Bobby shrugged.

“We have all the rings. We need your help to get the devil back in his cage.” Dean put forth. “Sam agreed to three nights-”

“No, no, no. That’s not how this works.” Loki tsked. “The way you set this up was an open-ended sacrifice. Sam is mine for however long I wish.”

Dean stared shocked at Sam. “You did this. You are the one who set this up.”

Sam raised his head and stared defiantly at the god. “I did. I knew it would take something huge to get him to help. It’s fine Dean.”

Loki sat back and watched their argument with glee. “Okay! Enough!” Loki snapped and Dean and Sam were separated.“Here’s the deal. I will help you put Lucifer away and Sam is mine for hmmm, one year. After that year he is free to leave if he wishes.”

“And that is one human earth year?” Bobby clarified.

“Yes.” Loki sat back in his chair.

Dean stared down Sam. “Will I be able to see him?”

“After six months, yes.” Loki agreed.

Dean looked up at the god. “Deal.”

“Excellent. What’s the plan boys?” Loki snapped. His chair and the summoning stuff vanished.

“Sam was going to say yes and-” Dean began.

“No.” Loki snarled. “Sam is now mine and he won’t be saying yes to anyone but me.”

“Well, do you have a better one?” Bobby demanded.

“Let me make a few calls.” Loki thought for a moment.

 Sam, Dean, and Bobby began walking away. 

“Hold it!” Loki called. “Our deal is not sealed.” Loki snapped and was in front of Sam. Before he could react, Loki grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked him down into a kiss that was all teeth and tongue. Loki pulled back after a minute.

“Dude! Right here!” Dean complained.

“That’s not how a pagan deal is sealed. That’s how demon deals are sealed.” Bobby pointed out.

“Oh, I know. I just wanted a kiss.” Loki held up his bloody hand. “Our blood seals the deal.”

Sam looked down at his arm that was smeared with blood.

Loki snapped. The blood disappeared. “Now, where are we headed, boys?

”************

Sam stared at the pagan/archangel that he now belongs to for a year. He was talking animatedly on his cell phone. He grinned and hung up.

“Good news! My kids are gonna help plus Anansi, Hermes and Coyote owe me a favor so they will help too. That gives us six other people to help.” Loki smirked.

“Anansi? I thought a fellow hunter killed him a few years earlier.” Bobby looked curious.

“How can six pagans help us? Lucifer tore through those other SOB’s at that hotel.” Dean looked over at Loki.

“That’s because these pagans are different. More powerful.” Loki sneered at Dean.

“How?” Sam was curious.

Loki’s smile seemed to gentle at Sam. “I made the trickster gods. They are mine. I am the first trickster. Plus, my kids. Do they need any more introduction?”

“Narfi, Fenrir, Jormungandr, and Hel?” Sam listed off.

Loki beamed. “Yep. My kids.”

“How are they going to help? What’s the plan?” 

Sam did most of the talking to Loki after that.

***********

That night, Loki snapped off with a kiss to Sam and a warning to Dean and Bobby.

Sam sat at the table with a beer in his hand.

“Did you know?” Dean demanded as he sat next to Sam.

“Yup.” Sam took a sip from his bottle.

“Damn it Sam! We agreed to no more secrets!” Dean yelled.

Sam looked up at his big brother. “It was the price for his help. It’s June now? I’ll see you at Christmas.” Sam softened at his brother’s distress. “Dean. I’ll be alright. If he hurts me I will kick his ass. Stakes may not kill him but I doubt they are comfortable.”

Dean smiled a tiny grin. “Give me a few days. I will have something for you.”

“Okay. Dean? I’ll be fine. Trust me.” Sam held Dean’s green-eyed gaze. “I know I haven’t earned it in the past but I swear, I’ll be alright. It’s Gabriel.”

“And Loki.” Dean reminded. “That’s just weird man.” He shivered.

“Not really.” Sam shrugged. “Think of it as multiple personalities, but instead of several, he has two. Neither seems to want me hurt if his reaction and threat tonight was any indication.”

Dean wrinkled his nose. “Okay. If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure. You have Cas. You’ll be fine.” Sam assured.

Dean blushed. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Sam sighed. “You will work it out eventually. Just promise me something?”

“What Sammy?” Dean spoke softly.

“Don’t die while I’m away. If you get in trouble call Cas at least.” Sam pleaded with his eyes.

“I promise Sam.” Dean clapped his hands. “Let’s get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us.”

Sam downed the last of his beer before climbing up the stairs. 

Dean settled on Bobby’s porch with a wooden branch. He spent all night working on whittling it to a point and carving the words he wanted into the handle.

“LOKI’S TIMEOUT STICK”

When he gave it to Sam the next morning, Dean smiled at the laugh on his little brother’s face. He may not know what will happen but Loki had their backs sort of. Sam was the god’s and they made a deal.

Dean prayed that everything would go their way tomorrow. After all, they made a deal with a pagan.

[shioritsumi]

Okay, actually I should try to make up a normal Spiderman for the Spiderverse. Which came to me in a thought: Who’s my newest favorite Spiderman? Miles. Who’s an understated hero I love and miss? Static. What’s something they have in common?

They’re black, they’re GOOD KIDS who try their best every day all the time to do the right thing, and they have intact immediate families. So you know what traits this more normal Spiderman has to have. (Also my black ocs are lacking and that is sad. Need more black ocs! )

Enter: Anansi, another Spiderman version. 

Quick reminder: Anansi is a trickster spider in Akan folklore, well-known for using his wit and quick thinking to get exactly what he wants. He can come up with plans in an instant, and although he can cause collateral on occasion, no one ever gets REALLY hurt. 

But the mischievous streak, and the quick wit sounds like Spiderman all over to me. 

So meet Adwenpa Tagoe, aka Anansi.  Age 18, Dark Brown hair, brown eyes 5′ 9″ Suit: Black with red, yellow, green and white bands around the body as well as white markings around the face area. 

This webhead seems to be literally incapable of shutting his mouth. He always has something to say, and never holds back his opinion. However, fortunately, he has a wit as fast as his mouth and never fails to come up with a plan in a pinch. 

At the same time, though, never forget Adwenpa is a teenager. He loves memes, puns, and you need to be careful not to leave yourself open to his jokes. BUT he’s a loyal friend, and will always be there to help cheer you up when you’re down. 

Side note: Anansi’s secret identity is actually pretty safe. For some reason, the press and cops are convinced that he, with his Akan-inspired suit and Akan-folklore named superhero titles, is secretly a white boy of the early 20s variety. Adwenpa isn’t certain whether he’s pleased he’s so safe, or disappointed that’s what they leapt to. He thought it would have been obvious at least he wasn’t white. 

[northernreads]

ultimate summer reading challenge - june

so goodreads posted about an ultimate summer reading challenge (x) and I decided in my infinite wisdom to try and do the ‘expert level’ because of reasons unknown to myself. I am overlapping some of the challenges if I can get them to fit a single book so it’s not exactly an unreasonable challenge. I mostly tried to pick books from my physical tbr shelf, but some of the challenges could only be stretched so far.

So for June my tbr is as follows:

Take Pride (book written by queer author/ features queer character)- “Wonders of the Invisible World” by Christopher Barzak

Into the Great Wide Open (book that takes places out in ‘the great wide open’) [still don’t know what this means but alas] "Tell the wolves i’m home” carol rifka brunt 

It’s the End of the World (a book about the end of the world as we know it) “Fight for Power” by Eric Walters

School’s Out for Summer (reread a book you were forced to read in school) “Hatchet” by Gary Paulsen

Sick Day (a book you were supposed to read for school but didn’t) [there is literally only one assigned book that I never read] “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie

Hook ‘Em (a book about fishing or fishermen) [I am willing to take recs for this but otherwise I’m counting Hatchet as this one because he learns how to catch fish in that book)

Sports-a-holic: (a book that features a popular summer sport) [is rugby season by chance in the summer? oh well you can play it in the summer right?] “Stand-Off” by Andrew Smith. UNLESS I can get my hands on “Honey Girl” by Lisa Freeman which is about a sapphic surfer girl

Dear Pen Pal (a book that features letters or journal entries) “Emergency Contact” by Mary H. K. Choi [if it comes in time at the library otherwise I’ll re-read the first Pendragon book)

Father Knows Best (a book that features a father) I’m tempted to re-read Second Chance Summer by will probably read “Anansi Boys” by Neil Gaiman because it mentioned a father in the summary.

Campfire Story (a book that scares you) Any recs? Cause otherwise I’m counting Fight for Power because the first one did actually make me scared about not being disaster prepared.

Ocean Blue (book that takes place on the water) “Salt to the Sea” by Ruta Sepetys [there’s water on the cover and the word sea is in the title, does it take place on the water?]

Won’t Be Long (read a collection of short stories or essays) [not June- specific) "Summer Days and Summer Nights” OR “All Out: the No-longer-secret Stories of kick-ass queer teens” if it comes in from the library in time

High Noon (read a classic or contemporary Western) I think “River of Teeth” by Sarah Gailey counts as a western? At least 38 people have tagged it as a western on goodreads so I’m counting it.

Listen to Me (read an audio book) Annnnnnd “River of Teeth” is also up for this one because I could only get it on ab.

That’s 11 books (I think) for the challenge. That’s 14/45 challenges.

 “A Natural History of Dragons” by Marie Brennan because I’m in the middle of it, “The Iron Flower” by Laurie Forest because I just got the e-arc, and I want to get to “Indian Horse” by Richard Wagamese because it finally (finally!) came in at the library. So 14 books total.

[wesonerdy]

Shadow Moon and Mr. Wednesday make their way to Chicago to try and enlist the help of an old friend, but somehow Shadow ends up on the chopping block. Here’s our recap of “The Secret of Spoons”!

Courtesy of STARZ/Sony Pictures Television Inc.

  “The Secret of Spoons” starts off with another entry into the story, Coming to America, 1697.

We see slaves chained in the belly of ship, and a young man begins to pray to Anansi, begging him to save him. That he’ll dedicate his life to him if he does. Anansi is typically known as the keeper of all stories in African and Caribbean folklore and is often depicted as a spider.

When Mr. Nancy appears, he’s dressed in a flashy suit and tells the men:

“Let me tell you a story…”

This is our first introduction to Mr. Nancy, and honestly, an entire post could be written about his speech alone. It’s blunt and forceful. It’s heartbreaking and a call to arms. He runs through three-hundred years of history about being black in America, explaining to them that there’s no positive future. Three-hundred years from now, they’re still in chains, just different kinds.

“You are staring down the barrel of thee-hundred years of subjugation, racist bullshit, and heart disease.”

“The only good news is the tobacco your grandkids are gonna farm for free is gonna give a shitload of these white motherfuckers cancer.”

When he tells them that they should go and slit everyone of those Dutch bastards throats and set the ship on fire, one slave brings up the fact that if they burn the ship, they’ll die, too. Mr. Nancy tells them that they’re already dead, and they might as well die as a sacrifice for something worthwhile.

    After Mr. Nancy frees them, they burn down the ship. The opening scene ends with Mr. Nancy, in spider form, washing up on shore in America.

***

We’re back with Shadow Moon, who’s getting staples in his side after his lynching by Technical Boy’s faceless men last episode. He tells the doctor that he wasn’t shot and he doesn’t want the police there. When he’s able to leave, he goes to the hotel to see Mr. Wednesday who has a young, blonde, naked guest.

They get into an argument because Shadow wants to know what’s going on and Wednesday tells him he’ll up his salary.

After he gets back to his room, Shadow Moon takes a bath to wash off all that blood and takes off his wedding ring. That night he has a dream and Laura is there. He tells her that he thought she was dead, and she tells him that it was just a dream.

The next day he packs up his home. While he’s doing it, he sees his wife in different rooms and the image fades to current surroundings. The box from the coroner’s office is on the bed. After ignoring it all day, he opens the box and finds his wife’s phone. Ignoring ever single person in existence yelling NO! at the screen, Shadow opens her phone and goes to her messages from Robbie.

With a small scroll, he finds the first dick pic.

Finally, the moving truck drives off, and Wednesday is on the other side of the street. He goes to Shadow and tells him that there’s a lot to be said about bottling up emotion. That Shadow needs to understand that he can be mad at his dead wife. He even goes so far as to tell him:

“Word on the street is your wife died while sucking your best friend’s dick.”

It’s the truth and it’s hard, but sometimes you’re allowed to be angry with someone you can’t confront anymore.

Just like that, we’re back on the road!

No highways and straight to Chicago…with one small stop.

They stop at a small diner, and Wednesday tells Shadow that he needs to go do some shopping for him while he meets with someone. He gives him so money and tells him that he expects him to skim no more than 5% off it from him, to which Shadow tells him that he won’t steal his money.

“If you can’t look out for yourself, how the hell are you going to look out for me?”

Courtesy of STARZ/Sony Pictures Television Inc.

Shadow leaves for his errand run, and while he’s in the store, the T.V. section starts to talk to him, specifically Lucy Ricardo (Gillian Anderson). She’s trying to recruit Shadow to the new Gods side and tells him that he can’t fight gravity. In fact, cases like him usually end up in suicide, which I’m not sure was a threat or something that happens to bodyguards to Gods on a regular basis, but we’ll find out.

When he gets back to Wednesday in the diner, he explains what happened and tells him that he thinks he’s going crazy. Wednesday says:

“The world’s either crazy or you are.”

Not exactly comforting.

They get back on the road, and Wednesday finds the burner phone that Shadow bought for him. He promptly throws it out the window and says he doesn’t want it.

****

Across the country, Bilquis is consuming people left and right. However, after her last one, she’s lying in bed and a tear rolls down her cheek.

Later, she goes to a museum and looks over all these ancient artifacts that seemed to belong to her. Bilquis looks at the jewelry and gives the clothe underneath it form. It fills out into the shape of a body and we see how the jewelry was supposed to cover her body.

This room is a mausoleum to what she used to be and how people worshipped her at one time.

****

Wednesday and Shadow make it to Chicago and meet Zorya Vechernyaya, one of the three Zorya sisters. She’s an old God, that allows Shadow and Wednesday inside her apartment. She tells Wednesday immediately that Czernoberg won’t be happy to see him, but he just tells her he’s brought gifts and gives her a bottle of vodka.

Courtesy of STARZ/Sony Pictures Television Inc.

She takes a long drink and invites them to stay for dinner. Wednesday brings out the other gifts he brought for her two sisters. They all wait for Czernoberg to return home.

When he does, he’s definitely not happy to see Wednesday. He tells him that he doesn’t want any part of his war that’s coming up. Wednesday tries his gift approach, but it still doesn’t move Czernoberg. He does invite him to stay for dinner, though.

I imagine it’s more out of habit than really wanting the company.

Over the course of dinner, he regals everyone with stories of his work in the slaughterhouse. He tells them that:

“To give death is art.”

Czernoberg laments that anyone can kill now and that it used to take skill.

  Eventually he challenges Shadow to a game of checkers, and Wednesday tells him that he can say no if he wants to. During the game, Czernoberg decides he wants to make a bet.

If Shadow wins, then he’ll go with them to help Wednesday. If he wins, he gets to kill Shadow with his hammer at first light. He calls it sunrise blood.

They go back and forth for a while, but in the end, Czernoberg traps Shadow and wins the game. The episode ends with him telling Shadow:

“At sunrise, I get to knock your brains out.”

****

Take a deep breath and wonder just how Shadow Moon will be getting out of this one! I imagine with some help from Mr. Wednesday. Take a look at the preview clips for episode three then share your thoughts on what the line, “You sold your head to Czernobog?” might mean!

Here’s the official synopsis for “Head Full of Snow”:

Shadow questions the terms of his employment when Mr. Wednesday informs him of his plan to rob a bank (because, naturally, every army needs a source of funding). And just when Shadow thought his life couldn’t get any more complicated, he returns to his motel room to a surprising discovery.

            Courtesy of STARZ/Sony Pictures Television Inc.

Courtesy of STARZ/Sony Pictures Television Inc.

Courtesy of STARZ/Sony Pictures Television Inc.

Courtesy of STARZ/Sony Pictures Television Inc.

Courtesy of STARZ/Sony Pictures Television Inc.

Courtesy of STARZ/Sony Pictures Television Inc.

Courtesy of STARZ/Sony Pictures Television Inc.

Courtesy of STARZ/Sony Pictures Television Inc.

Courtesy of STARZ/Sony Pictures Television Inc.

Courtesy of STARZ/Sony Pictures Television Inc.

Courtesy of STARZ/Sony Pictures Television Inc.

  American Gods airs on Sundays on Starz at 9/8c. Live tweet with us at We So Nerdy!

RECAP: ‘American Gods’ Season One, Episode Two “The Secret of Spoons” Shadow Moon and Mr. Wednesday make their way to Chicago to try and enlist the help of an old friend, but somehow Shadow ends up on the chopping block.

[fathersonholygore]

Starz’ American Gods Season 1, Episode 2: “The Secret of Spoon” Directed by David Slade Written by Michael Green & Bryan Fuller

* For a recap & review of the premiere, “The Bone Orchard” – click here * For a recap & review of the next episode, “Head Full of Snow” – click here We start on 1697 – Coming to America – when slaves were being transported by ship. One of them calls to Anansi who is a character from African folklore, usually in the form of a spider. The slave regrets he cannot do anything to honour him in those chains. But that if the god is merciful, he will repay him for the rest of his life. Then they’re shocked by a man in a fine suit, something they’ve never seen: Mr. Nancy (Orlando Jones). He tells them of a story where “once upon a time a man got fucked,” which is, essentially, the story of African Americans. He tells them of what awaits at the end of their journey. He gives them a quick lesson in how fucked they all are, and how bad American will be for their people. So either kill the Dutch motherfuckers, or go to the land of opportunity where they’ll be fucked for hundreds of years. He sets one man free then they’re all raging for justice. The ship starts going up in flames and everyone burns while Anansi crawls ashore. Mr. Nancy: “Angry is good. Angry gets shit done.” Who saved Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle), at the mercy of Technical Boy (Bruce Langley) and his Children? He’s in a hospital getting stitched and taken care of, then goes straight for Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane). They chat about what’s happened, and Wednesday knows all about the toad smoking kid. Meanwhile, Shadow isn’t pleased, seeing as how he was “strange fucking fruit” for a brief moment in time. However he doesn’t realise that Wednesday is already plotting. That night Shadow dreams of his wife Laura (Emily Browning) coming through the door. She says she isn’t dead. Yeah, that’s comforting. Of course it’s a dream, but the guy’s already been through the ringer. Nightmare land in his head won’t help a thing. The next day he goes back to the house he shared with his wife, before he went away to jail. Everything’s laid out for a Welcome Home party, only it’s now depressing and sombre. Everywhere are the memories of Laura, in each room. So he packs everything away in boxes. Finally, after staring at it all day, he opens the box from the coroner’s office. Inside is her wedding ring, her phone. He looks through her phone to find a dick pic from Robbie, confirming the worst. That’s some ugly shit. What’s next after Shadow leaves Eagle Point? He and Wednesday go on the road with CCR blaring from the speakers. Only deal: no highways. They need to go to Chicago so Wednesday can pick up his hammer. We’re treated to an excellent visual here that I won’t spoil by even trying to describe it, other than it makes the sky look WILD! The two make a pit stop. Shadow goes to pick up things on a list he’s given, everything from maps to vodka and all kinds of stuff. Suddenly, Media (Gillian Anderson) speaks to Shadow from a television screen. More of those great visuals, too. Media comes through on I Love Lucy as Mrs. Ricardo herself. She talks a good game, offering to employ him. Another one of the New Gods. Oh, this strange new world! Media: “Don‘t fight gravity, Shadow.” Shadow believes it’s all in his head. He tells Wednesday about his run in with Lucy, thinking his time in jail ripened his brain to mush. His older gentleman friend explains that mad isn’t the biggest sacrifice that might need to be made. Later he goes on a nice spiel about messages, tossing the cellphones out the window and lamenting those days of opening letters; such great delivery from the master, Mr. McShane. A journey through the universe takes us to Bilquis (Yetide Badaki), who we last saw take a man home and devour him.. sort of, yeah. She’s got a new guy. Then a new woman. And the endlessly sexual cycle perpetuates, on and on. Note: perfect cut is edited when we see the frame jump from Bilquis naked in bed to a statue of stone standing tall, breasts in hand; clever work. She is most certainly one of the Old Gods, of whom I can’t wait to see more. Wednesday goes to see several people, including Zorya Vechernyaya (Cloris Leachman), an old Russian woman. That’s why they picked up that vodka, particularly. She loves it. Then there’s the other sisters, Zorya Ultrennyaya (Martha Kelly) and Zorya Polunochnyaya (Erika Kaar). Vechernyaya tells fortunes, offering to show Shadow his own. There’s also Czernobog (Peter Stormare), covered in cow blood and not happy to see Wednesday. Zorya Vechernyaya: “Family is who you survive with when you need to survive”

Constantly smoking, Czernobog refuses to go along with Wednesday. He doesn’t want to do any of what they used to do anymore. Whatever that was; he also has a brother (for those who don’t know he’s a Slavic deity, the Black God, considered as a counterpart to Belobog, the White God). What we’re treated to is seeing how this Old God, he’s a dangerous one, has a sketchy reputation. He doesn’t like killing the new way, either. He likes the old fashion way. Czernobog: “To give a good death is art” After dinner Shadow sits to play checkers with Czernobog. Then we discover his hammer. A massive sledgehammer he keeps on the mantle. He is a bad motherfucker, that’s for sure. He’s sad his tool doesn’t get fed the blood it needs anymore; Shadow has visions of it soaked in gore. Oh, this place is creepy. Now, if Czernobog loses chess he’ll agree to go with Wednesday. If he wins, Shadow takes the hammer to feed it some of that good “sunrise blood” in the morning. And the game is on. They play down to the last pieces on the board and poor Shadow’s not doing so well. He loses at the bitter end. So what’s going to happen next time? Czernobog is owed blood he’s promised. Next episode is titled “ American Gods – Season 1, Episode 2: “The Secret of Spoon” Starz' American Gods Season 1, Episode 2: "The Secret of Spoon" Directed by David Slade…