Almighty Johnsons, Season 3, Episode 8: The Asparagus is Kicking In

At Ander’s office, Dawn has the thankless task of pointing out to Colin and Anders what they’re doing wrong. Namely that Colin is seen at many functions always with a different woman – and very young women at that; giving, as Dawn says, the message that Colin isn’t serious, he’s a playboy having a laugh (we also see that Anders has spent far too much time convincing clients everything is fine than actually fixing problems). She leaves and Colin tells Anders, in his usually crude terms, that he is turned on by Dawn. Anders is quick to rush in with a “no no, aw hell no” on that one – especially since she’s part of their crew.

To Dawn herself, and Lance and a little insight into their relationship where we see they endure each other’s hobbies with barely concealed tolerance and suffering. Ty has another, mopey “I used to go out with her” moment – which seems to be tipping his Hodr powers again.

Axl and Mike bond over exploiting Mike’s shiny shiny powers for $10,000 which comes with lots of shiny toys and a can of beer the size of Zeb. Speaking of – Axl goes home and finds Zeb half naked on the couch apparently not having eaten in 3 days. He’s been fighting desperately to fend off all the unpaid bills, couldn’t buy food and generally has had a rotten time. Axl arriving with money, food and shiny toys alleviates things a little.

The next job is to go to Stacey’s business and talk to Olaf – about his missing car which Olaf is very very unhappy about. Especially since there is awesome surf happening and he is stranded without a car. Axl needs to talk about Jormugandr – so has to play taxi to the surfing oracle.

At the beach, surf, asparagus role and beer combined, Axl shows Olaf the note – and it is something that Eggther (the not-very-effective-giant) said to him before as well. However, they get no answers until Olaf has his weed and the asparagus kicks in. An oracle that runs on marijuana and asparagus.

Back to the flat, Olaf gets stoned and Zeb reveals his own Norse research – he knows what Jormugandr is (the world serpent, one of Loki’s kids, who surrounds Midgard and holds his tail in his mouth) and what Ragnorok is – the end of the world which will happen if Jormugandr lets go of his tail due to whatever’s upsetting him. Of course Olaf (while praising Zeb for his research and criticising Axl for his lack) admits that he doesn’t know how many of the stories are true. Olaf’s also fairly blasé about the end of the world since he keeps getting reborn; Axl is rather more worried, especially when Zeb brings up Fenrir, the wolf that eats Odin (another of Loki’s kids).

And Mike returns to his bar to find Ingrid there – not looking for booze for once. She’s there with Michele to help with the renovations. And apparently Michele and Mike have moved out of the flat with Karen – Michele’s mother – who is also gone (all of which is news to Mike). Going up this flat he finds it all finished and amazingly decorated – it seems that Sjofn has a powerful talent for finding builders and motivating them.

Olaf and Axl take their Ragnarok worries to Mike, who sends Axl away for a second so he can chew out Olaf for derailing Axl just as Mike had managed to get him back on track – Axl now thinks he’s causing global warming (in a round about, Ragnarok kind of way). Mike doesn’t want to have to deal with more shit – but Olaf is confident he can handle it. The asparagus is kicking in.

That sounds worrisome. Or like bad gas.

Back to the beach and some holy skinny dipping. Where they meet one of Olaf’s old friends – Tigilau, a Polynesian deity, guardian of sharks and fishes. He zaps Axl (as the sea was doing to him recently), blaming him for the upcoming Ragnarok and the chaos Jormugandr is causing in the oceans – since it was Odin who unleashed baby metaphorical serpent Jormugandr waaay back in the day. He also doesn’t see any way to stop it.

And when they leave the water they’re arrested for public nudity. Mike bails them out and is monumentally pissed with Olaf for further messing with Axl and leaves him to walk home. And back at the flat, Zeb is stocking up on canned goods for the approaching apocalypse. Mike is endlessly frustrated by the whole thing and he desperately wishes everyone would ignore Jormugandr since it makes no sense (so says the god Ullr). He encourages Axl to just get on with life – real life –and find a job

Later Axl thinks about this and decides he has a job – finding Frigg. And if he finds her, he’ll get his powers and therefore he can stop Ranarok. (That doesn’t quite make sense since the Eddas on Ragnarok still include the end of the world with a fully empowered Odin). But he’s energised because he now has a REASON to find Frigg, beyond vague pronouncements of destiny. Find Frigg, save the world. Zeb tries to bring some mortal reality to Axl’s sudden enthusiasm but Axl is running with it – he just needs a job to fund it.

To which he sees a flier on their cluttered table to work as a pizza delivery man – a job which also lets him knock on doors and meet the possible future Frigg. Zeb agrees that this is a sign. I realise by the copious amounts of empty bottles that they’re probably both drunk. I should probably have realised that earlier.

Back to Colin’s campaign and Dawn prepping Colin for meeting with a collection of conservative donors – which means lots of family values. He claims he can’t remember all her teaching so Dawn must accompany him. Anders tries to leap in to save Dawn (and to use his Bragi powers) but Colin turns back to Dawn – who already has an excuse with her boyfriend. A choice between Lance or Colin; poor Dawn – she ends up choosing Colin to prevent him getting his own date that could be unsuitable. Anders is not happy.

The Iron Daughter (Iron Fey #2) by Julie Kagawa

Meghan begins her stay in the Winter Court, hostage to the Unseelie Queen, Mab, and seemingly friendless, especially as Prince Ash turns cold towards her in the unforgiving environment of Tir Na Nog.

But The Iron Fey have not stopped their plotting just because their king is dead. A new monarch has arisen and he has sent his agents to steal the Sceptre of the Seasons, the powerful artefact passed between the courts to signify their changing power – and the changing seasons. Mab instantly accuses the Summer court and the two great courts of faerie march to war – leaving them vulnerable to the Iron fae’s attack

Only Ash and Meghan know who truly took the sceptre – and no-one believes them. It’s down to them to find the sceptre and save the fae. And the world – because while the sceptre is out of the court’s hands, the weather will rage out of control.

I said in the review of the last book that, while I found the romance and budding love triangle annoying and fast tracked, they were properly second to the main plot and while they were a little irritating, they were ignorable.

Which is why, when this book started there was a moment when I nearly put the book down and refused to pick it up again.

They’re heading to Tir Na Nog and Ash reminds Meghan that any display of fluffy emotion will mean that Mab & co will see it as weakness and promptly exploit it to the doom of them both. We even get a vast copy and paste from The Winter Passage to drive the point home. So when we get Meghan in the same room as Mab and Ash?

Meghan: *soulful puppy eyes at Ash*
Ash: uh… hide emotions… remember
Meghan: love me Ash! Love me! ZOMG WHY ARE YOU NOT LOVING ME!?
Ash:… y’know, Mab is RIGHT THERE watching us
Evil prince: Hey human-princess I loathe and despise – want to eat this totally innocent apple?
Meghan: Fairy food in fairy land offered by an obvious enemy? WHY THAT SOUNDS DELICIOUS! Clearly there can be no catch to this
Ash: Meghan…
Meghan: And IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!
Ash: *sigh* Of course we do not love each other, that is only banned by all our laws and would get us both banished or executed *hint hint* so no, I don’t love you. *icey angry eyes*
Meghan: ICY EYES! Zomg he hates and despises me! It was all a lie! He clearly isn’t acting and he must totally mean he hates me! Oh woe is me! WOOOOOE! WOE!!!!!!

Later:

Ash: Come Meghan we must go!
Meghan: NO! You hate and despise me!
Ash: uh – secret remember? Showing emotion is weakness? We did explain all this – did you hit your head or something?
Meghan: NOOOO! Clearly you only pretended to be in love with me and it was all a trick to get me to Tir Na Nog!
Ash: Yes, that makes sense. You had no power, no magic and can’t fight – I could have dragged you to Tir Na Nog by your hair if I wanted to. Why would I even bother to trick you?
Meghan: You did it all to mess with my head and break my heart like you do to mortal girls!
Ash: Yes, I went to a land that poisoned me with its very air, burned me with acid rain and nearly killed me so I could screw with some girl’s head. That makes perfect sense.

Dead Like Me, Season 1, Episode 14: Rest in Peace

George thinks the day will be good – and is confirmed by a random $20 bill landing in her bike spokes, that’s a good sign. Of course when she gets to the Waffle House Roxy randomly chews her out apparently for quitting her job the very day after she quit her last job. But it’s George’s day, according to Rube (which George is a little suspicious about) but this means free breakfast, more Roxy snark – and even no assignment from Rube.

Since it’s her day, George decides this is the day she will get her job back with Happy Time. And Delores tells her “no” – because she quit Happy Time to take one of Happy Time’s postings and quit that job after 5 minutes. She has been replaced and Delores – Ms. Herbig - is no longer friendly.

George leaves in an epic huff to wait at the lifts – and Delores comes running, distraught, trying to leave the building because she gets a phone call saying her cat is in dire straits. After tasing a passing arsehole by the lifts, George takes Delores’s keys and offers to drive because distraught Delores is in no fit state to.

At the vets, George stays with Delores. And she starts staring at a boy in the waiting room – he has a post it in his comic. One that looks a lot like the post-it’s the Reapers get. She assumes he’s a pet Reaper hassles him. George is a massive support for the panicky and upset Delories and her elderly cat. She finds words of comfort in trusting that the universe will ensure that everything will be ok, eventually – words she’s not sure she believes but gains confidence from saying and, in some way, making things ok.

And it turns out the kid is an animal Reaper – but he’s there for a rabbit, not Delores’s cat. The cat is fine. George offers to stay longer with Delores but she says she’ll be fine – and gives George her job back. She catches up with the Reaper kid and they both share death stories. Finding that the kid is pretty much homeless, she gives him the $20 she found at the beginning of the episode.

Roxy, Mason and Daisy go their merry way with Roxy guessing various people they meet are Reapers, Mason whining about whether he’s an attractive man (yes yes he is) and that he hasn’t had sex in 15 months (Roxy: Jesus, pay for it!). There follows Daisy trying to teach Mason to get a date and the writers trying to convince us someone who looks like Mason finds it impossible to find a woman who likes him. Until he finds a Goth who is into Reapers, that works.

And Rube’s appointment takes him to a yoga studio and he gets roped into joining in and then dies trying to show off to one of his female students. And is immensely frustrated by the fact she was flirting with him and eager to be with him and now he’s dead. He encourages Rube to be less on the edges, that he needs to know how to live. Until he passes on to the first overtly religious afterlife we’ve seen.

True Blood: Dubious Consent, Abuse and Relationships

We have spoken before on how many books have presented abuse, sexual abuse and complete lack of consent as romantic - but the same themes have also been heavily present in True Blood as well. Sometimes shown blatantly in the show, some made deeply problematic by the show creators and some rendered problematic by fandom’s reaction. The show has many sexual scenes and relationships, it’s a recurring and often explicit theme, but many of those sex scenes and relationships (or the conversation around them) are highly dubious and are sorely in need of more vehement challenge.

This season’s antagonist was Warlow, played by Rob Kazinsky. Warlow is a centuries old vampire/fairy hybrid who had determined that Sookie will be his one true love and his companion in the centuries to come. Speaking about Warlow’s feelings, Kazinsky had the following to say.

"He's been waiting six thousand years for her," he says. “For that reason, it didn't matter whether she was as attractive as she ended up being or not. He didn't know she was going to be a babe. He knew that she was going to be a fairy and a princess and that's all that really mattered to him, because he killed his entire tribe and she is the last of his line."

Despite Kazinsky’s suggestion that Warlow has true feelings for Sookie, what is evident is that he loved the idea of her, not Sookie as a person. When Warlow approached Sookie with his plan to capture himself a fairy princess, he knew absolutely nothing about her. Sookie essentially was a prize for him to possess and this is proved by his violent reaction to her suggestion that they should date rather than immediately commit to each other for eternity. A man who loves a woman does not try to force her into a relationship against her will, nor does he slap, threaten and stalk her when she refuses to capitulate. Perhaps this was his attempt to soften the character of Warlow but it reads like apologism for violence against women. Urban Fantasy like many other genres has a long history of justifying abuse as love and this has everything to do with our misogynistic culture.

Jason is also the centre of several of these controversies. In season 4 of True Blood, Jason was kidnapped by the werepanthers of Hotshot. He was abused in many ways but, in particular, he was repeatedly raped by Crystal and many of the young women of the village being forced to have sex with him while he was tied down. This scene is both graphic and painful - there is no romanticising the rape or treating it as a happy fun time for Jason, there is even some ongoing suggestion that Jason has been traumatised by the event. This is the positive. On the negative side, Jason wonders if him being raped was a “punishment from god” for having too much sex.

This is made far worse by comments by writer Alan Ball and Director Jason Petrarca about how Jason was getting his “comeuppance” for his promiscuous ways and how Jason, who views part of his sense of self on his sexual prowess, is now having that used against him.

Harvest Hunting (Otherworld #8) by Yasmine Galenorn

We follow Delilah this book – and how her life has changed. Following a skunk-inspired make-over and realising that her relationship with the now nigh-immortal Chase is coming to a close, she enters a new chapter of her life with the Autumn Lord – and his sexy representative.

Along the way, they have a kidnapped werewolf to rescue, a spirit seal to find and some dangerous werecoyotes to thwart. And, of course, there’s still the Bonecrusher to defeat – and she’s bringing the fight to the sisters’ home.

This series is HUUUUUUUUUUUGE!

And I don’t just mean number of books. I can tackle several books. But it’s HUUUUUGE within those books. It has a vast cast of characters and the author has really gone out of her way to ensure every single one of those characters is a character. They’re not just names. They have things happening in their lives. They have lives, they have issues, they have their own stories and battles and causes.

Which is certainly good in some ways, don’t get me wrong! But there are a gazillion billion trillion of them all handling their stuff at the same time. Ok, maybe not handling their stuff, but certainly mentioning their stuff at least.

This goes along with a huge amount of recapping. A truly vast amount of recapping – and so much has happened in each sister’s life and the story in general that some of it is helpful – but it adds to the unwieldiness, bogs down the pacing and drags the story down.

There’s also still a problem with the writing. It has IMMENSELY improved since earlier books, don’t get me wrong, especially the fight scenes (though I still think we see far more of what everyone else is doing in combat than is realistic or necessary) but we still have things like the group meetings where everything is reiterated (again, not nearly as bad). The worst habit remaining though are clothes, cares and scenary. They can drive from A to B without me knowing exactly how they’re getting there, I don’t need to know what car they’re driving or who is in what car and I really really really don’t need to know what clothes everyone is wearing all the time. By this stage, we know what clothes everyone habitually wears, take it as a given.

Under the Dome, Season 1, Episode 9: The Fourth Hand

Julia takes Barbie to see the Minidome. But when they get there there’s no egg and no Minidome – there’s a crater instead. The mystery of the missing Minidome is left to Julia because Linda calls Barbie with reports of gunfire

They’re excitable people in Chester’s Mill. And well armed. The combination is not a good one.

Barbie arrives at the shooting, an older man has been grazed by a bullet. His neighbour, Ted, shot him; apparently some “freak” knocked on his door and started ranting, he fired a warning shot which the freak ignored and accidently hit his neighbour. Oopsie. Another wave of hysteria also follows but is quickly quelled.

Can someone tell me why Linda wasn’t able to handle this by herself? Except for ensuring Barbie has a role in the storyline and remains as protagonist?

They go check on the man who is ranting and raving about the Dome putting voices in his head. Linda recognises him as a drug addict called Larry; he’s on a new drug called “Rapture” which Linda’s never heard of. And it was sold to him by the dead Rev. Coggins and now he wants more.

So it’s off to Coggin’s mortician/vestry – yes he was mortician and preacher. Able to fulfil all your death needs (and, since he deals drugs, that probably includes killing you). Inside one of the coffins they find drug making paraphernalia, much to Linda’s shock which tells you she’s not a church goer because anyone who watched Coggins for more than 10 minutes must have suspected him of using SOMETHING. Anyway they find is recipe which includes liquid propane which Linda finds a little odd; Barbie comments that Chester’s Mill is overflowing with the stuff.

At the Diner in town Jim’s all full of himself though Angie says “I hear Barbie got the water flowing”. Uh-oh Jim, Barbie’s stealing your thunder. Jim’s quick to say lots of people got it going before blowing his horn about making a deal with the farmers for townsfolk to swap goods and services for food. What, he needed to set up a deal to instigate basic trade? Angie’s happy though because she wants the Diner to stay open – her diner. Yes she wants Jim to give it to her. Something Jim will have to think on.

He leaves – and Junior arrives. Angie tries to kick him out of her diner, again saying she isn’t sick… right before she collapses into a fit and chants “the pink stars are falling, the pink stars are falling in lines.” Just like Norrie and Joe.

She wakes up in the backseat of Junior’s locked police car and duly panics. But he lets her go once she gets home – don’t you dare try to redeem Junior, Under the Dome, don’t you dare!

The Walking Dead Volume 13: Too Far Gone

Life in Alexandria continues and the group quickly establishes themselves as essential community members. But all is not well, Rick discovers some ugly secrets while acting as constable and finds Douglas reluctant to address them. While his unstable outburst threatens them all, an attack on the community elevates the group and establishes Rick as the new commander

The first theme that struck us in this volume was, after the perfection of Alexandria presented last week, how utterly hollow it is. Now we get to see the cracks - the denial, the compromises and the general thin layer of perfection they have. We learn that Alexandria was formed by a man, Daniels, who was sexually abusing the women in the town and Douglas was forced to murder him to protect the community. This is wonderfully epitomised by Gabriel trying to have Rick & Co evicted from this “perfect” community - he can only condemn Rick’s murders because he is alive to do so. He is only alive and in Alexandria because of Rick and the group - he relies on the violence to protect him while he hides, but then hypocritically becomes sanctimonious and judgemental about the acts that saved his skin.

And this stands in well for Alexandria. While people do surreal things like walk pets and recruit Rick to help move their planters or read the same newspaper over and over again to create this facade of normality, the reality is far uglier. The community was started and secured by murder. And even then Douglas turned a blind eye until a woman committed suicide. Which seems to be a pattern with Douglas because, again, when presented with something less than perfect in his community - Pete the wife-beater - he turns a blind eye again. It is only Rick’s admittedly unstable actions that force him to address the issue. Outside the wall, the builders believe they are chosen because they are expendable and it’s notable that any women Douglas finds attractive are given positions near him.

Through this facade of normality, Douglas insists his authority be respected at least in public - determined to remain leader until it’s clear he’s unsuitable; it’s all maintaining appearances and the facade that keeps him in control. The people aid and abet this because they are desperate and afraid - they want to deny the world outside, the realities of the apocalypse, and the facade allows them to do so.

This facade is exposed in part by how necessary the group is to Alexandria. Andrea and Rick successfully defend Alexandria against an attack that would have ironed over the community without them. Abraham completely overhauls the building team which has been constantly losing people. Even Glenn is a far greater guide than runner Heath. And while Rick’s actions are extreme, he refuses to tolerate the threat from within the community, allowing abusers to act unchallenged. Their help not only shows how useful - how essential - they are to the community but also how fragile Alexandria is. It’s only really through pure luck that Alexandria hasn’t faced a force like the Governor or a Herd or severely abusive members before now.

Rick assuming leadership, especially in such fraught circumstances, with bodies on the grounds shows Alexandria’s facade cracking and the group moving in to fill the cracks.

Now that the team is no longer in clear and present danger they are far more willing to challenge Rick’s leadership and go with the status quo. Even as the residents of Alexandria see Rick’s group as a necessary addition to their little township and are changed by the presence of Rick et al, Rick’s group is also changed by the residents of Alexandria. When Rick and Glenn took the guns, Rick commented that he was worried about a member of his group turning against him. After everything that the group has been through they had really become tightly knit, yet Rick doubted their solidarity knowing full and well the precious nugget of safety that Alexandria potentially provided; in other words, a member of the group may buy into the facade. His feelings of doubt were bared out by Andrea questioning him when he presented her with a gun. Andrea wanted to live by the rules as presented to her and it was made clear that the taking and holding of weapons was Rick’s risk and not hers thereby establishing a clear line of demarcation between the two of them. This is a small fracture but a fracture nonetheless, showing us that though these people had been through a lot it was only because of circumstance and not choice. At the end of the day, people wanted to do what made them feel safe and if that meant thwarting Rick’s leadership so be it. We can see this spirit again when Michonne disarmed Rick after he attacked Pete. Rick was shocked that Michonne acted against him having always perceived her as his weapon, his attack dog.

There is also an ongoing theme of mental health among the group as well. Able to relax for the first time in a long time, many of the characters have a chance to take a breath and feel. Maggie talks through her insecurity with Glenn. Abraham talks through his fears, Carl grieves for his mother, Rick has his break down and even Michonne asked to talk to Rick about their hallucinations.

In fact, Michonne is the annoying exception here. Michonne has probably suffered more than anyone else in the group but she’s also the one who is least allowed to show pain or grief. This partially explains her anger towards Morgan’s grief for his wife or her fury at Rick for his breakdown - she has suffered more than both and she has managed to hold herself together; it’s legitimate that she would be angry at both of them.

But, it’s problematic that she didn’t get to grieve or fear or break down. All she gets to display is anger - the proverbial angry Black woman. Why can’t she grieve? Why can’t she hurt? Why can’t Michonne be vulnerable and show how she is hurting - like Rick, Morgan, Andrea, Carl, Abraham - just about everyone else? It makes for an unpleasant trope. Similarly unpleasant is her being show explicitly nude; not that it was inappropriate for the scene, but even in sexual situations the other women have not been depicted that way.

I would also like the still implied gay couple of Aaron and Eric to not be erased so soon after introduction - after 78 comics and an enormous number of characters, it’s too soon for this scrap of representation to be rendered into the background.

Alive: Rick, Michonne, Carl, Andrea, Glen, Maggie, Sophia, Abraham, Eugene, Rosita, Morgan, Gabriel.
Aaron, Eric, Heath, Douglas, Spencer, Olivia, Barbara, Nicholas, Paula, Mikey, Holly, Tobin, Jessie, Ron, Bruce, David, Erin, Dr. Cloyd and a whoooooooole buncha Alexandria people

Dead: Regina, Pete, Scott

Rush of Wings (Maker's Song #1) by Adrian Phoenix

Heather is an FBI agent tracking down a serial killer who has been leaving a trail of victims across the country over the last 3 years. The trail has now lead her to New Orleans

And there she finds far more than a serial killer – she finds Dante. A vampire.

But far more than just a vampire – he’s a target for her serial killer and constantly under the eye of a Fallen Angel who seems to be hiding his own secrets; not least of which the truth of Dante’s past, shrouded by his fractured memory.

Heather faces the supernatural for the first time – and the realisation it may actually exist – still has to hunt a serial killer and is embroiled in a conspiracy that cuts to the core of people she respects and her own principles.

Opening this book, I felt bombarded.

There were vampires (though they weren’t originally referred to as such, leading to more questions) and fallen (which may or may not be angels), which were referred to in many different ways, a serial killer, a nomad (who is an llygad and I still have no clue what that means but it’s apparently relevant), True Blood all without any explanation until a lot further in.

Add to that a serial killer, some bloke called Etienne who is pissed about something – and I’ve finished the book but I’m still not sure why he’s pissed, a vampire, a winged bloke, a band, some blokes at the bar who have their own agenda that isn’t instantly apparent, some local police, an FBI agent, an FBI agent’s boss and then a shadowy figure who won’t become clear until waaaaay later, scattered with a  random minor character I have no clue about – and I stagger a bit more. Especially when the random POV switches happen – at one point we POV switch to someone who I didn’t even know at that point.

Then drop in a whole load of Cajun French and some language that looks like Welsh but isn’t – none of it translated or explained (there’s a glossary at the back as I discovered at the end).

All of that together and I started to get rather irritated. It was too much at once, there was no time to grasp at anything and I kept forgetting who various people were and what they did. Ronin’s name kept escaping me, I still have no clue who Etienne is and I even forgot Heather was an FBI agent. As for Silver, Gina, et al – I had only the vaguest idea who they were and it quite destroyed the tension that was supposed to revolve around them

I actually thought I had missed a book – there was so much information here that wasn’t explained that surely I was book 3 or 4 in a series? But apparently not. This is actually the first book.